Calling Bullshit : The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World

Calling Bullshit

The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World

2020 • 336 pages

Ratings19

Average rating4.2

15

Bullshit isn’t what it used to be. Now, two science professors give us the tools to dismantle misinformation and think clearly in a world of fake news and bad data.

Misinformation, disinformation, and fake news abound and it’s increasingly difficult to know what’s true. Our media environment has become hyperpartisan. Science is conducted by press release. Startup culture elevates bullshit to high art. We are fairly well equipped to spot the sort of old-school bullshit that is based in fancy rhetoric and weasel words, but most of us don’t feel qualified to challenge the avalanche of new-school bullshit presented in the language of math, science, or statistics. In Calling Bullshit, Professors Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West give us a set of powerful tools to cut through the most intimidating data.

You don’t need a lot of technical expertise to call out problems with data. Are the numbers or results too good or too dramatic to be true? Is the claim comparing like with like? Is it confirming your personal bias? Drawing on a deep well of expertise in statistics and computational biology, Bergstrom and West exuberantly unpack examples of selection bias and muddled data visualization, distinguish between correlation and causation, and examine the susceptibility of science to modern bullshit.

We have always needed people who call bullshit when necessary, whether within a circle of friends, a community of scholars, or the citizenry of a nation. Now that bullshit has evolved, we need to relearn the art of skepticism.


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Popular Reviews

Reviews with the most likes.

September 4, 2021

The most well-written book on skepticism and critical thinking I have read thus far.

October 8, 2020

Super important book to read nowadays. For everyone. Shows just how we as a society treat science and technology as a contemporary magic. This book reminds us of the basic principles of scientific method and how it helps to interpret information and gives tools to criticize unsound research.

April 12, 2021

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