In an era of “fake news” and “alternative facts,” how well can you draw the line on what counts as truth? What role do science writers play in spreading or exposing spurious science?
On March 14, UW professors Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin West shared advice with members and guests on deciphering the signal from the noise. The duo wants to help us better recognize and refute phony science.
Borrowing from their new course, “Calling Bullshit,” they surveyed strategies that writers can use, such as how to sniff out manipulated data and misleading figures — from bogus correlations to deceptive axes.
Check out their course syllabus here. See below for a live tweet of the event.