Recognize and unmask

Falling into the “fake” trap: why you’re not stupid

Conspiracy theories and the like: you can find out how to recognize and deal with them at the Long Night of Research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences on Friday.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/mtrlin)

What do the plague, coronavirus and the French Revolution have in common? That's right: the big appearance of conspiracy theorists. As is usually the case when times are complicated, dangerous and confused. Have you also fallen for fake news and tall tales? Don't worry, you're not alone - and therefore, for God's sake, not stupid, as we asked the "Sciency Feminist".

"No, people aren't stupid because of this," says medical physicist and science communicator Elka Xharo, known on social media as "Sciency Feminist", dismissing our question: "This kind of thing can happen to anyone, anyone can fall for it. No one is immune to it."

In times of extreme uncertainty, people try to explain things to themselves somehow," explains the expert from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), "people want answers."

Understandable. The only problem is: "Things like pandemics and the like are complex, there's a lot involved and it's not easy to explain. There is usually no black and white - especially in the past, when science wasn't as developed."

Some people read specialist journals, some read newspapers and some are on social media. Science has to use all platforms: Each has its justification and each reaches a different target group.

Elka Xharo, Medizinphysikerin, Wissenschaftskommunikatorin

Bild: ©lisalux

Uncertainty and the deep desire to be able to explain complicated things simply and come up with theories are therefore sometimes crucial to why conspiracies work so well: "Our brain wants to recognize patterns, it wants to have a coherent explanation," says the expert.

Unfortunately, myths about reptiloids - i.e. human-reptile hybrids -, toxic chemtrails, deployed micro-control chips and the like are perfect for this.

No one is immune to falling for tall tales.

(Bild: Skórzewiak - stock.adobe.com)

No interest, critically eyed
In addition, Austrians are disinterested in science and skeptical about it. Xharo recognizes "the feeling of science in an ivory tower" as the motive behind this.

"In surveys conducted by the Austrian Academy of Sciences on this topic, we get answers such as that we should rely more on common sense than on scientific studies and that science should listen more to what 'normal' people think," she reports.

"So people don't know what to do with science, they ask themselves: what does this have to do with me?" the expert explains. "They lack the connection between the science 'up there' and their 'normal' life. And trust suffers as a result."

Better communication is needed
Above all, better science communication is needed: "This is already happening, especially since the pandemic," says Xharo - but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Before coronavirus, for example, it was "almost frowned upon" to deal with trivial topics such as science communication - or to go on social media.

"You can now see how important it is for science to give back its findings, which it gains with the resources of society as a whole, and not just let them languish in some database."

Get off the high horse
In order to reach people again, you first have to reach them. To do this, science has to get off its horse.

"I know that an Instagram account, for example, is not a technical paper and that you have to present things in a condensed form - but it also has its place," says Xharo.

"Not everyone can read the New York Times. We have to use all platforms to reach all target groups and meet people where they are. Everyone has the right to know science in a way that they can accept and understand it."

Long Night of Research

• This year's "Long Night of Research" will take place in Austria on May 24th - with numerous activities and events in the individual federal states to get into direct contact with scientists and researchers.
• The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) is also offering a program, including talks, lectures and workshops by "The Sciency Feminist" Elka Xharo, "Science Buster" Martin Moder and cabaret artist Dirk Stermann. Here are the details.
• Elka Xharo deals with science communication in social media. She worked in healthcare for a long time, studied medical informatics and biomedical engineering at TU Wien and is employed at FH Wien der WKW. You can find her Instagram account here.
• If you don't have time during the Long Night: Communication scientist Marian Adolf from FH Wien WKW will be speaking on June 12 on "Fake News and Disinformation" - details here.
• Meeting people where they are: This is what the ÖAW is doing with the new "FÄKT" project. This provides science education for children and young people in short "cool" videos, not only for the classroom but also on social media.

How science works
For the expert, it is particularly important to give people an understanding of science: The pandemic has shown strongly that people don't know "how science works", says Xharo.

Namely, "that science is a cognitive process that constantly questions itself, that there are no 100% truths, that you can almost never say that something works 100%, that doesn't exist."

Xharo: "Science always expresses probabilities, and many people obviously didn't realize that during the pandemic. That's why many people got the impression that science has no idea, that it contradicts itself every time, that something different applies every day."

Lisa (left) and Marie-Sophie "Miso" are the face of "FÄKT", the ÖAW's new science education project for children and young people.

(Bild: Mag. Sabine Pata)

Mixing politics and science
The researcher emphasizes that "this is the greatest strength of science and scientific research: that it constantly questions itself and does not assume absolute truths, but adapts its findings as soon as new data becomes available. And that's actually a very good thing."

However, she believes that it is not just science that is called upon here, but also politics: "You can only build trust together."

No surprise when you see that many Austrians are also skeptical about politics - and when you consider that corona emerged at a time of outrageous chat protocols and the Ibiza scandal, for example. 

Pure fiction: the myth of reptiloids or lizard people is a recurring theme on the internet.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/blackday)

How conspiracy theories come about
Conspiracy theories often come about in a similar way to the game "Silent Mail": someone says something, perhaps out of political calculation, malice, or perhaps just as a joke or out of boredom. What is said spreads - through him or others, and other people add their own impressions, assumptions and stories. Various versions of the original lie develop and go around the world, nowadays mostly online.

If you set it up right, you can catch people. This sometimes involves credibly asserting that you have heard, read or been told this from a scientific source, in a research paper or by someone who knows about it. Or you provide links to fake sources.

"Fake" examples

• Not true: The triple measles vaccination causes autism.
  This myth dates back to 1998, when a doctor - now a former doctor - conducted a study on the subject. But firstly, this study only included twelve children, and secondly, he had falsified the study results. The background to this was that the doctor himself had registered a patent for a measles vaccination - a single, not a triple, vaccination. "Since then, there have been many, many studies on this, the largest - a Danish study - examined 60,000 children, that was in 2019," says Xharo. And no study has yet shown any evidence of autism.
• A fake: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
  This is an anti-Semitic pamphlet, i.e. a diatribe. "It is often taken as proof that there is a Jewish world conspiracy and that Jews want to rule the world," explains the expert. However, it is a forgery: the invective was probably created in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century on the basis of several fictional texts and therefore has nothing to do with reality.

Recognizing lies
In general, you should look out for clues if you suspect a lie and, for example, check which source is given, whether there is an imprint, what the language is like - the more sensationalist the wording, the more critical you should be of it - and also check the whole thing on fact-checking sites such as "Mimikama".

Xharo advises people who are less internet-savvy or older people in particular to ask their children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren whether they have ever heard or read anything about it, or to ask for help with fact-checking.

Dealing with social media
But how to deal with it now? Objective discussion is often difficult, especially on social media, and sometimes you don't even know whether you are really communicating with an interested user or with a troll who just wants to be annoying, or with a machine.

At the beginning, Xharo tries to have a "respectful discussion at eye level". If this doesn't work and the other person just wants to be a nuisance and stir up trouble, she advises blocking - and in the case of hate posts, reporting the person to the relevant medium.