David Rand

Cognitive and behavioral science expert focusing on fake news.

RADAR THINKER

Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2023. 

SHORTLISTED

Shortlisted for the Thinkers50 2023 Digital Thinking Award.

FAST FACT​

Named to Wired magazine’s Smart List 2012 of ‘50 people who will change the world.’ 

Ideas

Bridging the fields of cognitive science, behavioral economics, and social psychology, Rand’s research combines behavioral experiments run online and in the field with mathematical and computational models to understand people’s attitudes, beliefs, and choices. His work uses a cognitive science perspective grounded in the tension between more intuitive versus deliberative modes of decision making, to explore topics such as cooperation, outrage, misinformation, political preferences, and social media platform behavior. He focuses on illuminating why people believe and share misinformation and ‘fake news,’ understanding political psychology and polarization, and promoting human cooperation. 

Bio

Rand is the Erwin H Schell Professor and professor of management science and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT, the director of the Applied Cooperation Team, and an affiliate of the MIT Institute of Data, Systems, and Society, and the Initiative on the Digital Economy. Rand received his BA in computational biology from Cornell University in 2004 and his PhD in systems biology from Harvard University in 2009, was a post-doctoral researcher in Harvard University’s Department of Psychology from 2009 to 2013, and was an assistant and then associate professor (with tenure) of psychology, economics, and management at Yale University prior to joining the faculty at MIT.

Content

‘Getting the facts straight on online misinformation’ (Financial Times, 16 October 2022); ‘The Right Way to Fight Fake News’ (The New York Times, 24 March 2020); ‘Are You “Virtue Signaling”’ (with Jillian Jordan, The New York Times, 30 March 2019); ‘Why Do People Fall For Fake News’ (with Gordon Pennycock, The New York Times, 19 January 2019); ‘The Rise and Fall of Cognitive Control’ (with Jonathan Cohen, Behavioral Scientist, 07 July 2017); ‘The Real Problem With Hypocrisy’ (with Jillian Jordan, Roseanna Sommers, The New York Times, 13 January 2017).

NATIONALITY: American

Media picks

Article-icon

Article:

The Psychology of Fake News

Verdict

“Critical, scholarly work on misinformation and fake news, and intuition vs deliberation.”

Stuart Crainer & Des Dearlove, Thinkers50

Named to Wired magazine’s Smart List 2012 of ‘50 people who will change the world.’ 

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date with the latest and greatest ideas in business, management, and thought leadership.

*mandatory field

Thinkers50 will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide news, updates, and marketing. Please confirm that you agree to have us contact you by clicking below:


You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at . We will treat your information with respect. For more information about our privacy practices please visit our website. By clicking below, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Privacy Policy Update

Thinkers50 Limited has updated its Privacy Policy on 28 March 2024 with several amendments and additions to the previous version, to fully incorporate to the text information required by current applicable date protection regulation. Processing of the personal data of Thinkers50’s customers, potential customers and other stakeholders has not been changed essentially, but the texts have been clarified and amended to give more detailed information of the processing activities.

Thinkers50 Awards Gala 2023

Join us in celebration of the best in business and management thinking.