Foolproof Quotes

“Whereas lies and fake news tend to be simple and sticky, science is often presented as nuanced and complex.”
― Sander Van Der Linden, Foolproof: Why We Fall for Misinformation and How to Build Immunity

“The 2021 attack on the United States Capitol, which sought to challenge Joe Biden’s presidential victory, is a chilling reminder of the damage that a misinformed crowd can inflict.”
― Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity

“at a basic cognitive level we are all susceptible to misinformation.”
― Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity

“Identify and prebunk the Six Degrees of Manipulation (DEPICT) Discrediting, emotion, polarization, impersonation, conspiracy, and trolling.”
― Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity

“Why give illegal immigrants access to social services? Why should we help illegals when we should be helping homeless Americans instead?”
― Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity

“After several conversations and trips to Whitehall it became clear that the FCO had an interest in strengthening media literacy around the world.”
― Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity

“The motivations behind why people spread fake news professionally are usually either financial or political.”
― Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity

“One way to incentivize accuracy over social motivations when it comes to matters of fact is to pay people for the correct answer. That’s right: facts are for sale. In these experiments people are often told that the more answers they get correct (including political questions), the higher the pay. So, what happens when money is on the table? Well, more people answered the factual questions correctly. We have replicated these findings in our own lab as well. When you offer partisans (committed members of a political party) a monetary reward for giving correct answers, they make fewer errors, and this reduces political bias on both sides. This implies that at least some people initially answered based on their political motivations, but that doesn’t mean they don’t know the actual answer.¶ When properly incentivized, people are willing to temporarily forego their ideological commitments. But paying the whole population to be accurate could get quite expensive, so how about just using evidence?”
― Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity

“For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying,’ ADOLF HITLER, Mein Kampf (1925)”
― Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity

“Regardless of whether the statement was true or false, belief in the truth of the claim went up as a function of repetition. In other words, the more often you hear a statement, the more ‘true’ it sounds. This became known as the illusory truth effect.”
― Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity