(University of Trento)
ONLINE TALK! Zoom link:
https://cesnet.zoom.us/j/91813080382
ABSTRACT: In my talk, I will discuss how cultural evolution – an umbrella term for evolutionary and cognitive approaches to human culture – can provide a useful framework for understanding how information is produced, transmitted, and selected in contemporary online digital media. A key implication of this perspective is that it suggests, contrary to common concerns, that we are generally wary learners who are not easily influenced. The (limited) spread of online misinformation can be understood in this perspective by focusing on the idea that some cultural traits can be successful because their content taps into general cognitive biases. More generally, given that only a small fraction of online content is misinformation, and, despite the abundance of accurate information, people are often overskeptical or uninterested, I will argue that research should focus more on the spread of reliable news. I will present recent work showing that, like misinformation, factual news exploits evolved cognitive biases, with negative, group-oriented, and dominance-oriented contents consistently predicting engagement.
This LMS Centre talk is financially supported by the project OP JAK: Knowledge in the Age of Distrust, CZ.02.01.01/00/23_025/0008711.