COEUR d'ALENE — Michelle Lippert said Oxford Dictionaries selected "post-truth," a word describing circumstances where objective facts are less influential than emotion and personal belief, as 2016's international word of the year.

"If you're not frightened by that thought, you really, really should be," Lippert added.

Lippert, who serves on the Post Falls School District Board of Trustees and teaches ethics, logic and critical thinking at North Idaho College, spoke Friday afternoon at the regular luncheon meeting of the Kootenai County Democratic Club in Coeur d'Alene. In a presentation entitled "Belief and Truth in the Age of Misinformation," she focused on how personal beliefs can impact how individuals of all political persuasions process information, and provided practical tools to discern whether information is, in fact, misinformation.

"We tend to cling to our beliefs and reject facts that oppose those beliefs," Lippert said. "I'd like to think that that's not me at all, we all would, but it's simply not the case. If I believe something, I will look for anything that will validate that belief and then twist actual facts to fit the belief."

Although belief systems are critical to how humans navigate through life, Lippert said beliefs are often so strong that we cling to them, even when the facts they are based on are challenged. Most would think, Lippert added, that those who are politically informed and well-educated have a closer relationship to the truth, which she said is true to a certain degree.

But those individuals, according to Lippert, tend to be very confident in their personal knowledge, creating a tendency to not accept any idea or new information that challenges their personal beliefs.

"Our brains are hardwired to search for things that fit our beliefs," Lippert said. "Doubt makes us ask questions though, and we need to be shaken out of our comfort zones."

In an era where information is more accessible than ever via the internet, individuals are constantly faced with making a determination on whether an article is "real news" or "fake news," Lippert said. Being willing to face the fact that an article might be appealing and feel factual because of one's beliefs, she added, is an important first step toward determining the validity of an article.

If an article is real, Lippert said that article should be able to pass a series of tests that confirm its validity. The test Lippert suggested involves the following five steps:

1. Look at the URL — If an article appears on a website with a .com URL, Lippert said there is a good chance it is fake because anyone can set up these websites. A .com, she added, should be the first indication that more testing is required.

2. Check the date — If an article being posted as current is actually more than a week old, Lippert said there's a good chance it's fake.

3. Check your own bias — "Did you jump and immediately click on the article because the headline fit your own biases?" Lippert asked.

4. Do claims match the evidence — Check the original article in question with as many other news sources as possible. Although Lippert believes every media entity has its own bias, she noted that large outlets such as CNN and NPR "have to back up what is said in the story."

5.) Analyze the data — Once all of the other tests are completed, look at the sum total of the data you've gathered before making a determination. "Always keep in the back of your mind that you might have to change because you could be wrong," Lippert said.

After Lippert was done with her presentation, members of the audience were allowed to ask discussion-generating questions. Ruben Miranda, a Coeur d'Alene resident, asked Lippert about how human emotion come into play.

"Obviously, at least to me, politics is very emotional. What do you feel people will believe based on those emotions?" Miranda asked.

Lippert said it is apparent that emotions play an enormous role in politics. However, she said that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"I think they're a part of who we are authentically — we are people with emotions," Lippert said. "I have to look at what my emotions are and why I have these particular emotions. Then I have to ask myself if I should vote based on these emotions, or do I examine them further? I think we have to always examine them further."