University of Helsinki
In the last Perspectives on Science seminar of the semester, on Monday 6.6., Paul Thagard (University of Waterloo) will give a presentation titled “MisInformation: How Information Works, Breaks, and Mends”. The seminar takes place in Zoom from 14:15 to 15:45 EET.
Perspectives on Science is a weekly research seminar which brings together experts from science studies and philosophy of science. It is organized by TINT – Centre for Philosophy of Social Science at the University of Helsinki. More information about the seminar here.
JOINING THE SEMINARS: To get a link for joining the seminars in Zoom, please contact research assistant jessica.north@helsinki.fi
Abstract:
Barack Obama has described disinformation as the single biggest threat to democracy. Misinformation is also threatening medicine, science, politics, social justice, and international relations, in problems such as vaccine hesitancy, climate change denial, conspiracy theories, claims of racial inferiority, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Dealing with misinformation requires explanation of how information is generated and spread, and how it breaks down but can be mended. This talk offers a new theory of information and misinformation that provides concrete advice on how improved thinking and communication can benefit individuals and societies.
Author bio:
Paul Thagard is a philosopher, cognitive scientist, and author of many interdisciplinary books. He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Waterloo, where he founded and directed the Cognitive Science Program. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Cognitive Science Society, and the Association for Psychological Science. His books include the 3-book Treatise on Mind and Society published by Oxford University Press in 2019. In October 2021, MIT Press published his Bots and Beasts: What Makes Machines, Animals, and People Smart? In July, 2022, Columbia University Press will publish Balance: How it works and what it means. He is now working on a book on misinformation and planning a book on complex consciousness.