Misinformation, fake news, and “alternative facts” are more prominent than ever. The Oxford Dictionary named “post-truth” as the 2016 word of the year. Science and scientific evidence have been under assault.
假消息、假新聞和“另類事實(shí)”比以往任何時(shí)候都更為突出。2016年牛津詞典將“后真相”列為了年度詞匯。科學(xué)及科學(xué)證據(jù)遭受質(zhì)疑。

Fortunately, science does have a means to protect itself, and it comes from a branch of psychological research known as inoculation theory. This borrows from the logic of vaccines: A little bit of something bad helps you resist a full-blown case.
幸運(yùn)的是，科學(xué)還有一種自保手段，即來(lái)自心理學(xué)研究分支的接種理論。這一理論借鑒了疫苗的原理：一些不好的東西反而有助于人體抵抗成形的疾病。

TWO WAYS MISINFORMATION DAMAGES
假消息的兩種危害

A recent study led by psychology researcher Sander van der Linden found that misinformation about climate change has a significant impact on public perceptions about climate change.
近日，心理學(xué)研究者桑德·范·得·林登牽頭的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，關(guān)于氣候變化的假消息對(duì)公眾看待氣候變化具有重大影響。

I found similar results, with misinformation reducing people’s perception of the scientific consensus. Moreover, the misinformation affected some more than others. The more politically conservative a person was, the greater the influence of the misinformation.
本人也有類似的發(fā)現(xiàn)，即假消息削弱了人們對(duì)科學(xué)共識(shí)的認(rèn)識(shí)。而且，某些人受到假消息的影響比其他人更大。例如，一個(gè)人政治上越保守，受假消息的影響就越大。

Figure 1. Response to misinformation about climate change.
圖1 對(duì)于氣候變化假消息的反應(yīng)

Beyond misinforming people, misinformation has a more insidious and dangerous influence. It doesn’t just misinform. It stops people believing in facts.
假消息除了誤導(dǎo)人，還帶來(lái)更危險(xiǎn)的潛在影響。它不只誤導(dǎo)，還阻礙人們相信事實(shí)。

SCIENCE’S ANSWER TO SCIENCE DENIAL
“否定科學(xué)”的科學(xué)解釋

Inoculation theory takes the concept of vaccination, where we are exposed to a weak form of a virus in order to build immunity to the real virus, and applies it to knowledge.
接種理論采用疫苗接種的概念并將其應(yīng)用于知識(shí)領(lǐng)域。疫苗接種就是讓人體感染弱化病毒，以獲得抵抗真正病毒的免疫力。

Inoculating text requires two elements. First, it includes an explicit warning about the danger of being misled by misinformation. Second, you need to provide counterarguments explaining the flaws in that misinformation.
接種信息需要涵蓋兩大元素。首先，需要明確警告受到假消息誤導(dǎo)的危險(xiǎn)。其次，需要提供反駁依據(jù)，解釋假消息的漏洞。

I found that explaining the misinformation technique completely neutralized the misinformation’s influence, without even mentioning the misinformation specifically. Moreover, the misinformation was neutralized across the political spectrum. Whether you’re conservative or liberal, no one wants to be deceived by misleading techniques.
本人發(fā)現(xiàn)，無(wú)需專門(mén)提及具體的假消息內(nèi)容，光是解釋假消息漏洞百出的方法便可以抵消其影響。而且，假消息對(duì)不同政治傾向的人群的影響都會(huì)被抵消。不管保守派還是自由黨，沒(méi)有人愿意被誤導(dǎo)人的方法欺騙到。

PUTTING INOCULATION INTO PRACTICE
接種理論引入實(shí)踐

Inoculation is a powerful and versatile form of science communication that can be used in a number of ways. My approach has been to mesh together the findings of inoculation with the cognitive psychology of debunking, developing the Fact-Myth-Fallacy framework.
接種理論作為一種功能眾多且強(qiáng)大的科學(xué)解釋，用途十分廣泛。本人通過(guò)把接種理論的成果和揭露真相的認(rèn)知心理學(xué)聯(lián)系在一起，發(fā)展出一套“事實(shí)—迷思—謬誤”框架。

This strategy involves explaining the facts, followed by introducing a myth related to those facts. At this point, people are presented with two conflicting pieces of information. You reconcile the conflict by explaining the technique that the myth uses to distort the fact.
這一策略包括對(duì)事實(shí)進(jìn)行解釋，然后引入與這些事實(shí)有關(guān)的迷思。這時(shí)，人們會(huì)看到兩個(gè)相互矛盾的信息。通過(guò)揭示迷思扭曲事實(shí)所采取的方法便可以化解矛盾。

Table 1. Denial101x lectures adhering to Fact-Myth-Fallacy structure.
表1 遵循“事實(shí)—迷思—謬誤”框架的“否定事實(shí)”入門(mén)課

Science has, in a moment of frankness, informed us that throwing more science at people isn’t the full answer to science denial. Misinformation is a reality that we can’t afford to ignore–we can’t be in denial about science denial. Rather, we should see it as an educational opportunity. Addressing misconceptions in the classroom is one of the most powerful ways to teach science.
科學(xué)明白地告訴我們，向人們灌輸更多的科學(xué)常識(shí)并不能完全解決否定科學(xué)的問(wèn)題。我們無(wú)法忽視存在假消息的現(xiàn)實(shí)，我們不能否認(rèn)存在否定科學(xué)的事實(shí)。相反，我們應(yīng)該把它看成一個(gè)教育契機(jī)。課堂上闡釋誤解是教授科學(xué)的最有效方法之一。

It turns out the key to stopping science denial is to expose people to just a little bit of science denial.
事實(shí)證明，阻止否定科學(xué)的關(guān)鍵是讓人們看到一小部分對(duì)科學(xué)的否定。

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（本文翻譯：Frank）