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By Eli GottliebBig Ben was stolen from Palestine. So claimed an elderly woman, in Arabic, in a retweeted clip I received recently.

Yes, that Big Ben: the great bell in the iconic clock tower of Londons Palace of Westminster. The British took it, she said, from a tower they demolished at Hebron Gate in Jerusalem in 1922.

The claim pulled me up short. It seemed so outlandish. Who would invent something so easy to refute? And why? The woman spoke with great conviction, but could she really believe what she was saying? And if this was a hoax, then who was perpetrating it on whom?

These questions sent me down a Big Ben rabbit hole.

Before I share what I discovered, lets pause here for a moment, where many would have shrugged and moved on.Youd have to have some prior interest in the Arab-Israeli conflict or the history of British colonialism to give the claim even a moments thought. And even then, youd most likely judge it fact or fake, depending on your prior allegiances.

Palestinians and their allies would likely see it as further evidence of colonialist dispossession; their opponents would see a Palestinian lie to garner sympathy and incite resentment. In neither case would viewers have felt any need to investigate further. In this age of information overload, its a matter of seconds before the next incoming message pings for our attention.

From my perspective, as a cognitive psychologist who researches how people justify their beliefs and assess the credibility of sources, it seems that this is where misinformation causes most damage less by convincing people of specific untruths than by reducing the motivation to distinguish fact from fiction.

Relentless bombardment by incoming stories on social media makes our attention an increasingly scarce resource. And, as technologies of fabrication proliferate, the chance increases that any given story we encounter is fake. Worse still, research suggests that fake stories travel six times faster and farther on social media than do factual ones.

The net effect is general pollution of the information environment.Long before the invention of the smartphone and the rise of social media, trust was declining in institutions and those who lead them. New communication technologies are accelerating and intensifying these processes. People are becoming less trusting in general and more likely to place an exaggerated level of trust in sources whose views echo their own.

If these trends continue, reasoned debate with those whose views differ from our own will become rarer and more difficult. There will be a shrinking pool of facts on which those at the ideological extremes will be prepared to agree and a growing sense among the skeptical that debate is pointless because everything is ultimately a matter of opinion.So, when do facts matter? And how can we distinguish them from fabrications?In my case, the clip hit a nerve. I was born in London and emigrated to Israel 25 years ago. Im familiar enough with London, Jerusalem and Middle Eastern geopolitics to have smelled a rat. So, I had motive to investigate.But, were it not for recent research, I might not have had the means. In a recent series of pioneering studies, Stanford cognitive psychologist Sam Wineburg and his History Education Group have shown how bad people are at assessing the credibility of what they read online. With the notable exception of professional fact checkers, were all bad at it: professors no less than schoolkids; digital natives no less than digital immigrants.

Based on what fact checkers did differently, Wineburgs group developed online lessons to teach lateral reading which involves quick comparison across sites and sources rather than close reading of the target source. This enables readers to determine where information is coming from before they read it.

So, going lateral, I went straight to Wikipedia to look up Big Ben. Contrary to snobbish dismissals by some academics, Wikipedia is perhaps the most robust engine of peer review ever created. Although it can be edited by anyone, and entries on controversial topics are occasionally inaccurate, Wikipedias processes of editorial oversight and control, including insistence on accurate citations to substantiate claims, make it a useful first stop on any fact-checking journey.

I discovered (well, duh!) that the bell was cast at Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London and installed in the Palace of Westminster, with much pomp and circumstance, in 1858.

Next, I checked the Wikipedia entry on the clock tower at Hebron Gate in Jerusalem and discovered that it was not built until 1908 a full half-century after Big Bens installation in London.

Next, I tracked down the Twitter account from which the clip had been forwarded. It belonged to a pro-Israel satirical site, TheMossadIL, which masquerades as the official Twitter feed of Israels secret service.But the clip hadnt originated there it had been reposted by that account as an object of ridicule. I noticed that the clip had a TikTok watermark a stamp that appears automatically at the top and bottom of every downloaded TikTok video, comprising the TikTok logo and video creators username which identified the clips author as @aliarisheq. So, thats where I went next.

The feed, seemingly curated by a young Arabic-speaking woman, contained additional clips featuring the woman in the Big Ben clip and advertisements for jewelry.

