Why We Believe Fake News

It’s commonplace to say that we’re all deluged by more information than we can possibly handle. Less commonplace is the acknowledgement that human judgements also rely upon secondary information that doesn’t come from any external source – and that offers one of the most powerful tools we possess for dealing with the deluge itself. This source is social information.
 Or, in other words: what we think other people are thinking.
 Consider a simple scenario. You’re in a crowded theatre when, suddenly, people all around you start panicking and looking for an exit. What do you do, and why?
Your senses inform you that other people are moving frantically. But it’s the social interpretation you put on this information that tells you what you most need to know: these people believe that something bad is happening, and this means you should probably be trying to escape too.
 At least, that’s one possible interpretation. It may be the case that you, or they, are mistaken.
Perhaps there’s been a false alarm, or part of the performance has been misunderstood.
 Reading social information accurately is an essential skill, and one most of us devote an immense amount of effort to practising.
 Indeed, wondering what’s going on inside someone else’s head is one of humanity’s greatest fascinations – alongside trying to influence it.
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