- Misinformation
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Misinformation is false or inaccurate information that is spread unintentionally. It is distinguished from disinformation by motive in that misinformation is simply erroneous, while disinformation, in contrast, is intended to mislead.[1]
Makkai proposes the distinction between misinformation and disinformation to be a defining characteristic of idioms in the English language.[2] An utterance is only idiomatic if it involves disinformation, where the listener can decode the utterance in a logical, and lexically correct, yet erroneous way. Where the listener simply decodes the lexemes incorrectly, the utterance is simply misinformation, and not idiomatic.
Damian Thompson defines counterknowledge as "misinformation packaged to look like fact."[3] Using the definition above, this may refer to disinformation, as the motive is deliberate and often pecuniary.
Contents
See also
References
- ^ Francois Nel (2005). Writing for the Media in Southern Africa. Oxford University Press. p. 57. ISBN 0195784146.
- ^ Adam Makkai (1970). "Statistical Aspects of Phrasal Verb Idioms in Modern English". Proceedings of the Xth international congress of linguists, Bucharest, 1967. pp. 969–972.
- ^ Thompson, Damian (2008). Counterknowledge: How We Surrendered to Conspiracy Theories, Quack Medicine, Bogus Science and Fake History. Atlantic Books. ISBN 1843546752.
Further reading
- Baillargeon, Normand (4 January 2008). A short course in intellectual self-defense. Seven Stories Press. ISBN 9781583227657. http://books.google.com/books?id=S2nh2Ffds7gC. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- Christopher Murphy (2005). Competitive Intelligence: Gathering, Analysing And Putting It to Work. Gower Publishing, Ltd.. pp. 186–189. ISBN 0566085372. — a case study of misinformation arising from simple error
- Martin C. Libicki (2007). "Misinformation and disinformation". Conquest in Cyberspace: National Security and Information Warfare. Cambridge University Press. p. 51ff. ISBN 0521871603.
- Jürg Strässler (1982). Idioms in English: A Pragmatic Analysis. Gunter Narr Verlag. pp. 43–44. ISBN 3878089716.
External links
Categories:- Communication of falsehoods
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