You Can Know Things How do we address the firehose of inaccurate information that is flooding the internet right now? It’s tempting to try to play whack-a-mole, tackling one rumor after another, and there is certainly value in addressing individual claims.
But emerging research shows a better (and less exhausting) method: “prebunking” — or teaching people to recognize the falsehood before they encounter them — is a very effective tool. If you can teach people to recognize the common rhetorical tricks that are used to sell falsehoods, they can identify them for themselves in the wild, instead of relying on scientists and doctors to chase down every individual claim, meme, or video (which is impossible).
Logical fallacies are at the root of many inaccurate health claims
Much of inaccurate health information sounds true because it uses common errors in reasoning called logical fallacies. These are short cuts in thinking — statements that seem true on the surface, but are often oversimplifications. We all use them (and fall for them) from time to time, but once you recognize the pattern, it’s easier to identify when a claim doesn’t actually hold up to scrutiny.
RFK Jr. gravitates towards these in his messaging — here are a few common ones that have been used over and over again.