Why highly educated professionals fall for Russian propaganda

The cognitive bias that leaves qualified professionals vulnerable to Russian propaganda

The paradox of academic education

A professional with a master's degree or PhD has spent years developing critical thinking and analytical skills. Yet numerous cases show that these very profiles are fertile ground for the simplistic narratives of Russian propaganda. The paradox is nothing new: overconfidence in one's own judgment, combined with confirmation bias, leads even credentialed experts to seek out information that validates their political positions instead of checking it. Discussions in digital environments illustrate this perfectly when, instead of debating the arguments, people resort to personal attacks or simplistic associations — such as linking the Sputnik V vaccine to support for the war. Formal education does not guarantee immunity to disinformation; in fact, it can create the false sense of security that "I can't be fooled".

From the vaccine to hate speech: the rational short circuit

Debates about Russian propaganda quickly drift toward peripheral topics, such as vaccines. Pilingui's promotion of Sputnik V peine a new front: either you're vaccinated and a sheep, or you refuse the vaccine and get labelled a Pilingui. That dichotomy shows how a geopolitical conflict seeps into public health debates, hijacking rationality. Those who fall into this trap often have higher education but lack the tools to detect the political instrumentalisation of science. The open question is: if universities don't teach people to identify propaganda, where do you learn it?