Books About Propaganda and Why Beliefs Spread

Hugo Mercier argues that people often test what they hear against what they already know and who told them. His explanation gives you a way to ask why some improbable claims are believed and others are set aside. Choose it to put a theory of selective trust beside books that emphasize the power of repeated public messages.

Damon Centola compares forms of spread that can begin on one contact with changes that tend to require reinforcement from several people. The distinction gives a reader a way to question whether something visible is also taking hold. Read it for research on the difference between hearing an idea and seeing others act on it.