The CEU Department of Cognitive Science and the Social Mind Center cordially invites you
to its talk by:
1)
Ryan
McKay<https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/ryan-mckay(cda72457-6d2a-4ed6-91d7-cfd5904b91e4).html>
(Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London)
Belief Formation in a Post-Truth World
In 2018 we inhabit a “post-truth” world where scientific evidence and accurate information
must compete with appeals to emotion and “fake news”. In this talk I will attempt to shed
some light on the human tendency to believe “alternative facts”. For one thing,
individuals tend to restrict the amount of information they collect when forming beliefs,
“jumping to conclusions” on limited evidence. In an era where dubious claims are routinely
propagated by highly visible individuals, it is little wonder that mistaken beliefs –
“misbeliefs” – about empirical reality persist in the face of contrary scientific
evidence. Alongside a generalised tendency to jump to conclusions when forming beliefs,
however, is a pronounced failure to form beliefs dispassionately. Instead, humans are
disposed to form “motivated” beliefs. In particular, we are prone to a desirability bias,
being more inclined to accept evidence if it supports what we want to believe. Finally,
some beliefs may be held for social rather than epistemic reasons – that is, to signal
commitment to cultural groups upon which individuals depend.
Date: Friday, September 14, 2018 - 16:00-17:30
Location: Department of Cognitive Science, CEU, Oktober 6 St. 7, room 101
We are looking forward to see you at the talks!
Cognitive Science Events at CEU:
http://cognitivescience.ceu.hu/events
Social Mind Center Events at CEU:
http://socialmind.ceu.edu/events
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Andrea Jenei
Coordinator, Social Mind Center
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[cid:SVTVOGOKDNYV.IMAGE_1.jpeg]
Central European University
Nador u. 9. | 1051 Budapest, Hungary
+ 36.1.887.5135 | jeneia@ceu.edu<mailto:jeneia@ceu.edu>
http://socialmind.ceu.edu/
http://cognitivescience.ceu.edu/
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