Issue managers and communication professionals have to deal with them every day: people who seem to genuinely believe ideas about science and technology that are simply wrong. And social media helps spread this “untelligence” at breakneck speed to potentially influence millions.
However, this is not just about a witty neologism. “Untelligence” concerns a much more fundamental problem which inhibits informed discussion and cannot be dismissed as simply another manifestation of fake news.
Communicating difficult scientific concepts or nuanced medical issues is hard enough. But it is made even harder when millions of people are influenced by false information and anti-science. And it’s certainly not helped when, for example, the president of the United States declares that noise from windfarms causes cancer (it doesn’t) or suggests injecting disinfectant may be a treatment for coronavirus (it isn’t).
So how does this “untelligence” spread? We know from research at MIT that false news on Twitter proliferates faster and wider than stories which are independently verified. And we know from research at Iowa State that Russian trolls have deliberately planted anti-GMO messages around the world as part of a campaign to inflame divisive issues in the West to promote distrust of government, large corporations and experts. Indeed, The New York Times says Russia has also been very active in promoting the anti-5G conspiracy.
Yet it’s all too easy to blame outsiders. The news media is also at least partly to blame for the promotion of non-scientific information. It might seem harmless when they devote space to the efforts by rapper B.o.B. to prove the Earth is flat. But it can have real consequences.
Think back to when the Australian media lionised fake wellness blogger Belle Gibson and gave her a national platform to promote the dangerous lie that she used diet to cure her own cancer. Or when the American media made a business hero of Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, which cost investors millions when their claimed revolutionary’s new blood-testing technique proved to be a fraud.
In these pandemic times, we know that believers in false cures and false information about the virus crisis are risking their own lives and the lives of others around them.
For issue managers and science communicators, combatting false information is a daily responsibility which cannot be addressed by finger-pointing, no matter how satisfying that might be. It needs planned and persistent challenge and rebuttal.
And never forget: the public are generally not stupid. More likely, they are just wrong-headed or victims of “untelligence”.
This story is reprinted with permission from Managing Outcomes, a newsletter for people who work in issue and crisis management.
Tony Jaques is the director of Issue Outcomes.
Unfortunately some people are just stupid and modern education is woeful…
Are you sure it’s Russia controlling the bot farms? Maybe you should try to follow the money.
Aw, Tony was going along so well, until this;
“And we know from research at Iowa State that Russian trolls have deliberately planted anti-GMO messages around the world as part of a campaign to inflame divisive issues in the West to promote distrust of government, large corporations and experts.”
Go and look up why the Russian Duma banned GMO’s (and Monsanto) – in 2016. They did a helluva lot more than merely ‘troll’ about it!
Then, take a look around at all the ‘experts’ describing why everyone should ban GMO’s (and Monsanto).
If you want a couple of case studies to show why GMO’s (and Monsanto) should be banned, everywhere, I suggest taking a look at Ukraine and India.
You could even try, from deep in the heart of progressive Amerika – thenationdotcom/article/archive/twenty-six-countries-ban-gmos-why-wont-us/
“Twenty-Six Countries Ban GMOs—Why Won’t the US?”
“The case against GMOs has strengthened steadily over the last few years, even as the industry has expanded all over the world.”
That was 2013, 3 years before the Russians implemented the ban.
https://theconversation.com/people-with-coronavirus-are-at-risk-of-blood-clots-and-strokes-heres-what-we-know-so-far-137304://theconversation.com/amp/vietnam-has-reported-no-coronavirus-deaths-how-136646Latest news about Covid19 from Italy
It seems that the disease is being attacked worldwide.
Thanks to autopsies performed by the Italians … it has been shown that it is not pneumonia … but it is: disseminated intravascular coagulation (thrombosis).
Therefore, the way to fight it is with antibiotics, antivirals, anti-inflammatories and anticoagulants.
The protocols are being changed here since noon!
According to valuable information from Italian pathologists, ventilators and intensive care units were never needed.
If this is true for all cases, we are about to resolve it earlier than expected.
Important and new about Coranovirus:
Around the world, COVID-19 is being attacked wrongly due to a serious pathophysiological diagnosis error.
Th…
Links that work are handy. Although, links that don’t just require a little digital agility to overcome.
poynterdotorg/?ifcn_misinformation=autopsies-performed-by-the-italians-showed-that-covid-19-is-not-pneumonia-like-covid-is-disseminated-intravascular-coagulation-thrombosis-so-the-way-to-combat-it-is-with-antibiotics
FALSE: Autopsies performed by the Italians showed that COVID-19 is not pneumonia-like. COVID is disseminated intravascular coagulation (thrombosis). So the way to combat it is with antibiotics.
Explanation: Scientific studies published so far confirm that COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-COV-2 virus that affects the respiratory system and should not be treated with antibiotics. In addition, specialists point out that pulmonary thrombosis can further complicate the course of pneumonia.
This false claim originated from: Facebook
The #CoronavirusFacts database records fact-checks published since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic and its consequences are constantly evolving and data that was accurate weeks or even days ago might have changed. Remember to check the date when the fact-check you are reading was published before sharing it.”
Sound advice.
Where’d he go?
And, after such a long ‘windbag’ like contribution.
If ya’re gonna rave on, Peanut, at least present something credible in support.
Warned ya. Do ya homework! Pfft! ‘Facebook?!?!?’
Joke, right?
Good onya David. Pity though that we have to waste time slapping down this tr*ll. I’ve been doing it for months now, wondering increasingly why I bother. As I commented elsewhere (deleted by Crikey but I re-posted), he/she is: “a tr*ll, not an informed commentator. So how does one deal with a troll? One can try to reason with and inform him/her. If that fails treat him/her as a village idiot and try a bit of humour. If that fails then apply conventional wisdom and don’t feed it any more.” My time supporting Crikey is drawing to a close. I will apply the latter for the duration.
“Russian trolls have deliberately planted anti-GMO messages ”
Don’t need no Russian trolls for that, but I’ll take any help.
Plenty of science and commercial reasons for banning GMOs.