Uploaded March 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In the battle against misinformation, having truth and facts on your side is often still not enough. People are stubbornly—and seemingly inexplicably—willing to believe things that are obviously not true. What are the underlying psychological reasons for this, and what can be done to address them?
Psychologist David Myers shares ten striking examples of people believing things that are clearly untrue and detail the psychological mechanisms that enable and sustain false beliefs. Finally, Myers will illustrate the contribution of scientific inquiry, education, and faith-based humility to restraining misinformation.
David Myers is a social psychologist at Hope College and psychological science communicator. His work includes several textbooks for introductory and social psychology, blog essays at TalkPsych.com, and general audience books on topics including the science of happiness, the psychology of hearing loss, the powers and perils of intuition, and the meeting ground between psychological science and faith. His newest book offers forty short-form essays, each exploring a psychological science revelation about our wonderful lives.
This talk took place on March 28, 2024, at 7:00 pm EDT.
In the battle against misinformation, having truth and facts on your side is often still not enough. People are stubbornly—and seemingly inexplicably—willing to believe things that are obviously not true. What are the underlying psychological reasons for this, and what can be done to address them?
Psychologist David Myers shares ten striking examples of people believing things that are clearly untrue and detail the psychological mechanisms that enable and sustain false beliefs. Finally, Myers will illustrate the contribution of scientific inquiry, education, and faith-based humility to restraining misinformation.
David Myers is a social psychologist at Hope College and psychological science communicator. His work includes several textbooks for introductory and social psychology, blog essays at TalkPsych.com, and general audience books on topics including the science of happiness, the psychology of hearing loss, the powers and perils of intuition, and the meeting ground between psychological science and faith. His newest book offers forty short-form essays, each exploring a psychological science revelation about our wonderful lives.
This talk took place on March 28, 2024, at 7:00 pm EDT.
