We live in a new era called the information age. A couple centuries ago people, including farmers in the most advanced countries in the world, welcomed the industrial age.

Mechanization enabled farmers to produce more agricultural goods cheaper and with less labor. More recently the majority of people everywhere, and especially farmers, embraced the invention of computers, smartphones, and genetically modified organisms, during what has been called the technological era.

Now, nearly everyone lives in an era which entails messaging in ways that capitalize on research findings in the fields of marketing, psychology and related disciplines. These scientific advancements have both positive and negative consequences which we must sort out to determine accurate information from that designed to manipulate our perceptions.

Whole new systems of detection, ethics, and regulation are needed to counteract false messaging by people and from artificial intelligence on social media (e.g., Facebook), phones (e.g., Twitter, now called X), iPads, and on radio, television, and all forms of media messaging. Carefully designed messaging has already been undertaken by Russians and possibly other hackers to infiltrate U.S. elections and entire industries, such as the generation of electricity.

Infiltrators into electronic media can spin information in computer-operated networks to change opinions and the choices people make. There even are legitimate worries that hackers and biased election officials can alter the tabulations of votes and opinion polls.

Yup, we are definitely in the information age. U.S. citizens are currently debating whether to hold messengers accountable or to allow false messaging as a form of freedom of speech that is guaranteed in the Constitution. This column is a follow-up on last week’s article and offers guidelines to sort false from truthful information while our country wrestles with the issue.

During the past two eras the users of machines and technology that were designed to help them, such as tractors and computer software, could control the devices they relied on. In the information age, however, the users of information have reduced control over what is being promoted and they are often objects of other persons’ attempts to influence them.

Everyone now is besieged with advertisements. To me, it seems like farmers especially are barraged by unwanted messages on our phones, pop-ups on our computer screens, and unsolicited emails that we wish we didn’t have to sort through. The average hour-long television show has 15.4 minutes of advertisements, many of which sell pesticides and seeds to farmers, despite the farm population making up only a small portion of the viewing audience.

Given the barrage of media efforts to influence our choices, how do we know what is accurate information? To remain in charge of decisions, we must choose what to respond to.  

Here are several guidelines for farmers, and everyone, to consider when making determinations such as purchases, who to vote for, and what to believe. The guidelines include these:

- When the phone, email, or any message begins with a preconceived conclusion, such as “You need this,” it is probably false and should be ignored

- Emotional appeals to consumers are usually less truthful than statements that offer pros and cons of objectively established facts

- Advertisements should be taken with a grain of salt, because they don’t provide “the whole picture” about their promotions, only what they want recipients to perceive

- Consider repetitive messages carefully because they incline recipients of the message to believe they are true; it’s called the repetition effect. Therefore, seek information from alternative sources

- The more sources of input into a decision, the more likely the final determination will be correct. Especially seek information that disagrees with what one wants to believe before arriving at a determination

- We can usually recognize false messaging when the messengers assert they are most correct and derogate other sources; searchers for the truth welcome differing information that broadens our input

- It’s better to be careful than sorry when making purchases and business arrangements, by demanding documentation that establishes proof, whether in person or when using electronic media. That’s why labeling of foods with their origin and date of processing, and written copies of our votes are becoming popular requests from the general public

- If those who one deals with can’t offer documentation, we should be particularly skeptical and not proceed toward further exchange

Final decisions about most matters are more complicated than they have been in the past. Important upsides of the information era are that we can obtain lots of information quickly and share information readily. The downsides are that we must constantly be on guard against unwanted intrusions into our personal lives and we must constantly sort out truthful from false information.

On a personal note, I mention that I don’t correspond on Facebook, LinkedIn, and I don’t have an X account. I don’t want machines and information to control me.

I prefer a simpler life that I manage and which no one else infiltrates.

Dr. Rosmann is a psychologist and farm owner who lives in Pella, Iowa. Contact him at: mike@agbehavioralhealth.com.