Hi, I'm Diane Groussell and I'm also known as Silver Disobedience and I want to thank you for joining me today and say welcome because in this podcast I am going to talk about what so a topic that I believe might actually ultimately become my most important podcast ever. Today I'll be discussing one of my favorite things to observe and study.
It's called the Phenomenon of Continued Influence Effect or CIE Continued Influence Effect is where misinformation or misleading information continues to influence people's beliefs and judgments even after the information has been corrected or debunked. CIE Continued influence effect highlights the lingering impact of false or inaccurate information on individuals thoughts and subsequent decision
making processes. And let me tell you, I think societally the impact of continued influence effect has been accelerating exponentially. And I don't think this is a good thing. Research shows that when we encounter information, it can create a lasting impression, especially if it's associated with fear. More so, even after being presented with corrective information, the initial misinformation can still shape our perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes for a long time unless
we choose to challenge them. This occurs due to factors like cognitive biases, memory distortions, fears, or the influence of prior knowledge and preconceived notions. Essentially, even when people are aware that new evidence has been presented by very credible resources that verifies prior information as true, false or misleading, people still resist even just considering the new information, so they stay stuck and influenced by the original misinformation.
And that's a serious thing. Continued influence effect. CIE has significant implications in areas such as public opinion, health, science, politics, and the spread of misinformation, particularly on the Internet. In this digital age, it underscores the importance of challenging questioning and correcting false information effectively and highlights the need for all of us to constantly apply our critical thinking
skills. Being aware of the impact of continued influence effect can really affect our decision making. Overall, a way to look at continued influence effect is like the childhood game of telephone. Remember we lined up and the teacher or a friend gave us an original message, a sentence to repeat, and as that message got passed along from ear to ear quietly with whispers, it gets distorted and twisted as it's passed. By the end, it's almost not even
recognizable. So the next time you hear news, let's Fact Check it via multiple sources from all perspectives before you pass it on. And it's important that those different perspectives and sources include even those you can't even stomach the thought of reading. But why you want to do this is because you are a smart person who does not want to be adversely impacted. You know, by continued influence effect. You don't want to succumb to the ignorance it causes.
And you want to learn to be a critical thinker because you never know when continued influence effect might rear its ugly head. So how do we develop critical thinking skills to to counter this phenomenon of continued influence effect so we can make more informed judgments and choices? Well, here are some strategies to enhance your critical thinking. Number one, start with questioning your assumptions.
Encourage skepticism. Examine the underlying assumptions of the information that's presented to you. Ask yourself, why do I believe something? Why do I believe this? And I ask whether there really is good information to support it from, again, multiple sources, including those you might agree or disagree with. Which brings me to two seek diverse perspectives. Expose yourself to a variety of viewpoints and opinions, even those that may challenge your beliefs.
This can help you evaluate information from different angles and help you to consider alternative explanations. Three, verify information, Fact Check the information you encounter using reliable sources. Now, I'm going to be the first one to tell you reliable sources these days. Well, they're tricky to find. You really have to look for evidence, corroborating sources and expert opinions to support or debunk claims, and it's going
to require time and effort. It can't just be, you know, you listen to whatever the first person says. There was a great line that Colon General Colin Powell said one time. That said, the news is never as good or as bad as the first report. You have got to do your homework 4. Evaluate the source, assess the credibility and expertise of the sources that are providing you with information.
Consider the factors such as their qualification, their reputation, and very important, there are potential biases and conflicts of interest. Right about now, pretty much all the news we're getting on most outlets is supported by advertisers. It's always been the case, but it's the case now more than ever. We're in a 24/7 365 news cycle and all of these outlets need advertisers to keep their programming on the air. That's how program is paid for by advertisers or contributors.
But right now most of it that you're seeing is advertisers. So those advertisers may have a particular bias that they want to keep pushing forward. It's up to you to figure that out. I'm not going to tell you what to think. I am just telling you to think #5 consider biases and emotions. You want to be aware of your own biases and emotional responses because these may influence your
judgment. You have to ask yourself to try to approach information objectively and critically, considering the evidence rather than personal preferences or emotions or what you really just want to hope to believe. Number six, you have to develop information literacy skills. This means enhancing your ability to evaluate and interpret different kinds of information, such as statistics, scientific studies, and news articles. Let's talk about statistics for a second.
A very famous ad campaign. No need to mention. The advertiser says 4 out of five dentists recommend X. OK, now what you don't know from that statistic is was the inventor of XA parent who sent four of his or her children to dental school. Therefore, four of his children recommend the product that he's promoting. So that could be one possibility.
And this is just. I'm just OP lining on possibilities here for you to consider because you don't have to be a mathematical genius to understand statistics, but you want to question them. Another could be. Well, we were doing a poll and when we got to five people, one disagreed, 4 agreed. So let's just stop it right here. So four out of five did agree. There's different ways statistics can be skewed and trust me, I know this first hand. I've worked in science for 30 something years.
