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Is Misinformation Worse Than COVID?
Here in this post, we are discussing “Is Misinformation Worse Than COVID?”. You can read more about psychology-related material on our website. Keep visiting Psychology Roots.
The head of the FDA, Robert Califf, recently said that false information is the top cause of mortality in the US. The terms “disinformation” and “misinformation” refer to the same thing: false or erroneous assertions and statements made with the intent to mislead or deceive. It’s not the same as lacking information or knowledge. Facts, not “alternative facts.”
In addition, because records of human lifespan have just recently begun, Califf considers the decline in life expectancy in the United States to be unusual. Worse still, false information is destructive to the basis of shared values, beliefs, and facts, fostering an attitude of mistrust among the general public.
Is Misinformation Worse Than COVID
In fact, The Week magazine’s editor-in-chief William Falk (June 3, 2022) beautifully and clearly noted that mistrust has been and remains the engine fueling the strife and dysfunction of our contemporary state. And it’s responsible for at least 900,000 American deaths among the million-plus deaths caused by the Covid epidemic.
Think about the fact that the proportion of fatalities in Australia attributable to Covid is one-tenth of that in the US. That is, 10 people have died in the United States from Covid for every one death attributed to the virus in Australia. This is a staggering number that should give us all pause.
The huge difference in Covid fatalities between Australia and the United States may largely be attributed to differences in national trust. It would seem that people in Australia have faith in their healthcare providers. People in Australia have a lot of faith in their government and leaders. The trust amongst Australians seems to be high. These three forms of trust are desperately needed in the United States, where petty tribalism and mutual contempt have come to define national identity and social norms.
To paraphrase Falk: “We have self sorted and withdrawn to our own worlds, our own websites, social media feeds, cable networks, and communities. Our inability to work together to find solutions to the issues that are killing us is a direct result of the barriers that our tribal loyalties create.
This tragic gulf in mutually beneficial principles and trust goes much beyond the tragedy of Covid. Indeed, there are wicked social problems that pervade our society as a result of a loss of trust, and they go well beyond the fact that we can’t trust people to wear masks in a pandemic because many feel they have a right to infect others.
For instance, we have no assurance that our kids will be safe at school. When some citizens vehemently defend their right to own military-grade assault weapons, it destroys faith in our government’s ability to implement commonsense gun safety measures. Neither religious leaders nor many members of the media can be trusted to keep children safe from sexual predators. Thus, we cannot feel secure at places of worship (including churches, synagogues, and mosques), public places (including supermarkets and movie theatres), or other public places (including schools).
The sensible and socially helpful comments of William Falk will unfortunately only be heard by a tiny fraction of the population. Furthermore, even fewer people will pay attention to my reiteration and explanation of some of his concepts. But what’s more worrisome is the possibility that, if they heard same statements from an opposing perspective, they would have about as much effect as a sneeze in a storm.
As we’ve seen, spreading false information is an effective method of spreading harmful propaganda by encouraging people to doubt one other. And in the contemporary period, not even Covid has had the chance to propagate falsehoods more virally than it has. That’s because things like knives and the Internet may serve several purposes. When put to good use, a knife may be used to chop and slice objects like vegetables.
In contrast, the same instrument may be very dangerous if it is used in the form of a deadly weapon. In a similar vein, the Internet can be used in very helpful ways. However, using it to spread false information, misinformation, and mistrust is a type of weaponization.
A terrifying mass destruction weapon conceived in the bowels of tainted and warped cyberspace. A weapon that has caused widespread illness, pain, and death. Worse, it has eroded faith in our highest levels of government, our scientific and medical communities, and other once-revered institutions. Worst of all, it has broken the trust that is necessary for a functioning society to operate. Because whether we like it or not, we live in a highly interconnected society held together by a strong foundation of trust.
The absence of trust precludes unity, and in that absence, chaos reigns. Furthermore, division and disharmony increase as a result of fragmentation. As a result, reaching consensus on shared truths, values, and principles becomes more challenging. A self-perpetuating cycle of declining quality as the Internet is increasingly turned into a tool for spreading harmful disinformation. Trust in our democracy and in one another is eroded by false information, which in turn causes needless misery and death on a worldwide scale.
It’s apparent that we can’t put any faith in our leaders to protect us; many of them are complicit in spreading the lethal disinformation that is killing our folks and ruining our nation.
Summary
Frida Ghitis: False information is the top cause of mortality in the US. She says 10 people die in the U.S. for every one death attributed to Covid in Australia. Ghitis argues that the huge difference in Covid fatalities may be attributed to national trust. When put to good use, a knife can be used to chop and slice objects like vegetables, Falk says. Spreading false information is an effective method of spreading harmful propaganda.
In a similar vein, the Internet can be used in very helpful ways. But using it to spread false information, misinformation, and mistrust is a type of weaponization. A terrifying mass destruction weapon conceived in the bowels of tainted and warped cyberspace.
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