What is misinformation? Why do “echo-chambers” form? How can we combat belief in online conspiracy theories?

One way of exploring these concepts is to take a philosophical approach that draws upon our humanity and our understanding of the world around us and appeals to the intellectual virtues. By cultivating these virtues, we can avoid some of the pitfalls and challenges of the information age.

What are Intellectual Virtues?

Intellectual virtues are praiseworthy character traits, attitudes and dispositions that better enable us to acquire knowledge and the truth. In short, they make us more responsible inquirers. Everyday examples include things like open-mindedness, diligence, and intellectual curiosity, amongst many others. Open-minded people tend to be open to views different from their own; diligent people are careful to check their evidence; and intellectually curious people are willing to ask difficult questions to arrive at the truth.

How do the virtues relate to information, misinformation and disinformation?

A key characteristic of information is that it has to be accurate and true. When we talk about misinformation, we mean it as information that represents something in a different way from the way it is in reality. So misinformation is inaccurate information.

When misinformation is part of an intention to deceive, we call it disinformation.

In this context, the term ‘fake news’ is widely used, although it is unclear what this term exactly means. The idea of ‘fake news’ has two dimensions:

1. whether the information is true or not. Fake news can still disseminate items that are true, but present them in a way that is intended to deceive or mislead, for example by presenting one view of an issue, or implying a false connection between data.
2. the truthfulness of the attitude of the person spreading the information. People who spread fake news may intend to deceive or may simply be indifferent to whether information is true.

The common factor here is the intention to mislead the audience and the impact can be the development of false beliefs by promoting inaccurate information or keeping the audience in the dark about an issue. The audience may think it has been informed, but in fact, it has been misled.

The Dangers of mis-and disinformation

Mis- and disinformation is widespread and dangerous and can result in a range of physical, emotional, financial harms. It can undermine democracy because it subverts people’s ability to make informed decisions, for example in elections. The internet and AI facilitate the easier creation and spread of disinformation.

Strategies to combat disinformation

There are several ways we can begin to combat disinformation: i) enact media regulation ii) check facts and use lie detection iii) cultivate intellectual virtues, such as humility, conscientiousness, honesty. The first two involve wider engagement from organisations and bodies often out of our control; however, the third relates to how we absorb and process information individually. Individually, we can be sensitive to information, sceptical, curious and critical.

This post draws upon a free course ‘Navigating the Information Age I: concepts’ that is available on Blackboard (see link below) for anyone to self-enrol. The course can be worked through individually or used as a resource in teaching.

The ideas in this post come from a resource created by Prof Genia Schönbaumsfeld, in the Department of Philosophy, called ‘Navigating the Information Age’. This extract summarises the ideas of Prof. Sven Bernecker (University of California, Irvine), a collaborator on the resource. He discusses how cultivating the virtues of diligence and intellectual curiosity can help us better distinguish information from mis- and disinformation in more detail.

Bite-sized task

Step 1 – learn

Consider the ideas summarised in this post.

Step 2 – do

Think about how you would answer these questions or use them to generate discussion. You may wish to try this with your students.

• Is “my hope that it will snow next year in London” a piece of information? If not, why do you think that?
• What do you think distinguishes information from misinformation?
• What do you think are some common causes of misinformation?
• In what way is disinformation different to misinformation?
• What other intellectual virtues do you think might help people avoid mis- and disinformation?

Step 3 – reflect

What are your initial thoughts on the intellectual virtues? Can you think of any that you might attribute to yourself?

How can the concept of cultivating intellectual virtues relate to what you do in the classroom or in your daily working life?

How might the ideas expressed here relate to how you frame the use of AI in education?

Do you think you would integrate Navigating the Information Age I: Concepts into your own teaching and curricula? If so, how might you go about doing this?

Further Links

If you’re interested in the ideas in this post you may want to enrol on two free Blackboard courses below to explore these ideas more, or direct your students to self-enrol:

Follow this link to begin Navigating the Information Age I: Concepts

Follow this link to begin Navigating the Information Age II: Themes

More on the intellectual virtues: https://iep.utm.edu/virtue-epistemology/#H3 and https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology-virtue/#NatuInteVirt

© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC-SA