'Psychological Vaccine' May Protect Against Fake News, Alternative Facts

In a well-timed paper from three universities in England and the U.S., researchers lay out a strategy for “inoculating” the public against the fake news and alternative facts that have been rampant in recent history. They dub the method “psychological vaccination,” since it’s conceptually similar to medical vaccinations: You insert a little bit of the material you want to inoculate against (normally, a piece of virus; here, a word of warning about fake facts), and the person becomes more resilient when confronted with it in the future. The idea is that those who are in the business of relaying actual facts may want to implement the strategy to prevent against the spread of "alternative facts."