Calling Bullshit
by Carl T. Bergstrom, Jevin D. West · first published 2020
90% recommend10% neutral
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-sc
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I solely read non-fiction and try to break out of the coding/business book bubble :D A few of my favorites this year: - Immune: A book about how our Immune system works..amazing to learn about it - Calling Bullshit: A book about how to lie with data. (has quite some overlap with thinking fast, thinking slow) - Quiet: Figured out due to this book that introvert/extrovert is no black/white scale and that I indeed…
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗…trust makes me not skeptical enough until “fool me twice”). The people who desperately want the job…sometimes shouldn’t have the job. Why do they want the job? we must ask. I highly recommend the book “Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World” by Carl Bergstrom and Jevin D. West on the topic of seeking truth in discussions. With regards to the topic at hand, the cuts available are…military spending.…
on “Vivek Ramaswamy Is Uninvited from My Sleepover” ↗https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini%27s_law It wouldn't need a name if it wasn't common. And here's a book on it for you: https://www.callingbullshit.org/
on “Using the “Z” symbol could lead to prosecution in two German states” ↗this might not be quite what you're looking for, but the Calling Bullshit site/course [0] is pretty great. It's not about reading body language, but instead about finding issues in arguments as laid out in the media, scientific literate, and elsewhere. Really, really excellent examples, including some very recent ones. [0] https://www.callingbullshit.org/
on “Experiments find higher social class more likely to have inflated sense of skill” ↗Learn statistics. It will help you to understand that most people don't understand statistics and the world is therefore full of bullshit. (See also https://www.callingbullshit.org/tools.html )
on “Ask HN: What Technologies to Learn in 2020?” ↗Their lecture series was pretty good: https://www.callingbullshit.org/videos.html
on “Carl Bergstrom on data manipulation, fake news,& using science as a lie detector” ↗A more sophisticated exploration of this topic is Calling Bullshit[1], by Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West. That's a book, but the linked website also has a lot of freely available resources. It's been taught as a college course - week 6 is data visualization. [1]: https://www.callingbullshit.org/
on “Towards a Theory of Bullshit Visualization [pdf]” ↗Calling Bullshit: https://www.callingbullshit.org/videos.html To quote from the syllabus of the course: " Our learning objectives are straightforward. After taking the course, you should be able to: - Remain vigilant for bullshit contaminating your information diet. - Recognize said bullshit whenever and wherever you encounter it. - Figure out for yourself precisely why a particular bit of bu
on “Ask HN: Appreciation for the best courses you took this year (2022)?” ↗Relevant reading; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Bullshit https://www.callingbullshit.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs
on “Princeton CS Prof: ChatGPT Is a Bullshit Generator (2022)” ↗A great initiative! Among other things, they promote an inventory with guidelines such as as: "While the assignment is open-ended and we want you to be creative, you might consider keeping track of: Bullshit that you are exposed to Bullshit that you produce yourself Bullshit that you debunk or try to debunk " They have also great Venn diagrams for this: https://www.callingbullshit.
on “Calling Bullshit: Data Reasoning in a Digital World” ↗I'm currently reading "Calling Bullshit - The art of skepticism in a data driven world" by Carl T Bergstrom and Jevin D West. Harry Frankfurt is mentioned in the preface of this book. And "On Bullshit" will probably be my next book I read…
on “On Bullshit (2005)” ↗