Como Um Annimo Vence Mentiras
Translator: Giovanna Pinheiro
Reviewer: David DeRuwe
In recent years,
we’ve seen a drastic increase
in the mechanisms that disseminate
fake news around the world.
According to a survey made by Avaaz,
at least 98% of those who voted
for the president-elect in 2018
were subjected to fake news.
At least 90% of them believed
some of these statements.
A few years ago, in 2017,
I made a decision that would
completely change my life.
I created a Twitter account,
an anonymous profile,
with the objective
of asking some questions
about the unbelievable statements
made regarding entrepreneurship.
Since then, a lot has changed.
Just like many other Brazilians,
I thought that I could build
a business and change my life.
I also thought I could make
some money along the way
and make a difference in the world.
The more I tried
to make the business work,
the clearer it became
that some details were different
from what’s found in entrepreneurship
books and internet videos.
It became my life mission to expose lies,
mechanisms of fake news,
and these unbelievable promises.
But how could it be possible to do that?
How could it be possible
to challenge famous people,
very rich people,
and influential people,
without anyone knowing who I was?
How coud I do this
while preserving my own identity?
I have to confess that the account
started with a light sense of humor.
The initial idea was to have a little fun,
but I soon felt the need
to pass on a deeper, more serious message.
I felt the need for people to trust in me,
and it’s not easy to do that
while being anonymous.
When was the last time
you took advice from a stranger?
Over a ten-year period
producing internet content,
I discovered that there
are only two attributes
that are needed to win over an audience:
truth and value.
When you tell the truth
and that truth comes with a value,
people stop, they hear,
and they listen what you have to say.
One of humanity’s greatest discoveries
was the development
of the scientific method.
The scientific method
makes it possible to take a statement,
to take a discovery,
and to revise, repeat, and question it.
The scientific method requires
that the person who made the discovery
be completely ignored.
This principle of impersonality
is so important for the scientific method
that the Royal Society of Science
has, as a precept, the saying
“Nullus is verba,”
from the Latin: “In the words of nobody.”
This principle of impersonality
allows us to look today
at Newton’s discoveries from so long ago
to remake, confirm,
and question what’s not correct.
One of the big steps that I took
as the author of “Startup da Real”
was this opportunity
of looking over scientific data
for information and statistics,
questioning every piece of fake news,
every piece of incorrect information,
every lie,
every unbelievable statement.
And that’s the big force
that makes people listen
to what the profile has to say.
But it’s not only by using the truth
that you convince people.
Many times, people want
to believe the lies,
people want to believe fake news.
And it takes just a little more
than simply throwing out facts
to make people listen,
because they often believe
that these lies will provide them
with the chance for a better future,
the belief that the future can be better.
But there is one step that is fundamental
when it comes to convincing those people.
You know when you’re talking to someone,
you’re in the middle of a discussion,
and you don’t even hear the argument
that the other person is presenting you?
Do you start repeating
your own answers in your head?
This is called “backfire effect.”
It’s a cognitive bias
where upon being contradicted,
you begin to reinforce
your beliefs even more.
To nullify this effect,
I suggest a very effective method:
First of all, show the other person
that you’re on the same side,
that you defend the same idea.
Then, provide a context,
a character and a feeling.
So when someone is exposed
to a Ponzi scheme, for example,
there’s no use in telling this person
that the mathematical possibilities
for that business to work are impossible.
But, if I build a context,
bring in a character,
and fit in a feeling or an emotion,
then I can explain what the problem is
in a very clear way.
Do you remember the Ponzi scheme?
I have a cousin,
who was once approached by some friends,
and they offered him a business idea.
All he had to do was buy a few products,
sign himself up,
and sign up other people below him.
The logic would work like this:
People below him
would also sell the product.
He’d sell the product
and make a profit himself,
and from all the earnings
of those below him,
he’d receive a percentage as well.
He would become rich,
working less and less
as there came to be more people
working below him.
In theory, the idea is very good.
Seems to work.
But a few months later,
he was stuck with the products,
lost his job,
and suffered a broken marriage,
because he had used all their savings
and all their reserves
to invest in a business
that had no chance of working.
Looking at it like this,
it’s easy to see where the error is,
and it’s easy to understand
the consequences of the error.
And it’s a lot easier than simply
questioning something that’s happening,
because when you give it a context,
the story and the facts
function as threads of the truth.
Four years have passed
since I created “Startup da Real”.
Since then, countless profiles
have appeared with the same proposal,
with similar ideas in different niches.
This movement has helped
people in society
make whoever speaks for the public
become a little more responsible
for the lies they disseminate.
Brazil will pass
through a new election cycle,
and the mechanisms
of fake news won’t stop.
They will likely get stronger
in upcoming years.
I know we can’t change
the world by ourselves,
but individually,
talking to each and every person,
we can make a difference.
And, when you do that in the right way,
nobody wastes time asking who you are.
Thank you so much.
(Applause)(Cheers)