The social dynamics of ‘alternative facts’: why what you believe depends on who you know

Why should we care about having true beliefs? And why do demonstrably false beliefs persist and spread despite effects for the people who hold them? Philosophers of technology Cailin O’Connor and James Weatherall claim that social elements, rather than individual mindset, are what’s necessary to understanding the spread and persistence of false belief. It could seem that there’s an obvious cause that true values matter: fake beliefs will hurt you. But if that’s correct, then why is it (evidently) irrelevant to numerous people if they believe true factors or not?

In an age riven by ‘fake news,’ ‘alternative facts,’ and disputes on the validity of everything from climate change to how big is inauguration crowds, the authors argue that social factors, not individual psychology, are what’s essential to understanding the persistence of false belief and that we got to know how those social forces work to be able to fight misinformation efficiently.