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What if I'm the one who's wrong?
The hardest reflex: fact-checking yourself.
Why it's a trap
Here is the only reflex that doesn't look at the information: it looks at you. We all carry a rigged inner scale: whatever confirms what we already think walks in without a check, whatever contradicts us faces a full interrogation. The makers of fake news know it: they don't try to convince you, they try to comfort you.
Hence the most useful question of this whole list: “do I believe it because it's well verified, or because it goes my way?” Being wrong is no disgrace; it's the normal price of a brain that thinks. Changing your mind in front of better evidence is exactly what a solid person does. And it works both ways: an unpleasant piece of information isn't false just because it stings.
The moves
- Notice the pleasure: if a piece of news makes you really want to believe it (or triumphantly right), double your vigilance.
- Deliberately search for what says the opposite, not to punish yourself, to test the strength.
- You shared a mistake? Correct it, simply. Setting the record straight builds your credibility, never the reverse.
- Accept “I don't know yet”: it's an honourable position, often the most honest of the three.
The classic trap
Two neighbours receive the same rumour about the market closing. It confirms what the first one thinks: he shares it in ten seconds. It contradicts the second: she spends twenty minutes taking it apart. The rumour was false: only one of them knew in time.
Keep in mind
Double-check whatever proves you right.
Practise this reflex
Cases in the library train precisely this reflex:
- What's the right take here? (Health & miracle cures)
- What's off here? (Health & miracle cures)
- What's off here? (Health & miracle cures)