Ep. 192: Sander Van Der Linden - Why Misinformation is a Virus, and How to Build Immunity

The All Things Risk Podcast

This episode is all about misinformation, which seems like it is everywhere – it’s almost like a virus. In fact, as you will hear in this fascinating conversation, that’s exactly how misinformation behaves. My guest is Dr. Sander Van Der Linden who is a Professor of Social Psychology in Society and Director of the Social Decision-Making Lab at the University of Cambridge. He has been described as Cambridge’s professor of ‘defence against the dark arts’.

Sander is the author of the fantastic new book Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity. I don’t think that after you listen to him that you will look at misinformation and social media in the same way again. This conversation is also a great reminder that we are all susceptible to misinformation.

We spend time covering Sander’s background and the origins of the book, why our brains are susceptible to misinformation – which necessarily covers conspiracy theories, how misinformation spreads and the role of social media in that, and finally, how to create a vaccine against it. Sander also shares his experiences working with big tech on this problem.

Show notes:

Sander Van Der Linden

Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity

Sander on Twitter

Robert Cialdini

Dan Ariely

Memetics

Illusory truth effect

The MMR vaccine and autism

The truth sandwich

Conjunction fallacy

David Stillwell on Cambridge Analytica

Aleksandr Kogan

The Nicola Bulley case

Sandy Hook shooting

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