囧研究：假新聞也有好處？

Misinformation, fake news, and “alternative facts” are more prominent than ever. The Oxford Dictionary named “post-truth” as the 2016 word of the year. Science and scientific evidence have been under assault.

假消息、假新聞和“另類事實”比以往任何時候都更爲突出。2016年牛津詞典將“後真相”列爲了年度詞彙。科學及科學證據遭受質疑。

Fortunately, science does have a means to protect itself, and it comes from a branch of psychological research known as inoculation theory. This borrows from the logic of vaccines: A little bit of something bad helps you resist a full-blown case.

幸運的是，科學還有一種自保手段，即來自心理學研究分支的接種理論。這一理論借鑑了疫苗的原理：一些不好的東西反而有助於人體抵抗成形的疾病。

TWO WAYS MISINFORMATION DAMAGES

假消息的兩種危害

A recent study led by psychology researcher Sander van der Linden found that misinformation about climate change has a significant impact on public perceptions about climate change.

近日，心理學研究者桑德·範·得·林登牽頭的一項研究發現，關於氣候變化的假消息對公衆看待氣候變化具有重大影響。

I found similar results, with misinformation reducing people’s perception of the scientific consensus. Moreover, the misinformation affected some more than others. The more politically conservative a person was, the greater the influence of the misinformation.

本人也有類似的發現，即假消息削弱了人們對科學共識的認識。而且，某些人受到假消息的影響比其他人更大。例如，一個人政治上越保守，受假消息的影響就越大。

Figure 1. Response to misinformation about climate change.

圖1 對於氣候變化假消息的反應

Beyond misinforming people, misinformation has a more insidious and dangerous influence. It doesn’t just misinform. It stops people believing in facts.

假消息除了誤導人，還帶來更危險的潛在影響。它不只誤導，還阻礙人們相信事實。

SCIENCE’S answer TO SCIENCE DENIAL

“否定科學”的科學解釋

Inoculation theory takes the concept of vaccination, where we are exposed to a weak form of a virus in order to build immunity to the real virus, and applies it to knowledge.

接種理論採用疫苗接種的概念並將其應用於知識領域。疫苗接種就是讓人體感染弱化病毒，以獲得抵抗真正病毒的免疫力。

Inoculating text requires two elements. First, it includes an explicit warning about the danger of being misled by misinformation. Second, you need to provide counterarguments explaining the flaws in that misinformation.

接種信息需要涵蓋兩大元素。首先，需要明確警告受到假消息誤導的危險。其次，需要提供反駁依據，解釋假消息的漏洞。

I found that explaining the misinformation technique completely neutralized the misinformation’s influence, without even mentioning the misinformation specifically. Moreover, the misinformation was neutralized across the political spectrum. Whether you’re conservative or liberal, no one wants to be deceived by misleading techniques.

本人發現，無需專門提及具體的假消息內容，光是解釋假消息漏洞百出的方法便可以抵消其影響。而且，假消息對不同政治傾向的人羣的影響都會被抵消。不管保守派還是自由黨，沒有人願意被誤導人的方法欺騙到。

PUTTING INOCULATION INTO PRACTICE

接種理論引入實踐

Inoculation is a powerful and versatile form of science communication that can be used in a number of ways. My approach has been to mesh together the findings of inoculation with the cognitive psychology of debunking, developing the Fact-Myth-Fallacy framework.

接種理論作爲一種功能衆多且強大的科學解釋，用途十分廣泛。本人通過把接種理論的成果和揭露真相的認知心理學聯繫在一起，發展出一套“事實—迷思—謬誤”框架。

This strategy involves explaining the facts, followed by introducing a myth related to those facts. At this point, people are presented with two conflicting pieces of information. You reconcile the conflict by explaining the technique that the myth uses to distort the fact.

這一策略包括對事實進行解釋，然後引入與這些事實有關的迷思。這時，人們會看到兩個相互矛盾的信息。通過揭示迷思扭曲事實所採取的方法便可以化解矛盾。

Table 1. Denial101x lectures adhering to Fact-Myth-Fallacy structure.

表1 遵循“事實—迷思—謬誤”框架的“否定事實”入門課

Science has, in a moment of frankness, informed us that throwing more science at people isn’t the full answer to science denial. Misinformation is a reality that we can’t afford to ignore–we can’t be in denial about science denial. Rather, we should see it as an educational opportunity. Addressing misconceptions in the classroom is one of the most powerful ways to teach science.

科學明白地告訴我們，向人們灌輸更多的科學常識並不能完全解決否定科學的問題。我們無法忽視存在假消息的現實，我們不能否認存在否定科學的事實。相反，我們應該把它看成一個教育契機。課堂上闡釋誤解是教授科學的最有效方法之一。

It turns out the key to stopping science denial is to expose people to just a little bit of science denial.

事實證明，阻止否定科學的關鍵是讓人們看到一小部分對科學的否定。

（本文翻譯：Frank）