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Truths and lies about covid-19 in ecuador: Knowledge breakdown and its social effects

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has meant a major crisis for Ecuador. It seriously affected the population's economic situation and involved immediate decisions in educational issues, as well as uncertainty and negative expectations in labor issues. As an involuntary social experiment, it showed three types of knowledge breakdown: the population's practical and everyday knowledge, scientific knowledge and knowledge about science, and emotional knowledge. Building these knowledge types makes things easier to spread false information, misunderstanding of science, and emotional confusion. To do this, the article is based on a nation-wide survey with over 2,000 households in Ecuador, carried out between May and July 2020. These data enable a review of the pandemic's social impacts, including the pre-existing structures that made them possible.