Cognitive Arrest in Conspiracism
Information is a virtue. This assumption has been shaken, however, with the paradox in which a greater amount of information causes greater epistemic incapability among lay publics. In particular, public conspiracism has arisen as a social problem. Conspiratorial publics and their growing epistemic conviction of invalid conclusions result in social schisms, distrust, and doubt in legitimate social processes, all of which incur costs and risks to society. In this talk, I explain conspiratorial publics and the emerging processes of cognitive arrest and epistemic inertia in the digital age and changing information environment. I also discuss the relative effectiveness of counter strategies for lay publics arrested in conspiracism.
Date: 7 June 2022, 13:30
Venue: 1 St Giles', 1 St Giles' OX1 3JS
Venue Details: Seminar Room, Oxford Internet Institute, 1 St Giles
Speaker: Jeong-Nam Kim (University of Oklahoma)
Organising department: Oxford Internet Institute
Organiser contact email address: events@oii.ox.ac.uk
Booking required?: Not required
Booking url: https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news-events/events/cognitive-arrest-in-conspiracism/
Audience: Public
Editor: Isabelle Malcolm