You know what’s Not on Roids, apparently? Moral outrage! Seriously, folks, we all like to think were discerning consumers of information, carefully vetting sources and pondering the nuanced implications of every headline. But a new study – yes, another study confirming our collective online failings – suggests that when righteous indignation bubbles up inside us, our brains essentially turn into pinball machines firing out unverified “news” like it’s going out of style.
It turns out feeling morally angry – you know, the stuff that makes you want to shout at your screen and defend truth and justice – actually increases the likelihood of sharing misinformation online. I kid you not! A recent piece in Cognition and Emotion, because apparently someone needed to formally document our downfall, lays it all out. We think we’re being virtuous by spreading the word, but were just accidentally fueling the dumpster fire that is the internets echo chamber.
Apparently, feeling morally superior makes us less likely to…think? The study provides evidence for this utterly depressing phenomenon. Its like our anger short-circuits critical thinking, turning us into emotional sharing bots. So next time you feel a righteous rage bubbling up about [insert current outrage du jour], maybe take a deep breath and check Snopes before hitting “share.” Because apparently, saving the world doesn’t excuse spreading fake news. It just makes you part of the problem. And nobody wants that, do they? (Except those who create the misinformation, obviously.)