Using the View Page Source (Ctrl + U) function in my Chrome browser, I learned that the clip in question was uploaded at 17:12 on Dec. 19, 2019. The woman claiming that Big Ben was stolen in 1922 looked like she was in her 70s. To have witnessed the alleged theft, she would have to be a centenarian. So she wasnt a witness: What we had here was an oral tradition, of which she was, at best, a second- or third-hand bearer.All of which means that unless the many corroborating sources cited in Wikipedias Big Ben entry are an elaborate hoax of QAnon proportions, her claim doesnt have a leg to stand on.

Big Ben was not stolen from Palestine and has no place on lists of controversial cultural artifacts like the Parthenon Marbles that former colonial powers are being asked to return to their countries of origin.

I emerged from this rabbit hole reassured about my ability to ferret out fakery when it matters. But it had taken hours. And I could think of few people to whom the outcome of my investigation would matter.For me, the moral of the tale is threefold.

First, the idea that a person can, on any given day, sift through every incoming story, sorting fact from fiction, is increasingly implausible. Theres just too much of both.

Second, this doesnt mean that the fact-versus-opinion distinction should be retired as a quaint idea from a bygone era. When it matters, theres little we cant eventually figure out.

Third, the greatest challenge fake news poses may be an ecological one: namely, how to protect precious natural resources our time and attention from its pollution.

Disproving fake news is time-consuming. But ignoring it corrodes trust.

Eli Gottlieb is a Senior Visiting Scholar at George Washington University.

(Reuters)

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Down the 'rabbit hole' to debunk misinformation - Gibraltar Chronicle

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

(THE CONVERSATION) Big Ben was stolen from Palestine. So claimed an elderly woman, in Arabic, in a retweeted clip I received recently.

Yes, that Big Ben: the great bell in the iconic clock tower of Londons Palace of Westminster. The British took it, she said, from a tower they demolished at Hebron Gate in Jerusalem in 1922.

The claim pulled me up short. It seemed so outlandish. Who would invent something so easy to refute? And why? The woman spoke with great conviction, but could she really believe what she was saying? And if this was a hoax, then who was perpetrating it on whom?

These questions sent me down a Big Ben rabbit hole.

A matter of seconds

Before I share what I discovered, lets pause here for a moment, where many would have shrugged and moved on.

Youd have to have some prior interest in the Arab-Israeli conflict or the history of British colonialism to give the claim even a moments thought. And even then, youd most likely judge it fact or fake, depending on your prior allegiances.

Palestinians and their allies would likely see it as further evidence of colonialist dispossession; their opponents would see a Palestinian lie to garner sympathy and incite resentment. In neither case would viewers have felt any need to investigate further. In this age of information overload, its a matter of seconds before the next incoming message pings for our attention.

From my perspective, as a cognitive psychologist who researches how people justify their beliefs and assess the credibility of sources, it seems that this is where misinformation causes most damage less by convincing people of specific untruths than by reducing the motivation to distinguish fact from fiction.

Relentless bombardment by incoming stories on social media makes our attention an increasingly scarce resource. And, as technologies of fabrication proliferate, the chance increases that any given story we encounter is fake. Worse still, research suggests that fake stories travel six times faster and farther on social media than do factual ones.

The net effect is general pollution of the information environment.

Long before the invention of the smartphone and the rise of social media, trust was declining in institutions and those who lead them. New communication technologies are accelerating and intensifying these processes. People are becoming less trusting in general and more likely to place an exaggerated level of trust in sources whose views echo their own.

If these trends continue, reasoned debate with those whose views differ from our own will become rarer and more difficult. There will be a shrinking pool of facts on which those at the ideological extremes will be prepared to agree and a growing sense among the skeptical that debate is pointless because everything is ultimately a matter of opinion.

So, when do facts matter? And how can we distinguish them from fabrications?

Down the Big Ben rabbit hole

In my case, the clip hit a nerve. I was born in London and emigrated to Israel 25 years ago. Im familiar enough with London, Jerusalem and Middle Eastern geopolitics to have smelled a rat. So, I had motive to investigate.

But, were it not for recent research, I might not have had the means. In a recent series of pioneering studies, Stanford cognitive psychologist Sam Wineburg and his History Education Group have shown how bad people are at assessing the credibility of what they read online. With the notable exception of professional fact checkers, were all bad at it: professors no less than schoolkids; digital natives no less than digital immigrants.

Based on what fact checkers did differently, Wineburgs group developed online lessons to teach lateral reading which involves quick comparison across sites and sources rather than close reading of the target source. This enables readers to determine where information is coming from before they read it.

