Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Exploring both interstellar and interpersonal space-time continuums. The Last Show with David Cooper. We all would like to think we're too smart to fall for misinformation, but here's an uncomfortable truth. The stuff that spreads the fastest online often feels like the most satisfying to believe and even more satisfying to share. That stuff is the stuff that's not true.
And by spreading it, you're convincing others to spread it. And we're here with someone who's done research into how misinformation spreads. His name is Wes Regan. He's an urban researcher specializing in communication at the University of British Columbia. Wes, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, David. I've seen friends share misinformation online, stuff that I see.
And I'm like, that's obviously not true.
Chapter 2: Why does misinformation feel satisfying to share?
I look it up, poorly cited, weird websites. But I don't think that they're evil masterminds. I think they think they're helping. I think they think they're spreading what is true. Why does sharing something like that feel so good in the moment to the people who do?
Yeah, it's a great question. And I think as we have begun to see the effect of misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories on public discourse and on democracy, a lot of research is starting to turn more and more attention to this. And I think there's some really good research coming out of the U.S.,
Kaylin O'Connor and James Weatherall, for example, had a great book that came out a number of years ago called The Misinformation Age, How False Beliefs Spread. And they really turned attention to the social aspects of this. So a lot of times, we tend to believe that people will believe misinformation or spread misinformation because of personal reasons.
But actually, what their work shows and what others have shown is that there are a lot of social factors in this. It's peer networks, it's belonging, it's professional affiliations, it's political affiliations. And with social media, we've seen audiences segment and go into little bubbles of affirmation where it feels good to be a part of a group of people who believe a certain belief.
way or have a certain worldview. And so we're seeing epistemic polarization along with political polarization and people just really finding information that confirms their beliefs often and reaffirms that social connection.
I've talked about this on the show before, but I think it's worth saying again, the definition of misinformation versus disinformation, because the two get used interchangeably and misinformation kind of is the goal of disinformation. But before we get into that, do you want to just give me a brief definition of the two?
Yeah. So misinformation will be just factually incorrect or misleading information that is often shared, as you alluded to in the intro, often shared with good intentions.
So we might believe that bracelet is going to prevent COVID or this particular clothing item is going to increase your whatever metabolism or something by X amount, when in fact, there might not be any scientific validation of those claims. And yet you want to help your grandma or mom or friend or whoever it is.
And so, you know, or you yourself might want to believe that that's going to help because you're looking for something. And so you might be inclined to share that thinking that this looks credible maybe, or has a whiff of credibility. So let's go with it.
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Chapter 3: What social factors contribute to the spread of misinformation?
And yeah, that could feel good.
So if I hold a conspiratorial belief, like, I don't know, let's pick something way out there, like drinking that what's that colloidal silver is good for my health, even though it like turns you blue and could cause cancer or whatever. If I see an article that says it's good for me, I get that aha moment, like I knew it.
And that feels good to then share to show others that what I what I believed, whether it was true or not, felt good.
Yeah, I mean, that's kind of how it works, but what would be even more powerful is if you were in a social media bubble in which a bunch of other people were sharing affirming stories of their experiences with colloquial silver and sharing articles. I picked such a weird example. Yes, you did. But you know what?
That's the internet, and it's full of really weird examples because human beings are weird by nature. Right. Definitely are interesting. And so, yes, I mean, it's validating, it's community building, and it's reaffirming. And we need those things, you know, as human beings. They feel good. It feels good to belong.
It feels good to think that you know something, especially if it's a hidden truth, a hidden knowledge, something that other people don't know that you and a few others have discovered. You have access to special knowledge.
I'm glad we're talking about this now because this stuff was bad before AI and we need to be chatting about it because with AI impersonation, the ability to fake videos, fake audio, fake stuff that looks increasingly real. Do you worry about this? Is this problem just getting worse?
I do. I mean, what I worry most about with AI is that we are going to turn to AI for all of our answers instead of turning to each other. And that is going to create more alienation, disconnection and polarization. And that includes polarization around what is true, what we believe and values that we hold.
Is there any way to fight misinformation? There's a piece of research about this unlikely source combating misinformation. For example, if I'm someone who holds a conspiratorial belief, I post about it, but someone challenges me, can anyone get through to me?
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