Overcoming conspiracy theories isn’t just about information. A scholar of religion explains that the emotions they inspire are part of their appeal.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Alternative facts
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Among the new president’s top priorities should be restoring faith in institutions and science.
Lying can be more than just telling a few fibs. It can also be used to communicate social status and make a person appear loyal to a particular group.
The origins of the post-truth age date back decades, but the real world is now fast fading from view.
The world faces a collision between facts and alternative facts – so how do experts get their message heard over the din of fake news?
Are Americans ready for a new media model? A new survey indicates that, surprisingly, those who are more willing to pay for news include women and the young.
Why don’t politicians just say what they mean? Because we might not like it.
As Orwell knew only too well, if the concept of objective truth is moved into the dustbin of history there can be no lies. And if there are no lies there can be no justice, no rights and no wrongs.
Will the arrival and popularity of Oculus Go and other VR systems make us think differently about alternative realities and so-called alternative facts?
In politics, alternative facts exist. And they always have.
People are hardwired to dismiss opposing views as ‘fake’.
Pundits have been keen to link post-truth to post-modernists, post-positivists or any other ‘postie’. They should turn their energy to forming a real popular front against Trump’s faux populism.
Populist movements are on the rise. Their supporters distrust the establishment, elites, authority and official sources. The post-truth world is a post-expert world.
Does science have an answer to science denial? Just as being vaccinated protects you from a later full-blown infection, a bit of misinformation explained could help ward off other cases down the road.
Despite the claims of populist politicians, academics and experts can drive positive social change.
The growth of new, vibrant, independent media sites and projects in South Africa have challenged conceptions of what a newsroom is. On limited budgets, some even fare better than mainstream media.
If you want to know how to spin alternative facts, just ask the PR gurus who kept the world smoking.
Today is the start of Science Meets Parliament, which helps our nation’s leaders embrace the latest scientific evidence.
Alternate realities don’t just exist in politics – and not all falsehoods are lies. Distortions of the truth can range from a normal part of human nature to pathological.
In Africa, the idea of a post-truth era - which by implication fundamentally presupposes the existence of an era in which ‘truth’ was self-evident - is folly.
Top contributors
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Research Assistant Professor, Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University
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Lecturer in Security Studies, Macquarie University
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Inaugural Director, ANU Grand Challenge, Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia Pacific, Australian National University
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Professor of International Relations, University of Sydney
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Research Associate, Griffith University
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Research Fellow, Tobacco Control Research Group, University of Bath
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Associate professor, Lund University
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Senior Research Fellow, University of Bath
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Michael Hintze Chair of International Security, University of Sydney
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Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Lecturer on Bioethics & Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University; and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine; Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, Psychiatric Times., Tufts University
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Professor and Head of Department of Political and Conflict Studies, Nelson Mandela University
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Professor of Public Engagement in Science, University of Birmingham
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Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Nottingham Trent University
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Professor of Media Industries, University of Nottingham
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Lecturer: Journalism and Media Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
