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Truth : a brief history of total bullsh*t / by Phillips, Tom(Journalist),author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.This is a book about TRUTH--and all the ways we try to avoid it--from the bestselling author of Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up. We live in a "post-truth" world, we're told. But was there ever really a golden age of truth-telling? Or have people been lying, fibbing and just plain bullsh*tting since the beginning of time? Tom Phillips, editor of a leading independent fact-checking organization, deals with this question every day. In Truth, he tells the story of how we humans have spent history lying to each other--and ourselves--about everything from business to politics to plain old geography. Along the way, he chronicles the world's oldest customer service complaint, the Great Moon Hoax of 1835 and the surprisingly dishonest career of Benjamin Franklin. Sharp, witty and with a clear-eyed view of humanity's checkered past, Truth reveals why people lie--and how we can cut through the bullsh*t.
Subjects: Truthfulness and falsehood.; Disinformation.; Fake news.; Disclosure of information.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Misbelief : what makes rational people believe irrational things / by Ariely, Dan,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The renowned social scientist, professor, and bestselling author of Predictably Irrational delivers his most urgent and compelling book--an eye-opening exploration of the human side of the misinformation crisis--examining what drives otherwise rational people to adopt deeply irrational beliefs. Misinformation affects all of us on a daily basis--from social media to larger political challenges, from casual conversations in supermarkets, to even our closest relationships. While we recognize the dangers that misinformation poses, the problem is complex--far beyond what policing social media alone can achieve--and too often our limited solutions are shaped by partisan politics and individual interpretations of truth. In Misbelief, preeminent social scientist Dan Ariely argues that to understand the irrational appeal of misinformation, we must first understand the behavior of "misbelief'--the psychological and social journey that leads people to mistrust accepted truths, entertain alternative facts, and even embrace full-blown conspiracy theories. Misinformation, it turns out, appeals to something innate in all of us--on the right and the left--and it is only by understanding this psychology that we can blunt its effects. Grounded in years of study as well as Ariely's own experience as a target of disinformation, Misbelief is an eye-opening and comprehensive analysis of the psychological drivers that cause otherwise rational people to adopt deeply irrational beliefs. Utilizing the latest research, Ariely reveals the key elements--emotional, cognitive, personality, and social--that drive people down the funnel of false information and mistrust, showing how under the right circumstances, anyone can become a misbeliever. Yet Ariely also offers hope. Even as advanced artificial intelligence has become capable of generating convincing fake news stories at an unprecedented scale, he shows that awareness of these forces fueling misbelief make us, as individuals and as a society, more resilient to its allure. Combating misbelief requires a strategy rooted not in conflict, but in empathy. The sooner we recognize that misbelief is above all else a human problem, the sooner we can become the solution ourselves."--
Subjects: Belief and doubt; Disinformation.; Misinformation.; Online manipulation.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Active measures : the secret history of disinformation and political warfare / by Rid, Thomas,1975-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."This revelatory and dramatic history of disinformation traces the rise of secret organized deception operations from the interwar period to contemporary internet troll farms"--
Subjects: Disinformation; Information warfare; Deception (Military science); Leaks (Disclosure of information); Intelligence service;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Cyber-threats to Canadian democracy / by Garnett, Holly Ann,editor.; Pal, Michael,editor.