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

by Carl T. Bergstrom

Corroborate and triangulate. If you come across a surprising claim or dramatic news report from an unknown source, use a search engine to see if you can find the same claims from other sources. If not, be very suspicious. Even when one news outlet has a big scoop, other papers quickly report on the fact that the first outlet broke the story. Be sure that those reporting on the story include reliable sources. Disinformation campaigns may plant multiple versions of the same false tale in unreliable outlets. Pay attention to where information comes from. If you find a piece of candy lying in the street, you are not going to eat it or share it with your friends. Unsourced information is the same. All too often, someone we don’t know posts a factoid or statistic or data graphic on social media without listing its source—and we share it anyway. Dig back to the origin of the story. This takes time and effort, but if you want to avoid spreading misinformation, it is effort well spent. Don’t simply read a headline or tweet; read the full news story. If the news story is from an outlet that tends to sensationalize, don’t stop there. Dig back to the primary article or report that the story is talking about. Or dig really deep and take a look at the data yourself. Use reverse image lookup. Several search engines provide a reverse image lookup service in which you upload a picture or a few frames from a video, and the search engine tells you where on the Web that picture or video can b...