Fake News and Lateral Thinking: Navigating the Erosion of Truth

Sandra M. Dingli ()
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Sandra M. Dingli: University of Malta

A chapter in Intangibles in the Knowledge Economy, 2025, pp 25-39 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This paper explores the manner in which fake news manipulates people’s perceptions and how lateral thinking can be applied to counteract this influence. It delves into the relationship between fake news and lateral thinking, focussing on the importance of developing a mindset that transcends conventional and traditional patterns of thought. It raises a number of questions which include: How are fake news, doublespeak, euphemisms, and alternative facts used by the media? Are we moving further and further into a post-truth world, particularly where political language is concerned, filled with fake news, alternative facts, euphemisms, and doublespeak? How can the use of Lateral Thinking counteract these manipulative forces? The paper first provides a discussion on fake news, which thrives on exploiting cognitive shortcuts and reinforcing existing beliefs. It then examines the concept of lateral thinking, which provokes the challenging of assumptions and the exploration of alternative viewpoints. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that lateral thinking may act as a powerful supplement to traditional critical thinking skills and that it may be applied to counteract cognitive manipulation, which is what fake news strives to do. The result is the adoption of a novel approach to combatting fake news, rather than simply debunking or fact checking which is often done by means of extensive datasets, algorithms, and deep learning techniques.

Keywords: Fake news; Cognitive manipulation; Lateral thinking; Random input (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-031-86660-9_3

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-86660-9_3

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