"Being older was associated with lower susceptibility to misinformation in every country except in Mexico."
Very interesting that this study correlates age with an inverse susceptibility to misinformation, given a wealth of studies correlating age with an increase in heuristic reliance, a susceptibility to exploitation & reduction in skepticism, etc.
In other words, doesn't this data fly in the face of the American tropes about our American elderly and FOX/Sinclair/sensationalized news? Something seems off.
' "Being older was associated with lower susceptibility to misinformation in every country except in Mexico." '
Sooner or later, I'll think research will find that this has precious little to do with age, rather it's more to do with the education people received when young. It wasn't until around the late 1970s or early '80s that postmodernism (or the worst bits of it) infiltrated our schools. That's when postmodernism's pushers reclassified concepts and kids were taught that things and ideas ceased to have absolute states or values such as true or false or black or white, or that logic really wasn't that logical after all—instead everything was deemed to be just various shades of grey and or 'possible maybes'. That this 'logic' was forced on such young minds until it became mantra is, in my opinion, treason committed upon society.
The tragedy is that at the time those of us who knew better either didn't notice what was happening or thought it was nonsense that would soon pass. Unfortunately, it didn't. Like the frog in ever-increasingly warm water, we were oblivious to the fact.
Fortunately, most of my education was before that time so it's obvious to me what's happened. What I still don't quite understand is why nowadays this inability to reason is so profound and widespread. How is it that so many people are afflicted with this lack-of-thinking 'disease'? [What I'm reasonably certain about is that the kids I went to school with wouldn't have been as gullible or taken in as easily. I base this on the comparatively high standard of formal debates we often had at school and the cogent reactions of the kids to those debates (both those on and off the debating teams). We were in fact taught to think logically!]
I'm far from being in the genius class, and I'm not bullet-proof against gullibility nor am I completely impervious to bullshit either, but I've not the slightest trouble seeing through most of this crap and nonsense. So what gives? In the absence of instruction or education, are people truly this naïve and naturally so (in the a priori sense that is)? I would have thought that with evolution/survival of the fittest at play, we humans would have inherited more nous than it appears that we actually have. Does anyone really know the answer to these questions, or is it now a matter for serious research?
That many people cannot correlate straightforward information and or reason their way though a problem as simple as 'the mask problem/the effectiveness of masks' is very serious and an utter tragedy for society. What truly frightens me is that this is a good indicator of how thinly both the veils of civilization and education hang over us. It really does signify to me that it wouldn't take many catastrophic or cataclysmic events for civilization to return to the dark ages—a time when society once again starts worshiping various idols or performs sacrifices to appease the gods as the Incas once did.
This ought to be a wake-up call to those of us who are in the know but who've been living in a state of somnolence and apathy over the past 30 to 40 or so years.
In my neighbourhood, there are a lot of older people wandering about without masks.
Nearly all young / teen people are wearing masks and even when hanging around the park, or are at the very least keeping a distance when outside. A lot of people keep distance by going to the far edge of the sidewalk or even walking in the grass when passing each other on the street. The youngest kids are pretty much entirely wearing masks everywhere outdoors, except at very local spots, like the common areas of an apartment building where 2 or 3 kids might be playing together not wearing them. But by and large, young people are taking it seriously at least for now.
Unsurprisingly almost the only time I see young people not taking precautions, they are with their parents who are also not taking precautions.
I actually find it rather surprising that the people who are apparently in the highest risk group, at least around my area, are also visibly the least likely to be taking care to avoid catching it. They aren't even trying to keep distance. It's like they feel like they're specifically immune. Literally the older they are, the less likely they are to mask up in public walkways, etc.
I should note that I live in a Covid-19 hotspot, and we're in "modified Level 2 restrictions" conditions right now because of it.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 20.8 ms ] threadVery interesting that this study correlates age with an inverse susceptibility to misinformation, given a wealth of studies correlating age with an increase in heuristic reliance, a susceptibility to exploitation & reduction in skepticism, etc.
In other words, doesn't this data fly in the face of the American tropes about our American elderly and FOX/Sinclair/sensationalized news? Something seems off.
Sooner or later, I'll think research will find that this has precious little to do with age, rather it's more to do with the education people received when young. It wasn't until around the late 1970s or early '80s that postmodernism (or the worst bits of it) infiltrated our schools. That's when postmodernism's pushers reclassified concepts and kids were taught that things and ideas ceased to have absolute states or values such as true or false or black or white, or that logic really wasn't that logical after all—instead everything was deemed to be just various shades of grey and or 'possible maybes'. That this 'logic' was forced on such young minds until it became mantra is, in my opinion, treason committed upon society.
The tragedy is that at the time those of us who knew better either didn't notice what was happening or thought it was nonsense that would soon pass. Unfortunately, it didn't. Like the frog in ever-increasingly warm water, we were oblivious to the fact.
Fortunately, most of my education was before that time so it's obvious to me what's happened. What I still don't quite understand is why nowadays this inability to reason is so profound and widespread. How is it that so many people are afflicted with this lack-of-thinking 'disease'? [What I'm reasonably certain about is that the kids I went to school with wouldn't have been as gullible or taken in as easily. I base this on the comparatively high standard of formal debates we often had at school and the cogent reactions of the kids to those debates (both those on and off the debating teams). We were in fact taught to think logically!]
I'm far from being in the genius class, and I'm not bullet-proof against gullibility nor am I completely impervious to bullshit either, but I've not the slightest trouble seeing through most of this crap and nonsense. So what gives? In the absence of instruction or education, are people truly this naïve and naturally so (in the a priori sense that is)? I would have thought that with evolution/survival of the fittest at play, we humans would have inherited more nous than it appears that we actually have. Does anyone really know the answer to these questions, or is it now a matter for serious research?
That many people cannot correlate straightforward information and or reason their way though a problem as simple as 'the mask problem/the effectiveness of masks' is very serious and an utter tragedy for society. What truly frightens me is that this is a good indicator of how thinly both the veils of civilization and education hang over us. It really does signify to me that it wouldn't take many catastrophic or cataclysmic events for civilization to return to the dark ages—a time when society once again starts worshiping various idols or performs sacrifices to appease the gods as the Incas once did.
This ought to be a wake-up call to those of us who are in the know but who've been living in a state of somnolence and apathy over the past 30 to 40 or so years.
Nearly all young / teen people are wearing masks and even when hanging around the park, or are at the very least keeping a distance when outside. A lot of people keep distance by going to the far edge of the sidewalk or even walking in the grass when passing each other on the street. The youngest kids are pretty much entirely wearing masks everywhere outdoors, except at very local spots, like the common areas of an apartment building where 2 or 3 kids might be playing together not wearing them. But by and large, young people are taking it seriously at least for now.
Unsurprisingly almost the only time I see young people not taking precautions, they are with their parents who are also not taking precautions.
I actually find it rather surprising that the people who are apparently in the highest risk group, at least around my area, are also visibly the least likely to be taking care to avoid catching it. They aren't even trying to keep distance. It's like they feel like they're specifically immune. Literally the older they are, the less likely they are to mask up in public walkways, etc.
I should note that I live in a Covid-19 hotspot, and we're in "modified Level 2 restrictions" conditions right now because of it.