How do we know what we know (again)? ◦ Attitudes and beliefs ◦ Four categories of beliefs
How do we know what we know (again)? ◦ Five kinds of beliefs
Links between the psychological and the social ◦ Perception, cognition, and knowledge ◦ Operator game Fallibility of eyewitness testimony A general lack of
Science under attack! ◦ One person’s fact… The challenge of a 24-hour media culture ◦ Manipulating images and information to distort or mislead
More niches than ever before We can indulge our biases We can confirm existing beliefs But more connections can lead to less information! ◦ “closeted view of the world” ◦ “seeking out others who share our view”
Cognitive dissonance ◦ Selective exposure, defined ◦ Brock and Balloun experiment We’re not just limited to those who share our geographic location… Not just the “hard” news… Not just information, but people, too!
of the message ◦ Lowin’s experiment, and who is more picky Weak and strong consonant messages Weak and strong dissonant messages ◦ harbor greater partisan selectivity in their news sources Right-leaning blogs tend to cite other right- leaning blogs. Left-leaning blogs are more open… It’s not that Liberals don’t…
Creating a competing narrative Using media fragmentation ◦ Social networks to spread information
Democrats and Republicans viewed the ads in different ways Two competing versions of reality! ◦ “Shared truths” Limited exposure to these messages to the “believers”
Why? 1 st article appeared 3 months after the 1 st press conference ◦ Front door and other doors… ◦
◦ Going to outlets where you were more likely to reach those who already agree with your message ◦ Selective exposure and ignoring the “facts” The future ◦ 501 (c) (3) ◦ 501 (c) (4)