"We need a culture where saying, 'I was wrong — I see it differently now,' is accepted and even encouraged."
Alex Edmans, a professor of finance at London Business School, argues that curiosity and persistent questioning are practical defenses against polarization and confirmation bias — the tendency to seek only what reinforces existing beliefs.
In his book, <May Contain Lies> (Wisdom House), Edmans puts widely trusted sources under scrutiny, including government-approved reports, papers published in scientific journals and books recommended by Nobel laureates. He also challenges errors and exaggerations in global bestsellers, including <Outliers>.
In an interview with this news outlet, Edmans said societies that punish failure too harshly can make people cling to a view once they adopt it. He said improvement is possible if people become more discerning by asking simple questions.
"If people become more discerning, things can improve. Just being curious and asking questions can do it," he said. "In an environment that is strict about failure, once you hold a view you become focused on defending it, and you don't want to change your mind."
Edmans said books should not be treated as automatically authoritative. Popularity, he said, is not proof of accuracy.
"People say something is 'textbook' when they mean it's correct, or they defer to 'the person who wrote the book,'" he said. "But a book isn't that different from a long blog post. What matters is who wrote it and whether they have expertise. Popularity doesn't guarantee accuracy — just as viral videos can mislead."
He urged readers not to settle for the most obvious explanation, but to look for alternatives — much as mystery readers learn that the most obvious suspect is often not the culprit.
"Confirmation bias is a tendency to accept what feels comfortable," he said. "You need the habit of accepting discomfort and challenging what you wish were true."
Edmans wrote in the Korean-language preface that "democracy dies when citizens stop asking questions."
"As an economist, I believe in the importance of both supply and demand," he said. "If the public wants fake news — if citizens don't ask questions and accept as fact only what they want to believe — then politicians, influencers and journalists will keep supplying it. The key point is that this doesn't mean they are bad people. They are human and may lack the time or expertise to think critically and fact-check. Even busy citizens can understand the world better and make better decisions by asking simple questions."
Edmans also answered written questions about fact-checking and resisting misinformation and incitement.
▷ People can be influenced more by values and ideology than by facts. How can people balance the pursuit of objective truth with value judgments?
"It starts with recognizing the difference," he said. "Some issues have an objective truth — whether smoking causes cancer, or whether investing in a net-zero portfolio lowers financial returns. But what decision to make is often a value judgment. Even if a net-zero portfolio doesn't maximize returns, you might invest because you worry about climate change. Separating the two is important. If someone says, 'Net-zero investing sacrifices financial returns,' social media may try to brand them a climate denier or immoral. But that is simply a fact, without a value judgment. It is not logically inconsistent to accept there is a cost and still decide you are willing to pay it because of concern about climate change."
▷ Your book emphasizes diversity and inclusion. Is dialogue that reaches mutual agreement really possible?
"If people are open-minded, and if culture supports changing your view rather than saving face by refusing to admit mistakes, then agreement through dialogue is certainly possible," he said.
▷ Korea's education system often focuses on finding the right answer. As a parent, what matters most in building a child's critical thinking?
"Encourage children to ask questions," he said. "There are two ways. First, explicitly praise the act of asking. I often tell my son, 'That's a good question.' Second, answer carefully even if the question is simple. Sometimes you may need paper and a pen to draw, or show a real object."
▷ The term "common sense" is often used in politics and can change with time and context. Is it a reliable standard?
"Appealing to common sense is dangerous," he said. "It often means personal intuition or a gut feeling, which can lead people to reject evidence that contradicts it. For example, it may seem like giving water to a child with diarrhea will just pass through, so you shouldn't. But experts say you must give water to prevent dehydration. Also, the 'common' in common sense can mean what everyone else thinks — a shared belief. But the wisdom of crowds is often wrong."
▷ Will advances in technology, including AI, worsen information distortion or improve it?
"The internet has made it very easy for people to search for information that supports their views, regardless of whether it is true," he said. "Social media bears some responsibility for luring people with posts or short videos, but the problem is that this has expanded into blogs and newspaper articles. AI is a double-edged sword. Like other tools, it depends on how it is used. Some will use AI to check the other side of an argument or verify claims. Others will use it to find information that reinforces existing biases."
▷ A message for Korean readers?
"Fake news is a serious problem, but it is not unsolvable," he said. "If you keep an open mind, don't lose your curiosity, and keep asking questions, you can get a little better every day."
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.