Adults will say something they know is wrong or inaccurate, if everybody else is saying it.
But children will do it, found this 2018 experiment, even if it’s only robots speaking lies or twaddle. If the robots say there are five cookies on the plate, when anyone can see there are only three, 3 out of 4 children will say there are five. Because the robots said so first.
Well, okay, they were vaguely “humanoid” robots. It may be that young children can’t easily separate the real from the make-believe. Maybe they don’t quite understand that the robot’s not a living thing.
But what’s the adults’ excuse?
Somebody says it on TV, and you repeat it… because everybody else is saying it.
It’s surprising we put up as much resistance to nooze and propaganda (excuse the tautology) as we do.