KNOWLEDGE RESISTANCE

There are people who truly believe that the earth is flat, that the moon landing was faked, and that lizard people control the world. The overwhelming amount of scientific proof does nothing to convince them otherwise. The term used to describe this is knowledge resistance. We resist facts and evidence and instead we choose to believe what we want to believe. Knowledge resistance can be explained by taking a closer look at how our brains are wired to take in information.

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Let’s say that you come across an article about someone who believes the earth to be flat, and your interest is piqued. You proceed to type “flat earth” in your search bar to find more information and click on a few links where so called “flat earthers” explain their theory. The content recommendations you get will rank information about the earth being flat higher, because this is the information you sought out. When the same information is repeated over and over, we tend to believe it – even if it’s completely false. This phenomenon is called the illusory truth effect. False information gives the illusion of being accurate, just by being repeated enough times.

Confirmation Bias and the Backfire Effect

Now imagine that your investigation into flat earth theory has made you question the shape of our planet: It’s not round, it’s a disc! Most likely you’ll seek out and trust information that confirms this belief, while dismissing any contradicting views. This psychological phenomenon is called confirmation bias. We like to be right, so when someone agrees with us, we believe them.

Have you ever had a disagreement with a parent or sibling when you knew that they might be right, but you stood your ground and refused to admit it? The backfire effect is a common psychological phenomenon to describe what happens when people are forced to defend their ideas or beliefs. Instead of changing their point of view it backfires, and their conviction is strengthened.

Does it matter what we believe?

The amount of information we are subjected to requires us to be critical of the sources we use, and to be aware of some of the pitfalls when we process information. Perhaps it doesn’t seem like a big deal if you believe that NASA has lied about the shape of our planet, but constantly distrusting official sources or science can be dangerous. If come across stöter på piqued väckt sought out sökte efter phenomenon fenomen illusory truth effect illusorisk sanningseffekt, skenbar sanning accurate korrekt confirmation bias bekräftelsefördom sibling syskon backfire slår slint, baktänder dismissing avfärdar contradicting motstridiga stood your ground stod på dig subjected to utsätts för pitfalls fallgropar distrusting misstror you believe that the government is poisoning you with medicines, then you might not get the treatment you need. If you believe inaccurate information about climate change, why would you make an effort to reduce or recycle waste? If you believe that elections are rigged, why bother with voting, or even respecting democracy?

U.S poll in 2019:

4% believe that reptilians control the world.

6% believe that the moon landing was faked.

15% believe that the government adds secret mind controlling technology to television broadcast signals.

16% believe that the Earth is flat.

Reading comprehension

1. What can you do to avoid confirmation bias?

2. What can you do to avoid the backfire effect?

3. Have you ever reposted something online without being sure if it was true? Why?

4. What would you say to prove to a conspiracy theorist that the earth is not flat? Discuss in class.

5. Are you surprised by the results of the 2019 poll? Do you think a Swedish poll would show similar results? Why/why not?

6. Search online using the phrases “Is the earth a sphere?” and “Is the earth flat?”. Compare the search results.

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