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From the Cambridge Analytica scandal to overloaded Internet voting servers to faulty voting machines, the growing relationship between democracy and technology has brought to light the challenges associated with integrating new digital tools into the electoral system. Canadian politics has also felt the impact of this migration online. This timely book presents the first comprehensive study of the various cyber threats to election integrity across Canadian jurisdictions. Scrutinizing the events of the 2019 federal election, Cyber Threats to Canadian Democracy examines how new technologies have affected the practice of electoral politics and what we can do to strengthen future Canadian elections. Through the disciplines of political science, law, computer science, engineering, communications, and others, chapters shed light on some of the most contentious issues around technology and electoral integrity. The contributors address current domestic and foreign threats to Canadian elections, evaluate the behaviour of actors ranging from political parties and interest groups to policymakers and election administrators, and assess emerging legal and regulatory responses while anticipating future challenges to the quality of elections in Canada and around the globe. Cyber Threats to Canadian Democracy helps seed the study of digital technology's security risks, providing insight into what reforms are needed and evaluating existing legal and policy frameworks in light of these threats."--
Subjects: Democracy; Disinformation; Elections; Information technology; Threats;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Battling the big lie : how Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA media are destroying America / by Pfeiffer, Dan,author.;
"In BATTLING THE BIG LIE, bestselling author Dan Pfeiffer returns to lay out how the Right Wing built such a robust and successful disinformation machine, how they have used it to amass power despite representing a dwindling share of the country, and how readers can fight back against disinformation with step-by-step guides on spotting fake news, becoming their own fact checker, and talking to their conspiracy theory-obsessed relatives. Over the last twenty years, the Right Wing has built a massive media apparatus that is weaponizing misinformation for political purposes. The Right Wing media ecosystem personified by Fox and fueled by Facebook is waging war on the very idea of objective truth -- and it's winning. This misinformation campaign is at the root of much that is rotten in America and around the world. Trump is a product of this eco-system as is the immense polarization and division and our inability to deal rationally with immense threats like COVID and Climate Change. Here, Pfeiffer lays bare the tactics used by the Right Wing propaganda machine and how to combat them, including: QAnon and its proponents, from Facebook groups to members of congress ; The optimization of Facebook as the ultimate carrier of Right Wing clickbait ; Educating the Left to "fight fire with fire" and nurture progressive media ; How to have hard conversations with the Fox News-watching, conspiracy theory-believing relative in your life. A functioning democracy depends on a shared understanding of reality. America is teetering on the edge because one of the two parties in our two-party system views truth, facts, and science as their opponent. As BATTLING THE BIG LIE proves, time is running out to fix this problem. There are no easy answers or quick fixes, but something must be done.
Subjects: Disinformation; Polarization (Social sciences);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The wellness trap : break free from diet culture, disinformation, and dubious diagnoses -- and find your true well-being / by Harrison, Christy(Nutritionist),author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle." You've probably heard this phrase from any number of people in the wellness space. But as Christy Harrison reveals in her latest book, wellness culture promotes a standard of health that is often both unattainable and deeply harmful. Many people with chronic illness understandably feel dismissed or abandoned by the healthcare system and find solace in alternative medicine, as Harrison once did. Yet the wellness industry promotes practices that often cause even more damage than the conventional approaches they're meant to replace. From the lack of pre-market safety testing on herbal and dietary supplements, to the unfounded claims made by many wellness influencers and functional-medicine providers, to the social-media algorithms driving users down rabbit holes of wellness mis-and disinformation, it can often feel like no one is looking out for us in the face of the $4.4 trillion global wellness industry. The Wellness Trap delves into the persistent, systemic problems with that industry, offering insight into its troubling pattern of cultural appropriation and its destructive views on mental health, and shedding light on how a growing distrust of conventional medicine has led ordinary people to turn their backs on science. Weaving together history, memoir, reporting, and practical advice, Harrison illuminates the harms of wellness culture while re-imagining our society's relationship with well-being.
