Volts The cure for misinformation is not more information or smarter news consumers
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Dec 19, 2025 Samuel Bagg, a political scientist at the University of South Carolina, discusses the deep-rooted issues of misinformation and trust in institutions. He argues that social identity heavily influences political beliefs and perceptions. Bagg emphasizes that traditional methods like fact-checking are insufficient; instead, transforming social identities is crucial. He suggests that collective experiences and organizing can reshape trust in institutions, ultimately enhancing democracy by bridging divides and fostering inclusive identities.
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Reasoning Is Socially Constructed
- Human reasoning is largely constructed from biases and social identities that shape perception and memory.
- This means individuals rarely reason as isolated truth-seekers, undermining purely individual epistemic solutions.
Truth Depends On Who You Trust
- Most people cannot directly verify expert claims because knowledge is too vast, so they must trust authorities and institutions.
- Which authorities people trust is driven mainly by social identity, not independent evidence-gathering.
Crisis Of Trust, Not Tools
- Reliable truth-finding institutions (science, journalism, law) exist and correct errors collectively over time.
- The current crisis is primarily a loss of public trust in those institutions, not their disappearance.