Department of Linguistics, School of Languages, Linguistics and Film, Queen Mary University London.
Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge.
Perspect Psychol Sci. 2023 Nov;18(6):1436-1463. doi: 10.1177/17456916221141344. Epub 2023 Feb 16.
In the last decade there has been a proliferation of research on misinformation. One important aspect of this work that receives less attention than it should is exactly why misinformation is a problem. To adequately address this question, we must first look to its speculated causes and effects. We examined different disciplines (computer science, economics, history, information science, journalism, law, media, politics, philosophy, psychology, sociology) that investigate misinformation. The consensus view points to advancements in information technology (e.g., the Internet, social media) as a main cause of the proliferation and increasing impact of misinformation, with a variety of illustrations of the effects. We critically analyzed both issues. As to the effects, misbehaviors are not yet reliably demonstrated empirically to be the outcome of misinformation; correlation as causation may have a hand in that perception. As to the cause, advancements in information technologies enable, as well as reveal, multitudes of interactions that represent significant deviations from ground truths through people's new way of knowing (intersubjectivity). This, we argue, is illusionary when understood in light of historical epistemology. Both doubts we raise are used to consider the cost to established norms of liberal democracy that come from efforts to target the problem of misinformation.
在过去的十年中，关于错误信息的研究层出不穷。这项工作的一个重要方面得到的关注不如应有的那么多，那就是错误信息为什么是一个问题。为了充分解决这个问题，我们必须首先研究其推测的原因和影响。我们研究了不同的学科（计算机科学、经济学、历史学、信息科学、新闻学、法学、媒体学、政治学、哲学、心理学、社会学）对错误信息的研究。共识观点指出，信息技术的进步（例如互联网、社交媒体）是错误信息传播和影响日益增大的主要原因，并列举了各种影响的例子。我们对这两个问题进行了批判性分析。至于影响，错误行为还没有被可靠地证明是错误信息的结果；将相关性视为因果关系可能在这种认知中起了作用。至于原因，信息技术的进步既促成了大量的互动，也揭示了这些互动，这些互动通过人们新的认知方式（主体间性）代表了对事实真相的重大偏离。从历史认识论的角度来看，我们认为这是一种幻觉。我们提出的这两个疑问都被用来考虑针对错误信息问题的努力对自由民主的既定规范造成的代价。
