By LEE DYE - ABC NEWS
Added: Sat, 03 Sep 2011 17:51:08 UTC

The United States is reeling from a hurricane, drought, heat waves, and even an earthquake in Virginia. And we're already well into a nasty national election campaign.

Now is the time to get those rumors flying, because science is proving what most of us already know: If you say something often enough, people will believe it, even if it seems too far out at first to be taken seriously.

Why are people so eager to embrace myths, even if there is not a shred of evidence to support them? Why are so many so eager to believe the unbelievable?

It's no surprise that myths are common in politics, but they invade every field of thought, including science, even when they have been shown to be false. They spread at lightning speed in these days of social media, 24-hour television news, and instant global communications. They aren't harmless.

And it's so easy to do.

Here's how it's done, according to a new mathematical model for rumor-mongering offered by a physicist turned linguist, Lukasz Debowski, although there's no reason to believe he intentionally planned to throw fuel on the rumor mill. His prescription, developed through incredibly complex mathematics, is this:

Say it often. Keep it short.

That formula is backed by research among psychologists and sociologists who have studied the spread of myths in recent years, including psychologist Norbert Schwarz of the University of Michigan, who found that it doesn't take many believers to spread a rumor. A single voice, heard often enough, can sound like a chorus. And it doesn't seem to make much difference whether or not that single voice is credible.

Read More

TAGGED: CRITICAL THINKING