Funding Unsuccessful. This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on 12/02/2018.

The project

Fake news, ignorance and misinformation: those terms, now familiar and recurrent on the news, represent a flashing alarm for the sake of public opinion and the health of democratic institutions. Specifically, the distribution of fake news on social media, the political success of xenophobic parties in the Westerns societies, and the propagation of denial-movements regarding scientific products and concepts (such as vaccines, global warming, etc.) require an institutional and direct reaction aimed at facing the menace that those concepts now represents.
Our project aims at becoming an integral and fundamental part of that reaction.
This mean, our project aims at providing not just pragmatical solutions to limit and contrast the diffusion of fake news, ignorance and misinformation in today’s society, but also at offering ways to improve the general public’s capacity to comprehend, elaborate, and critically analyze information. In order to achieve these goals, we will adopt two strategic plans:

1) the theoretical and systematical analysis of the problems at hand from a logical, epistemological and social perspective, employing the secure techniques of pragmatical philosophy, and sociology and philosophy of science;

2) the organization of educational plans to communicate and inform the general public regarding ignorance-traps, the logic of misinformation, and to diffuse a more responsible attitude in the use of old and new media.

Thus, in the three steps of the project, we aim at achieving the following results:

  1. Writing at least two articles on the systematic diffusion of misinformation and false beliefs in mass media, social media, and newly-used educational channels. Referring to recent results of cognitive science, our project will aim at analyzing the contextual dependency of ignorance instantiations and at developing an educational plan (for students and adults) to the responsible use of new media.
  2. Providing a pragmatical report (condensed in an academic article) on the consequences of the reception of information overload by the general public, with particular attention to the consequent diffusion of “epistemic/informational irresponsibility”. Moreover, we will offer a didactic unit called “Self-Defense Logic Class” and open-access seminars to students and adults in order to provide ways to avoid the excessive and unwitting consummation of data.
  3. Writing an academic article on the efficacy and credibility of fallacious arguments in mass communications and on the analysis of the cognitive reasons of their difficult acknowledgement from the general public. From the results of this research, we are going to develop and write a non-academic book on the cognitive and social appeal of fallacies.

Pagina dedicata al progetto: https://stopfakenewsnow.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Stopfakenews.unipv/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StopFakeNews2
Lorenzo Magnani: http://www-2.unipv.it/magnani/wordpress/
Selene Arfini https://sarfini.wordpress.com/

Goals

First step – 12.000 euro

10.000 euros – One scholarship for a young researcher in epistemology, logic and philosophy of science with a specialization in cognitive epistemology, social epistemology and ignorance studies.

2.000 euros – Online courses; “Self-Defense Logic Class” course for students and adults.

Second step – 24.000 euro

10.000 euros – One scholarship for a young researcher in epistemology, logic and philosophy of science with a specialization in cognitive epistemology, social epistemology and ignorance studies.

2.000 euros – Update of online courses; “Self-Defense Logic Class” course for students and adults; open-access university seminars on fallacies, misinformation and use and misuse of news media.

Third step – 30.000 euro

3.000 euros – Update of online courses; “Self-Defense Logic Class” course for students and adults; open-access university seminars on fallacies, misinformation and use and misuse of news media; workshops and laboratories for students and adults

3.000 euros – Publication of a non-academic book on fallacies.

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Rewards

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File Power Point of the “Self-Defence Logic” Class

Pledge €100,00

A lesson of your choice between: 1) THE FAULT LOGIC: how does our reason fail? 2) FAKE NEWS ON(THE)LINE: how to spot real data, good sources, and mistrust fakers. 3) TEST YOUR LOGIC: an introduction to the logic for university entrance exams. + File Power Point of the “Self-Defence Logic” Class + Montly newsletter containing articles (of philosophy, cognitive science, psychology and sociology) and news for a year (if the first step is reached) and for two years (if the second step is reached).

Pledge €200,00

Bundle of three lessons: 1) THE FAULT LOGIC: how does our reason fail? 2) FAKE NEWS ON(THE)LINE: how to spot real data, good sources, and mistrust fakers. 3) TEST YOUR LOGIC: an introduction to the logic for university entrance exams. + File Power Point of the “Self-Defence Logic” Class + Montly newsletter containing articles (of philosophy, cognitive science, psychology and sociology) and news for a year (if the first step is reached) and for two years (if the second step is reached).

Pledge €350,00

Bundle of six lessons: the “Self-Defence Logic” Class + File Power Point + Montly newsletter containing articles (of philosophy, cognitive science, psychology and sociology) and news for a year (if the first step is reached) and for two years (if the second step is reached).

Pledge €600,00

Invitation to lessons, seminars, and workshops on the academic year 2017/2018 at the University of Pavia. A lesson of your choice between: 1) THE FAULT LOGIC: how does our reason fail? 2) FAKE NEWS ON(THE)LINE: how to spot real data, good sources, and mistrust fakers. + Bundle of six lessons: the “Self-Defence Logic” Class + File Power Point + Montly newsletter containing articles (of philosophy, cognitive science, psychology and sociology) and news for a year (if the first step is reached) and for two years (if the second step is reached).

Pledge €1.000,00

Training Course for companies: 4 seminars on fake news, fallacies and scientific information.

Pledge €1.500,00

Training Course for companies: 6 seminars on logic of information and misinformation

Team

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Lorenzo Magnani

| Founder

Lorenzo Magnani

| Founder
Full Professor Department of Humanities, Philosophy Section CV Completo
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Selene Arfini

Selene Arfini

PhD Department of Humanities, Philosophy Section CV Completo
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Tommaso Bertolotti

Tommaso Bertolotti

Associate Professor of Department of Humanities, Philosophy Section CV Complete

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  • Make a pledge without a reward

  • File Power Point of the “Self-Defence Logic” Class

  • A lesson of your choice between: 1) THE FAULT LOGIC: how does our reason fail? 2) FAKE NEWS ON(THE)LINE: how to spot real data, good sources, and mistrust fakers. 3) TEST YOUR LOGIC: an introduction to the logic for university entrance exams. + File Power Point of the “Self-Defence Logic” Class + Montly newsletter containing articles (of philosophy, cognitive science, psychology and sociology) and news for a year (if the first step is reached) and for two years (if the second step is reached).

  • Bundle of three lessons: 1) THE FAULT LOGIC: how does our reason fail? 2) FAKE NEWS ON(THE)LINE: how to spot real data, good sources, and mistrust fakers. 3) TEST YOUR LOGIC: an introduction to the logic for university entrance exams. + File Power Point of the “Self-Defence Logic” Class + Montly newsletter containing articles (of philosophy, cognitive science, psychology and sociology) and news for a year (if the first step is reached) and for two years (if the second step is reached).

  • Bundle of six lessons: the “Self-Defence Logic” Class + File Power Point + Montly newsletter containing articles (of philosophy, cognitive science, psychology and sociology) and news for a year (if the first step is reached) and for two years (if the second step is reached).

  • Invitation to lessons, seminars, and workshops on the academic year 2017/2018 at the University of Pavia. A lesson of your choice between: 1) THE FAULT LOGIC: how does our reason fail? 2) FAKE NEWS ON(THE)LINE: how to spot real data, good sources, and mistrust fakers. + Bundle of six lessons: the “Self-Defence Logic” Class + File Power Point + Montly newsletter containing articles (of philosophy, cognitive science, psychology and sociology) and news for a year (if the first step is reached) and for two years (if the second step is reached).

  • Training Course for companies: 4 seminars on fake news, fallacies and scientific information.

  • Training Course for companies: 6 seminars on logic of information and misinformation