The anatomy of credulity and incredulity: A hermeneutics of misinformation

Abstract

This essay explores the historical process by which the birth and expansion of information systems transformed the relationship between “faith” and “fact.” The existence of recurring forms of credulity and conversely denial—from holocaust denial to climate change denial—suggests that patterns of belief and disbelief will not be easily resolved either with fact-checking or with the regulation of the press.

Keywords

• education
• ethics
• philosophy
• psychology