Mark Twain famously (even supposing in all probability apocryphally) mentioned we will have to by no means let the reality get in the best way of a excellent tale. Archaelogists would possibly beg to vary, specifically when the tale in query is a dramatic rewriting of human historical past that – because the president of the Society of American Archaeology, Daniel Sandweiss, has famous – has a long-standing hyperlink with racist ideologies.
This narrative claims that the acquainted historic civilisations of Eurasia, Africa and the Americas drew inspiration from a mysterious complex tradition that predated all of them. Archaeologists are assured that no such civilisation ever existed, however they’re additionally conscious that persuading believers to reject the tale is a difficult job.
Then again, as we discover in our interview with archaeologist Flint Dibble in “The archaeologist combating claims about a sophisticated misplaced civilisation”, they’ll have discovered a successful technique within the type of the “reality sandwich”. On this debating methodology, archaeologists first start by way of discussing actual knowledge, what their analysis has printed concerning the previous. Then they take on the false knowledge – on this case explaining how the info depart no room for this misplaced civilisation – sooner than returning to and re-emphasising the true knowledge.
Reality sandwiches’ seem to be excellent at combating incorrect information in some contexts however no longer others
The reality sandwich won reputation after it was once formalised by way of linguist George Lakoff in 2018. It’s tempting to suppose that it might probably persuade audiences to desert trust in false narratives. However can it? The easiest way to determine, in fact, is thru managed experiments. The primary such analysis has now been performed, and it gifts a combined image. Reality sandwiches seem to be efficient in positive contexts however no longer in others, the place alternative ways to construction a controversy are extra persuasive.
Those conflicting effects would possibly appear problematic, however they’re in truth proof of medical inquiry at paintings – a procedure that comes to checking out concepts and refining hypotheses in mild of recent knowledge. It’s only this method that may actually uncover one of the simplest ways to take on incorrect information. Or, to position it differently, science will have to by no means let a excellent tale get in the best way of the reality.
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