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#556 Dan Sperber: Culture, Cultural Attraction Theory, Epistemic Vigilance, and Reason

The Dissenter

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The Humans Depend Massively on Communication From Others

Humans, more than any other species, depend massively on communication from others. This means that we're particularly vulnerable to the risks of being misinformed and misled. In order for communication to evolvead in over, for use, they also have to develop ways of protecting themselves against threats of manipulation and misinformation. So there is no single mechanism to protect yourself from misinformation from others. There are a suite of different mechanisms which can be used to help filter information. But since people have these mechanism, nowadays you hear a lot of people talking about 'epistemic vigilance' And so it's not just absurd a truism: You have to assess credibility of information given your background knowledge.

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