Subjects: Alternative medicine; Cultural appropriation.; Health; Medical misconceptions.; Misinformation; Public health; Self-care, Health.; Well-being.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Information wars : how we lost the global battle against disinformation & what we can do about it / by Stengel, Richard,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In February of 2013, Richard Stengel, the former editor-in-chief of Time, joined the Obama administration as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Within days, two shocking events made world-wide headlines: ISIS executed American journalist James Foley on a graphic video seen by tens of millions, and Vladimir Putin's "little green men"-Russian special forces-invaded Crimea, amid a blizzard of Russian denials and false flags. What these events had in common besides their violent law-lessness is that they were the opening salvos in a new era of global information war, where countries and non-state actors use social media and disinformation to create their own narratives and undermine anyone who opposes them. Stengel was thrust onto the front lines of this battle as he was tasked with responding to the relentless weaponizing of information and grievance by ISIS, Russia, China, and others. He saw the scale of what he was up against and found himself hopelessly outgunned. Then, in 2016, the wars Stengel was fighting abroad came home during the presidential election, as "fake news" became a rallying cry and the Russians used the techniques they learned in Ukraine to influence the election here. Rarely has an accomplished journalist been not only a close observer but also a principal participant in the debates and decisions of American foreign policy. Stengel takes you behind the scenes in the ritualized world of diplomacy, from the daily 8:30 morning huddle with a restless John Kerry to a midnight sit-down in Saudi Arabia with the prince of darkness Mohammed bin Salman. The result is a rich account of a losing battle against trolls and bots-who are every bit as insidious as their names imply."--
Subjects: IS (Organization); United States. Department of State; Information warfare.; Disinformation.; Ukraine Conflict, 2014-; Terrorism in mass media.; Mass media and international relations.; Internet and international relations.; Social media;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Network of lies : the epic saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the battle for American democracy / by Stelter, Brian,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.Brian Stelter returns with an explosive account of Fox News' blatant attempts to manipulate the truth, mislead the public, and influence American elections. 'Network of Lies' is an urgent examination of the insidious ways the media is damaging democracy-and what must be done to preserve it.
Subjects: Trump, Donald, 1946-; Fox News.; Disinformation.; Mass media; Misinformation.; Television and politics; Television broadcasting of news; Truthfulness and falsehood;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Zucked : the education of an unlikely activist / by McNamee, Roger,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."If you had told Roger McNamee even three years ago that he would soon be devoting himself to stopping Facebook from destroying our democracy, he would have howled with laughter. He had mentored many tech leaders in his illustrious career as an investor, but few things had made him prouder, or been better for his fund's bottom line, than his early service to Mark Zuckerberg. Still a large shareholder in Facebook, he had every good reason to stay on the bright side. Until he simply couldn't. ZUCKED is McNamee's intimate reckoning with the catastrophic failure of the head of one of the world's most powerful companies to face up to the damage he is doing. It's a story that begins with a series of rude awakenings. First there is the author's dawning realization that the platform is being manipulated by some very bad actors. Then there is the even more unsettling realization that Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are unable or unwilling to share his concerns, polite as they may be to his face"--
Subjects: Zuckerberg, Mark, 1984-; Facebook (Electronic resource); Online social networks; Disinformation; Propaganda;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Prequel : an American fight against Fascism / by Maddow, Rachel,author.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 327-362) and index."Rachel Maddow traces the fight to preserve American democracy back to World War II, when a handful of committed public servants and brave private citizens thwarted far-right plotters trying to steer our nation toward an alliance with the Nazis. Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it. It was a sophisticated and shockingly well-funded campaign to undermine democratic institutions, promote antisemitism, and destroy citizens' confidence in their elected leaders, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the U.S. government and installing authoritarian rule. That effort worked -- tongue and groove -- alongside an ultra-right paramilitary movement that stockpiled bombs and weapons and trained for mass murder and violent insurrection. At the same time, a handful of extraordinary activists and journalists were tracking the scheme, exposing it even as it was unfolding. In 1941 the U.S. Department of Justice finally made a frontal attack, identifying the key plotters, finding their backers, and prosecuting dozens in federal court. None of it went as planned. While the scheme has been remembered in history -- if at all -- as the work of fringe players, in reality it involved a large number of some of the country's most influential elected officials. Their interference in law enforcement efforts against the plot is a dark story of the rule of law bending and then breaking under the weight of political intimidation. That failure of the legal system had consequences. The tentacles of that unslain beast have reached forward into our history for decades. But the heroic efforts of the activists, journalists, prosecutors, and regular citizens who sought to expose the insurrectionists also make for a deeply resonant, deeply relevant tale in our own disquieting times"--
Subjects: Antisemitism; Disinformation; Fascism; National socialism; Nazis; Right-wing extremists; Trials (Sedition); World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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