Misinformation,  Disinformation, and Critical Thinking

By David Davidian, Yerevan, May 2026

As a follow-up to a presentation I gave to a Siunik NGO at the outbreak of the Second Karabakh War on misinformation and disinformation, I was asked by an organizer of that event to give a similar presentation on April 28, 2026, to the American University of Kurdistan in Duhok, Iraq. A link to the webinar and the presentation is available here.

We are all being showered by misinformation: information shared without the intent to deceive, where the person sharing it genuinely believes it is true. In contrast, disinformation is false information created and shared deliberately to deceive, mislead, or manipulate people. Misinformation is a mistake; disinformation is a lie.

Critical thinking has always been important, but in the modern era, it is an indispensable requirement. Critical thinking is not just thinking deeply; it is analyzing your own logic to ensure your conclusions are unbiased and backed by evidence.

An individual lacking critical thinking skills can easily be manipulated in the interest of others and is very susceptible to techniques that play on human psychology and cognitive biases. It is very difficult to be a critical thinker. To even begin claiming to be a critical thinker, one must be willing to acknowledge the possibility of being in error. This is very difficult, especially if one has held positions over a long period; it is a threat to self-esteem and even identity. The brain triggers defensive processing: rationalization, selective doubt, or shifting the goalposts. This is tied to cognitive dissonance; holding the beliefs “I’m right” and “I’m wrong” at the same time is uncomfortable, so the mind tries to reduce the discomfort by protecting the original belief rather than updating it immediately. The sooner a person understands that being correct, or accurate in a position, is worth much more than clinging to an untenable belief, the sooner they can begin to discriminate between fact, misinformation, and disinformation. The information manipulator knows people generally are too lazy to verify what is claimed, and the repetition of a lie reinforces its blind acceptance. In the modern era, this is known as cognitive warfare.

The webinar expands on many of these items.

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