I want you to think of a person in your
life who you disagree with someone you
disagree with about something important
something that really matters to you the
kind of thing that might start an
argument now think about a disagreement
you’ve had with that person maybe it was
about where the same-sex marriage should
be legalized maybe it was about climate
change maybe it was about economics or
vaccinations or immigration everyone got
someone in mind
this guy’s got five so that’s good so
you know the feeling you disagree and
you’re both arguing your cases but while
you’re listening to their case you’re
probably listening for the opportunity
to refute it rather than listening to
understand and we’ve all been guilty of
this because in that moment what do we
all want we want the other person to
change their mind we want them to listen
to us really listen we want them to nod
their heads a little bit
and say you know what you’re right but
when was the last time you changed your
mind I’m gonna hazard a guess and say
that most of us here today think we’re
open-minded we’re the flexible ones
we’re responsive to new information so
if I told you that you’re not as
open-minded as you think you are
you might feel a little bit offended and
I get that but hear me out even if you
disagree with me
because what I’ve learned as my time is
a fact check editor is just how hard it
can be for people to change their minds
about something they really believe in
even when they’re faced with the facts
changing our minds about something
important
takes time and it takes a lot of effort
it often requires trust and respect it
demands empathy vulnerability and most
of all courage it’s a skill and it’s a
skill most of us even if even all of us
here could be better at and and we need
to be better at we live in a time when
the sum of human knowledge is increasing
exponentially and so much of that
knowledge is right here at our
fingertips but are we really really
taking advantage of that knowledge or
are our minds made up for good now
there’s one small complication not all
of this new information is created equal
in an age when we’re inundated with
conflicting messages and there’s so much
information out there that is designed
to mislead and deceive us being able to
assess what is quality information and
what is not is one of the most important
skills we can teach each other share
with each other and with our children
but there is cause for hope
and there are a lot of people out there
working to bring us the true picture at
the conversation we’re also trying to do
our bit to keep the information
ecosystem healthy our teams of
journalists work with academics around
the world to publish news and analysis
that’s underpinned by academic research
and that allows us to respond to the
issues of the day by drawing on all of
that knowledge that is too often locked
up in academic journals we do that
because we believe that sharing accurate
information is fundamental to a healthy
society and we believe that that
information
needs to be freely available to everyone
as a fact-check editor of the
conversation Australia my job is to work
with academic experts to explore the
evidence for and against claims made by
politicians and people of influence does
fact-checking work in some ways yes fact
checks published by reputable
organizations all around the world
overturn false stories and harmful
misinformation every single day here’s
one example in March this year a photo
of a young white South African girl was
widely shared on the Internet now this
little girl was horrific ly injured she
was covered in blood
her face torn from cheek to cheek this
photo was shared in the midst of
heightened racial tensions in South
Africa and accusations of racially
motivated violence against white farmers
it was shared with the words this is
what savages do to white children in
South Africa they carve joka smiles in
their faces
it was also shared with the hashtags
stop farm murders and white genocide as
shown by the US fact-checking site
Snopes the little girl’s injuries were
actually caused when she was attacked by
her family dog in 2017
the good news is that little girl is all
right now but we just don’t know how
many people still believe that story to
be true and what kind of consequences
that could have here in Australia our
conversation fact-check horses and
editors have corrected and clarified
hundreds of claims made by Australian
leaders climate change immigration crime
energy policies same-sex marriage you
name it we’ve been there but putting the
facts of the matter on the record is one
thing having people embrace that
information is a whole new chain
and that’s where my job ends and your
job begins because it’s never just about
the facts those facts are tied to social
issues which are usually tied to
feelings those feelings might be tied to
our sense of what is right and wrong to
the experience as each of us have had in
our lives and even to our loyalty to our
tribes we might also feel that we’ve
independently and dispassionately
assessed a subject that we’re up to date
with all the latest information and that
our conclusions on that topic are
correct and we could be right about that
but we must also acknowledge some of the
psychological and social factors that
each of us face when we’re taking on
board new information for example the
illusory truth effect the more often we
hear a statement the more likely we are
to believe it’s correct new information
is a lot harder for our brains to
process it’s the more familiar a piece
of information it is and the easier it
is for our brains to process it the more
likely we are to believe it’s true even
when it’s not we’re also subject to
confirmation bias and motivated
reasoning these are our tendencies to
seek out the evidence that support our
existing views and question or
reinterpret or reject the evidence to
the contrary perhaps unsurprisingly
we’re a lot more open to accepting new
facts from the people and sources from
within our own communities and more
likely to reject even those exact same
facts when they come from the other side
and these biases aren’t overcome by
education and expertise sometimes it can
