Behavior: Telling Hoax from Truth

How does the way an average person makes a judgment on truth differ from how a scientist or expert determines truth, or not?

A person makes judgment based on their background and their own collective experiences. Someone who’s never been lied to is more likely to believe people at face value. Someone without the ability to read social cues may not pick up behavior that would indicate that the person giving the information is belying it with his or her behavior.

Scientists have a background that is different from that of an average person, so they will look for different things when deciding if a piece of information is truthful or factual. In general, scientists will be more methodical and tenacious in their decisions. Average people will more likely jump to conclusions based on past experiences without ruling out logical or logistical possibilities the way scientists are trained to do.

But in addition to scientists discerning truth from hoax differently than average people, among average people, people of different ages, backgrounds and upbringings will all use different tools when deciding or judging situations.