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People Spot Misinformation Better After Playing A New Game Where They Undermine Democracy
Misinformation has become one of the most pressing problems we face as a society. How can we find effective solutions when we can’t agree on what the facts are? And misinformation has entered just about every domain in our lives. From our healthcare to our choices as voters, how can we differentiate true from false?
At least when it comes to politics, researchers have found that simply playing a video game can help. A new video game teaches players to how spot misinformation by letting them attempt to undermine democracy. In other words, the more people learn how to create political division in a game, the more they recognize the methods when they see them in real life.
The game is called Harmony Square, and it’s free to play. I thought I’d give it a whirl. At first it was amusing when I was hired as Chief Disinformation Officer and had to choose my code name. That’s when my new employers explained more about my job, “We hired you to sow discord and chaos on Harmony Square.”
After that, the game walked me through five key disinformation techniques, starting with posting an extreme opinion. Here’s what the game said about it, “See? Just by posting an extreme opinion, you got people to act on emotion. You made them think your opinions are…
