An infrequent newsletter about information, society, and seeing clearly.
Lovely to see you again.
In this issue:
How not to catch (or spread) misinformation
One thing 2020 has shown — that everyone spreads misinformation. I've had bona fide geniuses text me to say Governor Andrew Cuomo is about to shut down Manhattan, 21 Bridges style, the coronavirus is an escaped bioweapon, and we’re in the midst of a coup.
I mean everyone.
Here you are, mindlessly flipping through your phone while waiting in line at Starbucks. You read the top of an article a friend sent you (because who reads the whole thing anymore?), and you get a thrill. Excitement? Agitation? So, as the barista calls your name, you forward it to a bunch of people, spreading the mania.
Yep, you almost certainly are a spreader.
Maybe you aren’t an over-the-top anti-vaxxer or a Q-adherent. But misinformation can also be slow and quiet. Drop by drop hardening your worldview. Nudging you to black-and-white extreme. Reinforcing an us vs. them mentality, until, one day you find yourself in a world that looks like today.
Misinformation can even technically be true, but still distort your sense of reality by provoking a response more extreme than warranted by the subject at hand.
And, thing is, our biology does us no favors.
Our brains aren't wired to create a faithful representation of the world. They're wired to seek what we need. We like to think of our minds as computers, passively receiving and processing information. If we find a flaw in our view of things, we think it’s caused by bad information or a small glitch in our logic.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
In reality, our brains seek out information that supports the stories we need to survive. Need a little reality distortion to feel vindicated, validated, or satisfied? Don’t worry, your brain will oblige.
And our brain gets a small high (literally) from these stories. Misinformation works precisely because it’s so satisfying.
Much as we need habits and structure to get our sweet tooth in check and eat healthy, we need habits and structure to be ward off the dark art of misinformation.
So what can we do about it? Here are seven defenses:
Control your budget.
Take your news dry and sober.
Don’t read when tired or anxious.
Dial back the opinion and “narrative brain.”
Make new friends.
Don't forget books.
Cover your cough.
CONTROL YOUR BUDGET
You have a limited budget for news. Pick how you spend it.
Don't waste time news grazing. Reading an article on Facebook that’s sandwiched between two cat photos is no way to make sense of the world.
Block off time to read the news like you would for exercise or Netflix. Be thoughtful about the quality of the information that you put in yourself.
Don’t let others spend your budget and pick what you read, be it algorithm, social media, or friends texting you. Decide what issues matter to you, and spend most of your budget on studying those issues. Figure out what sources are worthy your time, and which ones are time-wasters.
TAKE YOUR NEWS DRY AND SOBER
Your news should taste like an encyclopedia.
Agitation and excitement are carrier viruses of misinformation. If you read or watch news that works you up, turn it off. Stop with the cable news “debates” and rants. Avoid outrage porn. And, I hate to say it, "comedy news,” is just that, comedy. Sure, I enjoy it, and it works me up and makes me feel good about myself. But in the end, comedy news is just outrage porn. It hardens one's worldview and sense of identity.
Boring news is like kale — good for you.
(And eat a variety of greens: dry, sober news that frames things differently than what you’re used to.)
DON’T READ WHEN TIRED OR ANXIOUS
Unfortunately, 2020’s pandemics and tense elections have added an extra layer of stress and anxiety to our lives. When we’re stressed and anxious is exactly when we are the most susceptible.
It’s like sitting down with a tub of ice cream at the end of a stressful, exhausting day, Not good for the waistline.
Think of the internet and cable news as a giant tub of ice cream. Of misinformation and reality distortion.
DIAL BACK THE OPINION…
Read opinion pieces like you eat dessert or processed foods — sparingly and only when worthwhile.
Think of it like this...blog posts and whatever gets shared on social media is usually not dry and sober analysis. Cable news… SMH.
In print newspapers, opinion is in the back, set off from page one news articles. Online, it is the front page. Sometimes, it’s every page.
Two of the most concerning trends in the RAND corporation's report, Truth Decay, are (1) the blurring of fact and opinion, and (2) the increasing dominance of opinion and anecdote over fact and analysis.
Pay attention to how much of your diet is opinion. Focus on facts and analysis. And beware “analysis” that use anecdotes as evidence, with no data.
… AND NARRATIVE BRAIN
Your therapist and eastern philosophy both tell you all that the stories in your head are fiction.
Our brains crave narrative logic. This is what makes it so easy to create stories out of thin air. For example:
An anti-vaxxer is suspicious of big pharma's motives (as opposed to studying a vaccine’s efficacy)
A senate confirmation hearing focuses on a nominee's beliefs and intentions (as opposed to focusing on their actions).
A Ferrari cuts you off in traffic, and you instantly know the “kind” of person that driver is.
It’s satisfying to tell stories. It literally addictive (more on that next time). But, it is not reality. Avoid news that focuses on character drama and don’t try "analyze" events by trying to read people's minds and guessing at intentions. If you can’t read your spouses’s mind, you certainly can’t read the mind of politician or celebrity.
MAKE NEW FRIENDS
Your current friends don’t do you any favors.
Another tidbit from Truth Decay — polarization is both a cause and driver of misinformation. The more polarized we are, the more we accept things just because they confirm our worldview.
Sadly, polarization has been increasing in America since the sixties. We just keep sorting ourselves into social and informational bubbles. And the internet has made that process worse by making it more efficient.
In other words, the people you hang out with (IRL and online) are, more often than not, just reflections of yourself — and they’re hardening your mind to a particular point of view.
Ask yourself this — have your political views moved toward or away from the middle over the past several years? (I've got $10 on the latter).
Remember, our brains wants to validate our behavior. Be skeptical of people that confirm your preconceived notions, and curious about people that don’t.
Be part of the solution — get out of your bubble and make new friends.
DON’T FORGET BOOKS
The news may tell you what chess pieces moved, but not how the game is played.
Remember Enron? At the time, I followed news about Enron like a hawk, must've read a hundred articles on it. But I didn't really “get it” till I read the book, The Smartest Guys in the Room. It didn’t just help me understand Enron, it also helped me better understand all the business news I’ve read since.
Take some of the time you’d spend with the news (or a comedy version of it), and read some books about it instead. Try something current, like Barbara Demick’s or Michael Lewis' work, or go way back... Chernow's Hamilton still applies today.
COVER YOUR COUGH
Don't have an itchy trigger finger.
If you just read something, and have the urge to retweet, post, or text it, hold off until the thrill dies. It can't be that urgent.
If it got you even a little worked up, why do you want to pass on the mania?
Just as we all need to better stewards of the environment, or the public health by wearing masks, we all need to be better stewards of the information ecosystem.
Remember:
Thank you for being here.
Please forward this issue to the friend who sends you the craziest stuff. And hit the ♡ button.
With gratitude,
— Upendra
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. — H.H. the Dalai Lama XIV
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