We are all susceptible to misinformation, especially when it stirs our emotions and supports our preconceived beliefs.
Keeping your biases and preferences in mind is key to effective critical inquiry.
Edmans’ “ladder of misinference” will help you to recognize inflated arguments and not make overblown claims yourself.
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It likely wasn’t long after the first utterances of our ancestors that misinformation was born. It may have been an honest misunderstanding. It may have been a dubious actor trying to get one up on his fellow tribe members. Whatever the case, half-truths and alternative facts are nothing new. Granted, a case can be made that social media and AI have supercharged the spread of misinformation but the age-old, and rather humbling, reason it persists is simple enough: Under the right conditions, everyone is susceptible.