So, going lateral, I went straight to Wikipedia to look up Big Ben. Contrary to snobbish dismissals by some academics, Wikipedia is perhaps the most robust engine of peer review ever created. Although it can be edited by anyone, and entries on controversial topics are occasionally inaccurate, Wikipedias processes of editorial oversight and control, including insistence on accurate citations to substantiate claims, make it a useful first stop on any fact-checking journey.

I discovered (well, duh!) that the bell was cast at Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London and installed in the Palace of Westminster, with much pomp and circumstance, in 1858.

Next, I checked the Wikipedia entry on the clock tower at Hebron Gate in Jerusalem and discovered that it was not built until 1908 a full half-century after Big Bens installation in London.

Next, I tracked down the Twitter account from which the clip had been forwarded. It belonged to a pro-Israel satirical site, TheMossadIL, which masquerades as the official Twitter feed of Israels secret service.

But the clip hadnt originated there it had been reposted by that account as an object of ridicule. I noticed that the clip had a TikTok watermark a stamp that appears automatically at the top and bottom of every downloaded TikTok video, comprising the TikTok logo and video creators username which identified the clips author as @aliarisheq. So, thats where I went next.

The feed, seemingly curated by a young Arabic-speaking woman, contained additional clips featuring the woman in the Big Ben clip and advertisements for jewelry.

Using the View Page Source (Ctrl + U) function in my Chrome browser, I learned that the clip in question was uploaded at 17:12 on Dec. 19, 2019. The woman claiming that Big Ben was stolen in 1922 looked like she was in her 70s. To have witnessed the alleged theft, she would have to be a centenarian. So she wasnt a witness: What we had here was an oral tradition, of which she was, at best, a second- or third-hand bearer.

Protecting from pollution

All of which means that unless the many corroborating sources cited in Wikipedias Big Ben entry are an elaborate hoax of QAnon proportions, her claim doesnt have a leg to stand on.

Big Ben was not stolen from Palestine and has no place on lists of controversial cultural artifacts like the Parthenon Marbles that former colonial powers are being asked to return to their countries of origin.

I emerged from this rabbit hole reassured about my ability to ferret out fakery when it matters. But it had taken hours. And I could think of few people to whom the outcome of my investigation would matter.

For me, the moral of the tale is threefold.

First, the idea that a person can, on any given day, sift through every incoming story, sorting fact from fiction, is increasingly implausible. Theres just too much of both.

[Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversations newsletter to understand the world. Sign up today.]

Second, this doesnt mean that the fact-versus-opinion distinction should be retired as a quaint idea from a bygone era. When it matters, theres little we cant eventually figure out.

Third, the greatest challenge fake news poses may be an ecological one: namely, how to protect precious natural resources our time and attention from its pollution.

Disproving fake news is time-consuming. But ignoring it corrodes trust.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/i-went-down-the-rabbit-hole-to-debunk-misinformation-heres-what-i-learned-about-big-ben-and-online-information-overload-154923.

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I went down the 'rabbit hole' to debunk misinformation here's what I learned about Big Ben and online information overload - Trumbull Times

Although the delicious treats may have tempted her willpower, President Obama never gave in to the pressure

This week, while promoting her new Netflix cooking show, former First Lady Michelle Obama revealed to PEOPLE that her daughters, Sasha and Malia, became addicted to making baked goods at night during the quarantine.

They were baking way too much at the beginning of quarantine, too many delicious pies. They were good at it! Good pie crust, good fillings, recalled the star of Waffles + Mochi, which premieres on Netflix on March 16.

According to Obama, having Sasha, 19, and Malia, 22, cooking late treats eventually became problematic for her and her husband, former President Barack Obama, who are both notoriously health-conscious.

Photo: Michelle Obama Instagram

READ MORE: Barack, Michelle Obama get vaccine in new ad with all living presidents except Trump

My kids were midnight bakers. So at 1 in the morning, youd smell cinnamon buns baking, she explained in this weeks PEOPLE cover story. I had to tell them to stop because we cant have all those sweets.

She did concede though that while her willpower may have been tempted, her husband never gave in to the pressure, noting, Hes just ridiculously disciplined. We hate him.

Despite her need to playfully throw her daughters out of the kitchen during the baking escapades, ultimately Obama says she has retired from cooking and is overjoyed to pass the torch to her children.

