by GRBurst on 9/1/21, 8:31 AM with 49 comments
I continuously have discussions with loved ones, that are affected by fake news regarding the current covid-19 pandemic.
It is really difficult do argue with them, because they are well informed in their bubble and have a lot of arguments that are hard to counter. I don't have the time to counter-proof every single fallacy.
I observed that all these people frequently get new posts and even longer videos. They use these to let me 'understand' their point of view. Watching these videos to have a basis to discuss on is time consuming, too. There are fewer videos to counter these - and in my experience just sending back counter videos does not help to convince them.
Have you experienced similar problems? Did you find a practical solution for your situation?
by proc0 on 9/1/21, 9:03 AM
by jameal on 9/1/21, 3:25 PM
An interesting approach worth looking into is motivational interviewing:
> The central premise: Instead of trying to force other people to change, you’re better off helping them find their own intrinsic motivation to change. You do that by interviewing them — asking open-ended questions and listening carefully — and holding up a mirror so they can see their own thoughts more clearly. If they express a desire to change, you guide them toward a plan.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/opinion/change-someones-m...
by giantg2 on 9/1/21, 11:10 AM
Make your argument and give them your sources, once. If they don't buy it, then just drop it. There's usually no convincing them because they're committed to their position and will just continually defend it. Even pointing out incorrect facts and giving them counterpoints doesn't seem to work.
by akudha on 9/1/21, 11:22 AM
Our energy is better spent on people who are on the fence, because their sources are weak (giving them better logic/sources might be enough in some cases). Also because they’re willing to listen, despite their skepticism.
Can you sway a hard core democrat or a hardcore republican to engage in constructive debate with the other side? Likely not, and even if you did, you’d end up spending an enormous amount of time and effort - which would likely be better spent on the people who are on the fence, for better ROI on your time.
Of course it sucks when the people affected by fake news are your friends and family :(
by kubanczyk on 9/1/21, 12:01 PM
(To share it with anyone you'd probably need to find a more readable version. This one has a lot of idiosyncrasies.)
Some authors decide their conclusion first and then formulate arguments later. This produces content which looks kinda rigorous on its face and it's really hard to beat, because each argument is legit when taken alone.
If you try to respond by writing a balanced version, your story has nowhere the "clarity" plus it takes 10x the time. So you respond in kind by creating an opposite message the same way as the original one was conceived, and thus the cycle completes. All fake news.
We cannot see into the author's mind, so it's not really possible to detect that dirty trick. It is a matter of trust initially, and a matter of reputation later on.
But every message which has a very clear conclusion is suspect, because if you actually gather all the arguments, they can seldom be stuffed into a nice and clear-cut result. Every message, including this one. Every author, including you and me.
All this might get your loved ones into more healthy skepticism. I wouldn't hold my breath though.
by wil421 on 9/1/21, 10:23 AM
Someone I know said their doctor told them he wouldn’t give the the vaccine if she was his sister for fear of becoming sterile. Sigh, I said it might be time to get a new doctor.
by svjatoslav on 9/1/21, 3:59 PM
https://meltingasphalt.com/crony-beliefs/
Spoiler: It is primarily about hidden self interest. But people will never admit it and will argue using any information they can find to support their goal. So it is pointless to attack with logic based counter arguments. Identify and counter actual self interest of the opponent instead.
by kleer001 on 9/1/21, 1:59 PM
I'm far too disagreeable to perform the empathy dance and they're too old and stubborn and functionally illiterate to boot to listen or understand that they've swallowed propaganda.
by toto444 on 9/1/21, 11:48 AM
by tibbydudeza on 9/1/21, 10:59 AM
by tomklein on 9/1/21, 8:41 AM
In my opinion, it‘s just not worth after having spent some time trying to discuss it with them. Especially when they don’t provide any backed arguments but just „random“ statements
by noud on 9/1/21, 9:30 AM
In my opinion, I think it's better not to have too many opinions in general. This is one of the few opinions I have. It seems like our brain wants to have opinions on everything. But often the topics we want to have an opinion on are much more complex than we might think they are. To form a good opinion on the topic you must be able to understand a lot of the ins and outs of the topic. That takes a lot of effort. This is what fake news (and probably also correct news) abuses. It tries to form an over-hasty, sometimes completely wrong, opinion on a topic that's very complex to understand. Most people don't take the time to understand the complexity of the topic, and therefore think that this fake news opinion is the correct opinion. For most it takes too much effort to understand exactly how it works to realize that their opinion is not correct. Or even worse, there are many topics that probably don't have a correct opinion: are their more universes, what will the weather be in 10 years, will the stock market go up or down next year? Nobody can tell, even not the experts. I think that the only way to win the argument, is not participating. Just let it pass and let the experts (who have spend their whole life on it) deal with the issue.
