ENest Hemingway said that every good writer needs a built-in bullshit detector. But in 2025, we all need it. High levels of scientific misinformation threaten the well-being of families and our communities, and the problem is worsening at an alarming rate.
Artificial intelligence and social media is accelerating the spread of misinformation disguised as science. Lies that once spread slowly and remained relatively local are now spreading throughout the world.
When people share untruths—about vaccines, paracetamol, or clean energy, for example—the consequences are real and sometimes tragic. Preventable diseases such as measles are now making a comeback in Australian communities due to unfounded fears about vaccines.
Disinformation is false or misleading information. Sometimes it is spread by people who deliberately lie about the facts; this is called disinformation. And sometimes it is spread by those who simply do not know any better. Either way, it is becoming more widespread and destructive on all levels.
On a personal level, incorrect information can harm your health, lead to poor financial decisions, and undermine your ability to make informed choices. At the societal level, it undermines trust in institutions, poisons public debate and pushes people to extremes. Ultimately, disinformation makes it difficult to agree on the facts, makes it difficult to work together to solve common problems, and undermines the social cohesion and democratic resilience that Australians value.
Good news? There are simple steps we can take to combat misinformation, especially if we understand why we are susceptible to it.
Australia's main science advisory body to the Prime Minister, the National Science and Technology Council, last year commissioned landmark reports on disinformation. As a member of this board, I look forward to their release later this year. The reports examine why individuals and communities are vulnerable to misinformation and what can be done to improve resilience.
Reports show that we may be vulnerable to misinformation due to the way our brains are wired. Research shows that people are naturally inclined to believe new information, especially if it is simple, familiar, or comes from people we trust. The more we see it, the more believable it seems, even if it is false. Poor physical or mental health can also reduce cognitive ability, increasing susceptibility to lying.
When faced with large amounts of information, we often rely on mental shortcuts. While they help us process information quickly, they can backfire, especially when the information is emotional, threatening, or from like-minded people. We are more likely to believe it if it matches our existing beliefs or comes from someone we trust.
Given the structure of our brains, when we encounter new information, we need to stop and ask: Is this the best information I can get? Will it stand up to scientific scrutiny? Did it come from someone using the scientific method—a way of rigorously testing ideas through observation, hypotheses, and experiments—or just someone I follow online?
You don't have to be a scientist to discover good science. When in doubt, seek scientific consensus—a collective agreement among experts based on accumulated evidence. It is created through repeated testing, peer review and open debate.
Peer review—where scientists scrutinize each other's work—helps identify and correct errors. It's not perfect, but it's reliable. For example, at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, scientists initially underestimated the impact of airborne transmission. But peer-reviewed research quickly corrected this understanding, leading to updated health guidelines. This is science that works as it should.
Trusting science does not mean blindly believing scientists. This is trust in the scientific method: predict, test, observe, refine. Science questions everything, and while it doesn't claim to be perfect, it offers the best knowledge we have at any given time. It's not the only source of truth, but it's a damn good one. Almost every element of modern life—including the device you're reading this on—is built on knowledge gained through scientific methods.
Sorting information in real time is difficult. If we are not confident that we can do this sorting alone, then we are fortunate that there are organizations in Australia – such as the CSIRO, our universities, museums, hospitals, health and environment departments – that can provide the best information available. We need to cherish these institutions, especially when we face serious challenges, even if the best available information changes over time. Beyond these institutions, education and civic engagement can also play a critical role in protecting our communities from the tide of lies.
Some nonsense is easy to spot: cancer treatment scams, flat earth nonsense, and evolution denial. Other disinformation is harder to detect but no less dangerous, so we must be extremely vigilant because the stakes are extremely high. Our collective well-being depends on our ability to distinguish credible science from compelling fiction. It depends on our willingness to think critically, seek reliable evidence from credible sources, and keep our BS detectors turned on.