Read More: Lexi Underwood to play Malia Obama in Showtime series The First Lady

I have retired my cooking badge, I have relinquished that skill to people who are much better at it than I am. Now that [Malia and Sasha] are back, they are cooking more, she says, adding, My girls are very much into cooking, they love the freedom of being in the kitchen, they love creating, they love experimenting. So Ive passed on that right to the next generation.

Waffles + Mochi, the entire concept is fun. Its approachable, its an adventure, its exciting, its funny, she says. More importantly, its something that I would watch even if no kids were around.

Story continues

As we previously reported, last month Netflix announced six upcoming projects from Barack and Michelle Obamas production company, Higher Ground Productions, yet somehow managed to keep their latest offering, titled Waffles + Mochi, a secret until a week later when it was announced separately.

With the help of friendly new faces like the supermarket owner, Mrs. Obama, and a magical flying shopping cart as their guide, Waffles and Mochi blast off on global ingredient missions, traveling to kitchens, restaurants, farms, and homes all over the world, cooking up recipes with everyday ingredients alongside renowned chefs, home cooks, kids and celebrities, Netflix said in a statement.

ADAM ROSE/NETFLIX

Read More: Donald Glover signs Amazon deal, Malia Obama to be on writing staff

According to CNN, the kid-centric cooking show will feature two puppets named Waffles and Mochi on their journey to become chefs, with Obama co-starring as a supermarket owner.

The new announcement comes just days after the streaming service and Higher Ground Productions unveiled a slate of four new movies and two television series, all set to come out in the next few years, including a film about the first man to summit Mt. Everest and a young adult thriller about a Native American teen who goes undercover.

Waffles + Mochi will be available for streaming starting March 16. The healthy food themes of the show are perfectly aligned with Obamas previous initiatives such as her Lets Move! public health campaign, which was aimed at combatting childhood obesity.

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The post Michelle Obama shut down Sasha, Malia from late-night baking addiction during pandemic appeared first on TheGrio.

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Michelle Obama shut down Sasha, Malia from late-night ...

Former President Obama opens up about a wide range of topics in a newinterviewwith The Skimm, including race relations, world leaders he would want to be in a group text with and which states have the best food.

The truth of the matter is that the scars of slavery and Jim Crow never fully went away,Obama says, according to quotes released by The Skimm on Friday. Theyre embedded in our institutions, theyre embedded in our economy and theyre embedded in our attitudes.

The former president had said last monththat he believes reparations for BlackAmericans are justified because "the wealth of this country" was in large part "built on the backs of slaves," but that he couldnt pursue such policies during his presidency because of the politics ofwhite resistance and resentment.

You know what the United States has never fully done a reckoning of our past. I am somebody who is an eternal optimist and insists on us recognizing the extraordinary progress in race relations thats been made just in my lifetime, he says in the new interview promoting his memoir "A Promised Land."

Race relations have been at the forefront of the national discussion since protests against systemic inequality and police brutality mushroomed last yearsafter the death of George Floyd and other Black Americans.

Obama also touches on lighter topics such as who he would want in a group chat with foreign leaders and where to find the best food in America.

World leaders Id want in a group text. Dalai Lama. Love that guy. Pope FrancisPope FrancisPope Francis may be Joe Biden's most important ally A fearless pope makes history in Iraq Biden: Pope's Iraq trip 'a symbol of hope for the entire world' MORE, a genuinely good man. [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel. Former prime minister of India, Prime Minister [Manmohan] Singh. Maybe Id throw Queen Elizabeth in there just because she has a drier sense of humor than people think, he says.

For where to find the best grub in the U.S., Obama specifically mentions locations including Tennessee and Louisiana, though he demurs on where the worst might be.

"I could probably name the states with the worst food, but that would hurt people's feelings. There are a lot of states with great food," he says. "California is filled with amazing restaurants, to Memphis barbecue, to New Orleans jambalaya, crab cakes in Maryland. America's got a lot of good food out there."

"There are a handful of states where, as a general rule, the food is terrible, but they shall go unmentioned," he added.

Read more:
Obama discusses racism, world leaders and which states have the best food | TheHill - The Hill

Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and their respective former first ladies are part of a newly released ad campaign urging Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine when it is their turn, a push that is aimed squarely at combating vaccine skepticism.