be the most educated people the people
most educated about a subject who could
be the most polarized in our
professional lives accepting a certain
fact might require us to train
cause when that change is too
challenging a prospect we might reject
the fact outright instead and often what
we believe to be true is part of our
sense of belonging in a community
information that could prompt a change
in our beliefs it’s not just difficult
to process it could be a social risk and
it could lead us to isolation that’s
really scary stuff these are just some
of the reasons why we can find ourselves
unable to agree on an issue even when
the facts of the matter appear to be
well established so what can we do about
it one thing we can do is to immediately
stop tearing down leaders who change
their minds when they’re presented with
new evidence we’ve got to stop calling
this a back flip the ability and the
willingness to change our minds we’re
presented with better information is a
trait we should value and we need to
applaud it
another thing we can do is to rediscover
the lost art of civil disagreement
because disagreements aren’t inherently
bad they’re critical to intellectual
process they force us to defend our
reasoning and they spur us on to even
better ideas we don’t need to shy away
from disagreements when we know how to
do them well so here are a few things
you might like to try in your next
argument make sure you’re listening to
understand really really listening to
understand and not just listening for
the chance to argue back engage your
sense of curiosity this can be really
fun and interesting engage that
curiosity and you
empathy it’s one thing to know what
someone believes but it’s another thing
entirely to understand why they believe
it and it’s in the way that we have the
opportunity to connect and when it is
your turn to speak
take the time to retrace the steps you
took to arrive at your conclusion try as
hard as you possibly can to find at
least one point of agreement no matter
how small and then of course share the
best evidence you have maybe it will
leave me a fact check although there’s
plenty else out there and you might want
to leave it at that
because changing a mind whether your own
mind or someone else’s will not happen
on the spot don’t try to win the
argument instead try to create an
environment where the seed of a new
piece of evidence might be able to grow
the economist John Kenneth Galbraith
said that when faced with the choice
between changing one’s mind and proving
that there’s no need to do so
almost everybody gets busy on the proof
we can do better instead let’s prove to
ourselves that we have the intellect to
reach for the best possible evidence and
not just the proof that we want to see
the emotional intelligence to have
fruitful conversations and the wisdom
and the courage to change our minds when
our knowledge grows it’s this
combination of the cold hard facts and
the warmth of empathy that can draw us
out of our silos and into a space where
we can collectively make decisions
decisions that are in all of our best
interests thank you [Applause]
life who you disagree with someone you
disagree with about something important
something that really matters to you the
kind of thing that might start an
argument now think about a disagreement
you’ve had with that person maybe it was
about where the same-sex marriage should
be legalized maybe it was about climate
change maybe it was about economics or
vaccinations or immigration everyone got
someone in mind
this guy’s got five so that’s good so
you know the feeling you disagree and
you’re both arguing your cases but while
you’re listening to their case you’re
probably listening for the opportunity
to refute it rather than listening to
understand and we’ve all been guilty of
this because in that moment what do we
all want we want the other person to
change their mind we want them to listen
to us really listen we want them to nod
their heads a little bit
and say you know what you’re right but
when was the last time you changed your
mind I’m gonna hazard a guess and say
that most of us here today think we’re
open-minded we’re the flexible ones
we’re responsive to new information so
if I told you that you’re not as
open-minded as you think you are
you might feel a little bit offended and
I get that but hear me out even if you
disagree with me
because what I’ve learned as my time is
a fact check editor is just how hard it
can be for people to change their minds
about something they really believe in
even when they’re faced with the facts
changing our minds about something
important
takes time and it takes a lot of effort
it often requires trust and respect it
demands empathy vulnerability and most
of all courage it’s a skill and it’s a
skill most of us even if even all of us
here could be better at and and we need
to be better at we live in a time when
the sum of human knowledge is increasing
exponentially and so much of that
knowledge is right here at our
fingertips but are we really really
taking advantage of that knowledge or
are our minds made up for good now
there’s one small complication not all
of this new information is created equal
in an age when we’re inundated with
conflicting messages and there’s so much
information out there that is designed
to mislead and deceive us being able to
assess what is quality information and
what is not is one of the most important
skills we can teach each other share
with each other and with our children
but there is cause for hope
and there are a lot of people out there
working to bring us the true picture at
the conversation we’re also trying to do
our bit to keep the information
ecosystem healthy our teams of
journalists work with academics around
the world to publish news and analysis
that’s underpinned by academic research
and that allows us to respond to the
issues of the day by drawing on all of
that knowledge that is too often locked
up in academic journals we do that
because we believe that sharing accurate
information is fundamental to a healthy
society and we believe that that
information
needs to be freely available to everyone
as a fact-check editor of the
conversation Australia my job is to work
