Misinformation often wins because it is simpler and more repeated than truth

Evidence

There’s a crucial lesson to be learned here: if false claims are often repeated and made easier to digest than true ones – which can be long, messy, and complicated – why not make the truth more fluent? Although making facts more accessible and relatable and repeating them more frequently is helpful in countering misinformation, it is often, as we’ll discover in the next chapter, not enough. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 87

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Repeating a statement increases belief in its truth regardless of accuracy — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 65; False news reached more people than truth on Twitter, driven by human sharing. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 346; Repeated exposure makes people find sharing misinformation less unethical — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 73 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Repeating a false claim to debunk it increases its plausibility #corroborates (0.90) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 164
• Frequently recalled information is judged more probable and true. #corroborates (0.90) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 161
• Repeated exposure alone makes false statements seem more credible to anyone #exemplifies (0.85) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 285
• Repetition substitutes for evidence as validation in new conspiracism #exemplifies (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 15
• Forged attribution is a more potent lie than straightforward falsehood #qualifies (0.72)