Smart Reading

It is very easy to get frustrated, upset, anxious or angry while reading the news or articles on the Internet. Online authors care about more people reading their texts, and they are playing with facts and narrative to get people emotionally engaged. Skillful writers exploit cognitive biases, abusing natural habit of a human being to trust other people, leveraging ambiguity effects, attentional bias, availability heuristic and other biases.

It is very hard to avoid getting into a trap and believing in something when your emotions kick in. However, there is a simple technique that requires just a little bit of practice to avoid being easily fooled by another internet scam. The method requires creating a habit to ask yourself a set of simple questions, to get your brain to process the information consciously, instead of relying on your emotions.

Start by asking yourself “What do I feel about this text?”. This simple questions will set a context for understanding why you want to believe or do not want to believe in the story you have just read.

And then ask yourself to Identify, Understand and Analyze the text, by asking nine simple questions.

Identify:

1. What is this text about?
2. Who and when wrote the text?
3. What is the context? What are the other news and stories about the subject that appeared recently and got your attention?

Understand:

1. What are the facts and what are the assumptions in the texts?
2. What did you know about the subject before reading this and what is the new information for you?
3. What is the opinion of the author?

Analyze:

1. What is missing in the story?
2. How probable is what author saying?
3. Is there another way to interpret the facts in the text?

After asking those questions, you will be able to make a decision quickly, if the information is trustworthy and worth remembering and sharing.

People like to play with your mind, making you believe in something to take advantage of you, fulfill their political or financial interests or just have fun. It is almost impossible to avoid getting into cunning traps without a mental effort.

Do not spread hoax.
Make a mental effort.
Check the facts.

Remember, when you share that information and pass it along, you add your credibility to it. In the XIX century, famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin was tricked by French writer Prosper Mérimée, who published a book “La Guzla”, pretending it was a collection of old Slavic songs. And Pushkin’s brilliant translation to Russian made a lot of people believe those songs were truly authentic.

Source: https://gaidar.net/smart-reading-20796b6bdc00