with academic experts to explore the
evidence for and against claims made by
politicians and people of influence does
fact-checking work in some ways yes fact
checks published by reputable
organizations all around the world
overturn false stories and harmful
misinformation every single day here’s
one example in March this year a photo
of a young white South African girl was
widely shared on the Internet now this
little girl was horrific ly injured she
was covered in blood
her face torn from cheek to cheek this
photo was shared in the midst of
heightened racial tensions in South
Africa and accusations of racially
motivated violence against white farmers
it was shared with the words this is
what savages do to white children in
South Africa they carve joka smiles in
their faces
it was also shared with the hashtags
stop farm murders and white genocide as
shown by the US fact-checking site
Snopes the little girl’s injuries were
actually caused when she was attacked by
her family dog in 2017
the good news is that little girl is all
right now but we just don’t know how
many people still believe that story to
be true and what kind of consequences
that could have here in Australia our
conversation fact-check horses and
editors have corrected and clarified
hundreds of claims made by Australian
leaders climate change immigration crime
energy policies same-sex marriage you
name it we’ve been there but putting the
facts of the matter on the record is one
thing having people embrace that
information is a whole new chain
and that’s where my job ends and your
job begins because it’s never just about
the facts those facts are tied to social
issues which are usually tied to
feelings those feelings might be tied to
our sense of what is right and wrong to
the experience as each of us have had in
our lives and even to our loyalty to our
tribes we might also feel that we’ve
independently and dispassionately
assessed a subject that we’re up to date
with all the latest information and that
our conclusions on that topic are
correct and we could be right about that
but we must also acknowledge some of the
psychological and social factors that
each of us face when we’re taking on
board new information for example the
illusory truth effect the more often we
hear a statement the more likely we are
to believe it’s correct new information
is a lot harder for our brains to
process it’s the more familiar a piece
of information it is and the easier it
is for our brains to process it the more
likely we are to believe it’s true even
when it’s not we’re also subject to
confirmation bias and motivated
reasoning these are our tendencies to
seek out the evidence that support our
existing views and question or
reinterpret or reject the evidence to
the contrary perhaps unsurprisingly
we’re a lot more open to accepting new
facts from the people and sources from
within our own communities and more
likely to reject even those exact same
facts when they come from the other side
and these biases aren’t overcome by
education and expertise sometimes it can
be the most educated people the people
most educated about a subject who could
be the most polarized in our
professional lives accepting a certain
fact might require us to train
cause when that change is too
challenging a prospect we might reject
the fact outright instead and often what
we believe to be true is part of our
sense of belonging in a community
information that could prompt a change
in our beliefs it’s not just difficult
to process it could be a social risk and
it could lead us to isolation that’s
really scary stuff these are just some
of the reasons why we can find ourselves
unable to agree on an issue even when
the facts of the matter appear to be
well established so what can we do about
it one thing we can do is to immediately
stop tearing down leaders who change
their minds when they’re presented with
new evidence we’ve got to stop calling
this a back flip the ability and the
willingness to change our minds we’re
presented with better information is a
trait we should value and we need to
applaud it
another thing we can do is to rediscover
the lost art of civil disagreement
because disagreements aren’t inherently
bad they’re critical to intellectual
process they force us to defend our
reasoning and they spur us on to even
better ideas we don’t need to shy away
from disagreements when we know how to
do them well so here are a few things
you might like to try in your next
argument make sure you’re listening to
understand really really listening to
understand and not just listening for
the chance to argue back engage your
sense of curiosity this can be really
fun and interesting engage that
curiosity and you
empathy it’s one thing to know what
someone believes but it’s another thing
entirely to understand why they believe
it and it’s in the way that we have the
opportunity to connect and when it is
your turn to speak
take the time to retrace the steps you
took to arrive at your conclusion try as
hard as you possibly can to find at
least one point of agreement no matter
how small and then of course share the
best evidence you have maybe it will
leave me a fact check although there’s
plenty else out there and you might want
to leave it at that
because changing a mind whether your own
mind or someone else’s will not happen
on the spot don’t try to win the
argument instead try to create an
environment where the seed of a new
piece of evidence might be able to grow
the economist John Kenneth Galbraith
said that when faced with the choice
between changing one’s mind and proving
that there’s no need to do so
almost everybody gets busy on the proof
we can do better instead let’s prove to
ourselves that we have the intellect to
reach for the best possible evidence and
not just the proof that we want to see
the emotional intelligence to have
fruitful conversations and the wisdom
and the courage to change our minds when
our knowledge grows it’s this
combination of the cold hard facts and
the warmth of empathy that can draw us
out of our silos and into a space where
we can collectively make decisions
decisions that are in all of our best
interests thank you [Applause]
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