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You're listening to Lifekit from NPR.
Hey, everybody, it's Marielle.
When was the last time you tried to talk to a friend or a family member about something they said about the world that you knew to be factually inaccurate?
In other words, misinformation?
How did it go if not so well?
Don't feel bad.
These conversations are tough.
I think if someone really cares about the piece of misinformation and if they're like deeply embedded into either some kind of conspiratorial narrative or if it really aligns with their identity, it can be quite challenging.
That's Professor Bryony Swire Thompson.
She's the director of the psychology of Misinformation lab at Northeastern University.
And she says we are all vulnerable to misinformation.
Yeah, you too.
We just don't have the time, the cognitive resources or even the motivation to literally fact check every piece of information that comes our way.
But some good news on the whole.