Wednesday, May 08, 2019
Slight signs of improvement?
From the headline on this sciencey item I made an automatic and valid assumption.
Headline: Source credibility is key to derailing fake news
Automatic and valid assumption: CNN is credible. CIA is credible. Hillary is credible. Michael Mann is credible. All facts about Nature and human tendencies are INFINITELY FAKE AND MUST BE EXTERMINATED EXTERMINATED EXTERMINATED EXTERMINATED EXTERMINATED.
WRONG ASSUMPTION!
Remarkably and uniquely, this study handles REAL FACTS ABOUT REAL HUMANS, and treats REAL FACTS as credible.
The experiments ranged from using video games and narratives of intergroup conflicts to studies featuring an individual named Kevin. Researchers used Kevin to assess how attitudes toward him changed depending on what information was provided. In one experiment, Kevin was depicted positively. Participants were then told something disturbing, including that he had been arrested for abusing his wife. Researchers found that when news about the arrest came from police reports, gut-level attitudes toward Kevin immediately became more negative. But when that information was attributed to a friend of Kevin's ex-girlfriend, participants retained their positive attitude toward Kevin.Remarkable! For the first time in several decades, a "social" "science" experiment (1) USED real facts as part of its material, (2) gave the subjects a CHANCE to base judgments on real facts, (3) graded the subjects correctly, and (4) published the result instead of trashing it. All other "social" "science" would fail at step 1. ¶ 10:27 PM