There are two ads in the campaign: a minute-long, more personal spot that shows the four former presidents and former first ladies receiving their vaccines, and another that features Clinton, Bush and Obama standing together to urge Americans to step up and get vaccinated, CNN reported.

The ads are being released at a critical time in the fight against the coronavirus and one year after the outbreak was first declared a pandemic.

With vaccines becoming more widely available in cities and states across the country, those in charge of getting vaccines in the arms of Americans are eager to use the influence of people such as the former presidents to push people to get their shots. Vaccine hesitancy remains an issue, even as the number of people hesitant to get the vaccine has been dropping rapidly.

The longer spot begins with Bush touting that Covid vaccines will "soon be available to everyone," before Obama says that the vaccine means "hope" that it "will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease."

The ad then turns to the presidents describing what they have missed during the pandemic and why they want to be vaccinated. Clinton says he wants to "go back to work" and to "be able to move around." Obama says he misses visiting his mother-in-law and he wants to "hug her and see her on her birthday." And Bush says he is "really looking forward to going to Opening Day in Texas Rangers Stadium with the full stadium."

RELATED: Former Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton volunteer to get coronavirus vaccine publicly to prove it's safe

Carter does not speak on camera, but the 96-year-old President says during the spot that he is getting vaccinated "because we want this pandemic to end as soon as possible."

The ad ends with all four former presidents urging Americans to get the vaccine as images of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Barack and Michelle Obama, George and Laura Bush and Bill and Hillary Clinton all getting their vaccines are shown.

"So, we urge you to get vaccinated when it is available to you," Obama says.

"Roll up your sleeve and do you part," Bush says.

"This is our shot," Clinton says.

According to CNN data, about 93.7 million vaccine doses have been administered in the United States, with the Food and Drug Administration issuing emergency use authorizations for three vaccines: The two-shot Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines and the single-dose Johnson & Johnson one.

The coronavirus has infected over 29 million people in the United States, killing over 529,000 Americans. The death toll worldwide has reached roughly 2.6 million.

The second spot features Clinton, Bush and Obama standing together at Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery. The three were there on January 20 for a ceremony during President Joe Biden's inauguration.

The ad is framed like an address by the three former presidents to the American people, with Bush beginning the ad by saying, "Our fellow Americans," before Clinton says, "Right now, the Covid-19 vaccines are available to millions of Americans" and Obama adds, "And soon they will be available to everyone."

"The science is clear, these vaccines will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease," Bush says. "So, we urge you to get vaccinated when it is available to you."

"That's the first step to ending the pandemic and moving our country forward," Obama says. "It's up to you."

The ads are part of a collaboration between the Covid Collaborative project and the Ad Council, a nonprofit organization the produces and promotes public service announcements. The council said the project with the four former presidents and first ladies began in December 2020 and are being released on Thursday because vaccines are becoming more widely available.

RELATED: Former Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton honor Biden in video

"In this pandemic, we need every American to help so that all Americans can recover," said former Republican Gov. Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho and former Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, the co-Chairs of the COVID Collaborative. "These former Presidents and First Ladies have come together to show that each of us, regardless of political party, has a stake in beating this virus."

In statements provided to CNN, each former president urged Americans to get vaccinated.

"Over the past year, the pandemic has taken an immeasurable toll on families all across the country and upended everyone's lives," Obama said, noting he and Michelle got vaccinated "because we know it's the best way to get the country back up and running again."

Bush said he and Laura "are grateful for the dedicated scientists and researchers who enabled safe and effective vaccines to be developed so quickly" and urged Americans to get the vaccine.

RELATED: 'Banana republic': Former presidents, current lawmakers react in shock after mob breaks into Capitol

Clinton said that America "has always been at its best when we are looking out for one another and pulling together in common cause," adding that he and Hillary believe the vaccines will "bring us all one step closer to ending this pandemic."

And Carter said he and Rosalynn got the vaccine so they could "get back to church, see our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and eventually be active in our community again."

"I encourage everyone to get a vaccine when it's their turn," he added.

The Biden administration has made getting Americans vaccinated central to both its fight against the coronavirus and its messaging around the success of the President's first 100 days in office. Biden made a pledge early in his administration to get 100 million shots in arms within his first 100 days, a goal he appears likely to achieve. Biden will deliver his first primetime address to the nation on Thursday night, where he will mark the one-year anniversary of the pandemic.

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COVID-19 vaccine ad campaign features former Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush and Obama urging vaccinations - WPVI-TV