For example, do you understand how mRNA vaccines work? How mRNA is transferred in lipi nanoparticles where ribosomes produce viral antigens? How cytotoxic T cells and T helper cells bind to the secretory vesicles to create a viral response? I sure know that I don't understand it, and it will take me months, maybe years, of deliberate practice to understand how mRNA vaccines works. I probably need a PhD in adaptive immune systems to understand this topic completely and for a good opinion. So I decide not to form an opinion about it. I trust the experts, who spend their whole life working on mRNA vaccines, to be right. If someone else has the opinion that mRNA vaccines don't work or are dangerous, fine, they can have their opinion. It's good to be (self-)critical sometimes. But I'm not in a position to argue with them, because I'm not an expert on the matter, nor do I have the time and (probably) the brains to understand this complex topic completely.
by markus_zhang on 9/1/21, 2:44 PM
by murm on 9/1/21, 10:59 AM
Unfortunately, I don't have any solutions. This seems like a viciously hard problem. I saw a VICE clip[0] about some survivors of covid-19 in an ICU, and even after going through a near-death experience firsthand they were still hesitant about taking the vaccine. This suggests to me that this issue originates somewhere too deep in the lizard brain to just be reasoned with using the real facts.
by hevalon on 9/1/21, 11:10 AM
I'm on a similar situation myself too; in my case my loved ones are well educated (physicists and biologists), and aged (over 60s & 70s).
You need to change your perspective and realise that for them, you are the person that believes on "fake news". During my talks with them, I've tried lots of different approaches to demystify some of their arguments; I made my own plots based on open data for COVID-19, I used well-sourced articles from newspapers or even published white papers, until I realised that the matter is based on opinionated believes rather than a lack of fact-checked information.
Now, I'm treating these conversations similarly to having a political discussion; there are some parts that we both disagree and this is fine, but we also have some grey areas that we can discuss further about. The fact that I'm also "challenging" myself with alternative questions and perspectives, I think it makes me better to do a better data-search for the next time.
Having said that, what I do respect the most on them is the fact that they try to seek their own personal opinion. But "popularised science" in ongoing matters is hard to find, thus the only easy-to-digest content is through groups and videos that carry-on with promoting misinformation; news that are not fact-check but only based on opinions (usually political driven).
So as you mentioned, the main problem is the lack of fact-checking popularised sources & channels. One example that does exist is "TL;DR; News" [1].
by j780 on 9/1/21, 10:04 AM
I didn't get the opportunity to use that in person.. let me know how it goes ;)
by muzani on 9/1/21, 10:56 AM
Don't guide them with facts. Guide them to seek the truth. There's a reason they're avoiding truth. Fix that.
In my case, what works is asking them to seek God for advice. If they die from someone's bad advice, then the angels will ask them why they chose to follow that advice when their hearts told them otherwise. If they follow God's advice and died, then it's just their time and they'd be judged as martyrs for following it.
Everyone I've said that to later took the vaccine. It doesn't have to be religious, but appeal to their highest morality, not yours.
by oldsklgdfth on 9/1/21, 4:44 PM
It's jam packed with information. Hope it helps.
[0] https://youarenotsosmart.com/2021/08/23/yanss-213-how-to-imp...
by megamix on 9/1/21, 12:29 PM
by menduza23 on 9/1/21, 10:11 AM
I wish people could see how their freedom is being taken away everyday and anything that goes against big pharma is labelled fake news.
I'm certain if you speak out against the CCP killing off Uyghurs in China then that is labeled as "fake news" in China.
I'm almost certain this comment will get flagged. Which will prove my point even more.
by redis_mlc on 9/1/21, 9:52 AM
Examples of fake news repeated on HN:
- corona wasn't a lab leak
- Jan. 6 protesters killed 5 people (4 were natural causes, 1 was by Capitol police.)
- Marxism "is the majority" and gives you the right to cancel other people.
- masks prevent corona transmission (the most common masks are only 5% effective.)
So how do we prevent HN from repeating fake news?
by xuhu on 9/1/21, 10:34 AM
by IssDKiXeBI on 9/1/21, 12:21 PM
There are quite a few posts like this on reddit, but they often lack in empathy and are simply screenshots that aren't as convincing as a page with history/photos/etc.
I'm wondering if compiling such a list online is feasible from ethical and legal stand points.
by dnh44 on 9/1/21, 9:40 AM
Additionally, media, both mainstream and alternative, are adding fuel to the fire because it means more clicks.
Normally in a situation where people can't agree I would suggest that you first try to find common ground and build from there. What I did was to find an occurrence where "my side" has been wrong and "theirs" has been right; then we did the opposite.
This was a great starting point for future conversations. And by conversations I mean dialectical ones rather than rhetorical.