Canada’s Economy
Timothy Caulfield in his new book, The Certainty Illusion, says that we live in a post-truth world.
Caulfield talks about the stark difference existing between facts and perception.
Take the Canadian economy for example. Listening to some politicians has led many people to believe that the present government has created a horrible economy that disadvantaged all Canadians. The facts are, Canada’s economy grew by 41.3% since 2015. (Under the previous administration it grew 18% over a similar length of time.) Per capita income grew by 23%. The median net worth of Canadians increased 66%. It probably doesn’t feel that way but that’s a fact. Canada ranks better than all G7 countries in debt to GDP ratio.
There is a massive disconnect between reality and grievances. A lot of this arises from political strategies to foment fear and rage and anger that isn’t connected to reality.
Timothy Caulfield
Caulfield is a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, a Professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health, and Research Director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta. His interdisciplinary research on topics like stem cells, genetics, research ethics, the public representations of science and public health policy has allowed him to publish hundreds academic articles.
Caulfield’s view on certainty: “The reality is that very often, there isn’t certainty. Science is hard and messy, world events are often random and not caused by some grand master plan, and our ill-health is not determined by a single evil “toxin” or bad actor. Recognizing this reality — and that our information environment is often rigged against us — may sound like a downer, but it is actually empowering and liberating. It can help people focus on the stuff that really matters.”
Threats
94% of 25,000 people surveyed in an international survey identified the spread of misinformation as a major threat to humanity.
The President of the European Union in 2024 said that disinformation, misinformation, and polarization are the world’s most significant threats.
In the US…
60% of Republicans believe that Biden stole the 2020 election.
25% of Americans believe the FBI organized the January 6 attack on the US Capitol
25% of Americans believe COVID vaccines have microchips in them
37% of Canadians believe powerful elites are replacing native born Canadians with immigrants who agree with their political views.
There are 8.5 billion Google searches every day.
500 hours of YouTube content is uploaded every minute.
Humans process 74 GB of information every single day. 500 years ago 74 GB of information would be how much a highly educated person consumed it a lifetime.
Meta Changes
It’s not all bad news. “We need to remember that reliable information exists and, for most topics, it can be relatively easy to find if we remember to consider things like the nature of the evidence used. The problem is that those pushing misinformation often exploit that “in the moment” reaction we have to content. They want to make us mad or fearful, for example. Remember to pause, think about accuracy, and consider the body of evidence.”
Take note: Starting in January 2025, Meta did away with the U.S. third-party fact-checking program in favour of mimicking X’s “community notes” model of crowd-sourced corrections.
Right away people tested the new rules by posting false information and there was no response.
Facebook and Instagram will become less safe places for social interaction. Approach with caution.
Read the free intro to the book here.
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