Coronavirus Shows You May Not Be as Good at Detecting Misinformation as You Think
12 DECEMBER 2020
Most of us believe we re above average at detecting misinformation. This, of course, is a statistical impossibility – one that the coronaviruspandemic has well and truly put to the test.
As case numbers surge in the US, bringing a devastating wave of over 2,000 deaths per day, physicians and other health experts plead with citizens to heed public health advice. The problem is, some people still think the pandemic is a hoax. You go to different parts of the country, and even when the outbreak is clear and hospitals are on the verge of being overrun, there are a substantial proportion of the people who still think that this is not real, that it s fake news or that it s a hoax, immunologist and director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Anthony Fauci told CNN.