Resisting the Knowledge Dementors: The Truth about "Post Truth" with Prof. Stephan Lewandowsky

Resisting the Knowledge Dementors:
The Truth about "Post-Truth"

with Prof. Stephan Lewandowsky
Thursday, 7th July 2021 at 7:00pm

We are said to live in a “post-truth” era in which “fake news” has replaced real information, denial has compromised science, and the ontology of knowledge and truth has taken on a relativist element. I argue that to defend evidence-based reasoning and knowledge against those attacks, we must understand the strategies by which the post-truth world is driven forward. I depart from the premise that the post-truth era did not arise spontaneously but is the result of a highly effective political movement that deploys a large number of rhetorical strategies. I focus on three strategies: The deployment of conspiracy theories, the use of “micro-targeting” and “bots” online, and agenda-setting by attentional diversion. I present evidence for the existence of each strategy and its impact, and how it might be countered.

Professor Stephan Lewandowsky is a cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol. He was an Australian Professorial Fellow from 2007 to 2012, and was awarded a Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council in 2011. He held a Revesz Visiting Professorship at the University of Amsterdam in 2012, and received a Wolfson Research Merit Fellowship from the Royal Society upon moving to the UK in 2013. He was appointed a Fellow of the Academy of Social Science (UK) and a Fellow of the Association of Psychological Science in 2017. In 2016, he was appointed a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry for his commitment to science, rational inquiry and public education. In 2019, he received a Humboldt Research Award from the Humboldt Foundation in Germany. His research examines people’s memory, decision making, and knowledge structures, with a particular emphasis on how people update their memories if information they believe turn out to be false. This has led him to examine the persistence of misinformation and spread of “fake news” in society, including conspiracy theories. He is particularly interested in the variables that determine whether or not people accept scientific evidence, for example surrounding vaccinations or climate science. His interest in the cognitive implications of climate change, and the conflict between human cognition and the physics of the global climate, has led im into research in climate science and climate modeling. As a result of his work in climate science he was appointed Visiting Scientist at the CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere laboratory in Hobart, Tasmania, in August 2017. He has published more than 220 scholarly articles, chapters, and books, including numerous papers on how people respond to corrections of misinformation and what variables determine people’s acceptance of scientific findings. Professor Lewandowsky also frequently appears in print and broadcast media and has contributed nearly 90 opinion pieces to the global media on issues related to his research.

Useful Links:
cogsciwa.com
bristol.ac.uk/psychology/research/posttruthexperts

Our new study presents the first empirical evidence that President Trump’s tweets systematically divert attention away from topics that are potentially harmful to him, write Ullrich Ecker, Michael Jetter and Stephan Lewandowsky for The Conversation.

Conspiracy theories about COVID-19, such as those advanced in the video 'Plandemic,' tend to pull from the same playbook. Recognizing that can help keep you from falling for this kind of thinking, write John Cook, Sander van der Linden, Stephan Lewandowsky and Ullrich Ecker for The Conversation.

Conspiracy theories and misinformation about coronavirus damage society in a number of ways, writes Stephan Lewandowsky for The Conversation.

The best way to inoculate the public against climate disinformation campaigns is to tell them what's coming, write Stephan Lewandowsky and John Hunter for The Conversation.

The 'anti-woke helpline' Counterweight launched in a flurry of uncritical media interviews, but are less forthcoming when it comes to answering reasonable questions from critics, writes Aaron Rabinowitz for The Skeptic.

Ongoing public belief in the idea of repressed memories suggests that the so-called Memory Wars are not yet over, and that the Satanic Panic could happen again, writes Chris French for The Skeptic.

Times of crisis magnify the dangers of misinformation - in Singapore, those dangers are compounded by a digital skills gap between generations - writes Ethel Lim for The Skeptic.

From Frank Zappa to Stevie Wonder to Genesis, Brian Eggo charts the often surprising skeptical contributions from the world of pop for The Skeptic.

Join host Andy Wilson and guests for a live-streamed episode of the skeptical-themed panel show InKredulous. This event, which was streamed live on 1st July 2021, is now available for catch up on the SitP Online YouTube channel.

Catch up with Cambridge Skeptics: Live! as Andrew explains what we can learn from the flat earth community. This event, which was streamed live on 29th June 2021, is now available for catch up on the Cambridge Skeptics YouTube channel.

Cambridge Skeptics is a not-for-profit community organisation run by volunteers. To support our online presence during the pandemic, we are currently looking for:

Blog / Newsletter Contributors
Social Media Posters
Online Events Co-ordinators

Please get in touch if you'd like to get involved.
info@cambridgeskeptics.org.uk

GROUPS WE COLLABORATE WITH

We are a coalition of UK-based Skeptics groups. Formed as the COVID-19 pandemic brought our country to a standstill, we are working to deliver high-quality online events focusing on Science, reason, and critical thinking. Every Thursday at 7 pm BST, you will find us presenting live-streamed talks, all for free – you don’t even need to create an account. Simply open up twitch.tv/sitp. Take a look at our events, past and future, we’re sure you’ll see a lot of content you will find interesting.

The Good Thinking Society is a nonprofit organisation promoting scientific scepticism established by Simon Singh in September 2012. The society aims to raise awareness of and fund sceptical projects. The goal of the society is 'to encourage curiosity and promote rational thinking'. In partnership with its advisory board the organisation has run several successful campaigns promoting public awareness of such issues. To find out more about The Good Thinking Society, please visit www.goodthinkingsociety.org.

The Cambridge Humanist Group is a welcoming and diverse community of atheists and secularists. We are committed to good company and a good life without religion. We stand up for the right of non-believers to be free from imposition by religious views and organisations. We run Sunday coffee mornings at CB2 Bistro, hold a pub social at a central Cambridge venue on most 1st Thursdays of the month, hold discussions and various social events throughout the year.

The Cambridge Alehouse Philosophers are a group of people who enjoy talking about ideas, and who are philosophically inclined or would like to find out more about philosophy. Once per month, one of our members will prepare a short talk for the evening and discussions will start to spin off from that; we also have organised debates; otherwise, we simply meet up for a sociable chat. Everyone is welcome, we have absolute beginners to philosophy as well as people who been involved in the subject for some time.

The effective altruism community is a global community of people who care deeply about the world, make benefiting others a significant part of their lives, and use evidence and reason to figure out how best to do so. In Cambridge, our local effective altruism community runs plenty of events each week, including lectures, workshops, discussion groups, socials and trips away.

Cambridge Skeptics is a not-for-profit community organisation run by volunteers. The organisation aims to promote science, positive skepticism and critical thinking skills via public engagement.