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Warwick Goble’s 1888 illustration of the tripods in “The War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells.

Dangerous political divisions are being fueled by misinformation and a lack of basic scientific understanding. A recent survey of more than 500 U.S. adults aimed to find out more about the root causes, and possible solutions.

In 1938, listeners were transfixed as Orson Welles described strange phenomena in the sky. And eventually, Martians descending on New Jersey.

“So many people believed that was happening and it was all a hoax,” said Doug Mummert, chair of the Rocky Mountain Emmy Foundation.

Famously, Orson Welles was reading from the novel, “The War of the Worlds.” Those who tuned in after that was announced kicked off a historic panic.

Mummert said it’s an example of how far back the spread of misinformation goes.

The advent of the 24-hour news cycle accelerated information access.

With the internet at everyone’s fingertips: “We’re getting better,” Mummert said, “but we just can’t keep up with the development of things like AI.”

A quarter of respondents to a recent survey admitted to believing in at least one conspiracy theory.

Mummert said carefully vetting your sources and varying your media diet can help.

“The facts don’t change, right? But the facts do sometimes take time to be discovered and uncovered,” he said.

And Mummert said that if you need to, stepping away from the internet is sometimes best.