Scientific studies. You also have to consider who's behind the study. If I tell you that watching my scientific studies say that you will be, you know, smarter, better, cooler by always listening to the Silver Dispedians podcast by Diane Groussel, well, I could have done a study on that. But it doesn't mean I actually didn't have a bias in the results in the questions I asked the people who were participating in the study. So you want to keep this in mind.
So you need to learn to distinguish between reliable sources and those that may be unreliable or biased. 7. You need to reflect on your own thinking regularly, reflect on your own thinking processes, and be open to reviewing your beliefs when presented with new evidence or alternative viewpoints. Cultivate intellectual humility. Who? It is not easy. I am not going to tell you it is easy to be intellectually
humble. But there is a benefit in being willing to change your mind when you've been presented with a really good argument that's based on sound facts that are supported from credible resources. Engage in thoughtful discussions. Engaging in respectful, evidence based discussions with others can help you to refine your own thinking. They can also expose you to different perspectives. Constructive debates, which I will say are extremely rare
these days. Constructive debates are not emotional, they are not based on how someone feels, they are based on facts, and they challenge assumptions and they improve critical thinking skills. So I encourage debate in the truest form, which is sticking to the facts, to support your argument 9. Stay informed about your cognitive biases.
Familiarize yourself with common cognitive biases that can impact your decision making, such as confirmation bias, which is, oh I believe this, and so does John. Therefore we're right. Availability bias, where you are only searching the immediate available information and not digging any further. Anchoring bias, which is I feel this and that's it. You know, this is anchored in me, OK? Being aware of these biases can help you mitigate their influence on your thinking.
By consistently applying these strategies, all of us can develop our critical thinking skills. We can become more discerning consumers of information and better resist continued influence effect. Now, if we wanted to take this step further, if you want to learn how and really understand how and why you, we each hold on dearly and tightly to certain conscious and maybe even unconscious perceptions. There are exercises that you can
try. You can practice reflection on your own thinking process, and this is a valuable process for developing greater self-awareness and improving your critical thinking skills. So here's some strategies that you can use to practice reflection 1. Journaling, Journaling, doodling, scribbling, anything. If you can, set aside some time to write down your thoughts and beliefs and your opinions in a notebook someplace that no one
ever has to see. This is your personal space, but writing down your thoughts, beliefs and opinions on various topics and reflecting and considering why you hold certain beliefs and what evidence supports them and whether there are any biases or assumptions influencing your thinking. Just free form thinking two that would lead you into questioning challenging your own assumptions and beliefs by asking yourself probing questions. So for example, ask why do I
hold this particular belief? What evidence or reasoning is supporting it? Are there alternative perspectives, or maybe evidence that I could be overlooking #3? Risk taking? A really good self-assessment? Evaluate your own thinking processes. Try to identify any cognitive biases or logical fallacies that might be influencing your judgments. Reflect on moments when you've fallen victim to these biases and consider how might I approach some similar situations
differently in the future? 4 Seek feedback. Discuss your thoughts and ideas with others, others who might have different perspectives or people you respect because they're critical thinkers. Ask for their feedback and insights. Expect to be challenged. Hope you're challenged. This can help you gain new insights. Discover your blind spots, and challenge your own thinking #5. Learn from your mistakes.
When you realize that you've made a thinking error or held an incorrect belief, that is a growth moment. Take the opportunity to reflect on why it happened. What did you learn from this? Use these critical experiences as priceless lessons because they each help you refine your critical thinking skills. Sips engage in metacognition. Now that's a big word, but really it's an interesting it's
an interesting word and process. Metacognition refers to thinking about thinking during and after engaging with new information or making decisions, pause and reflect on the mental processes you use to come to those decisions. Consider how you arrived at your conclusion, what evidence or reasoning you relied on, and whether there were any biases or shortcuts that may have influenced your thinking. 7 This is one of my favorite. I like to engage in hypnosis,
mindfulness, and meditation. Practicing hypnosis, mindfulness, or meditation in a variety of ways can really help you develop self-awareness and the ability to observe your thoughts without judgement. This can createspace for reflection and help you recognize patterns or biases in your thinking. So remember that reflection questioning. It's an ongoing process.
It takes time and it takes practice to develop the skills necessary to notice and question and correct the phenomenon of continued influence, effect or CIE. But by intentionally setting it, setting aside time for reflection, and applying critical thinking skills to your own thoughts and beliefs, you can become more self aware and improve your ability to think critically. I'm Diane Grisel and I'm also known as Silver Dispenings. If you like this podcast, I would ask you to please
subscribe. And if you notice I'm not telling, I will never tell you what to think. My only request is that you try to think that you do think. Don't believe everything you hear, including me. Thank thanks a lot for joining me. Hit subscribe.