The new story was then presumably misinterpreted by whoever runs the social media feed for NBC, and a decline at 40 percent of schools was transposed into a decline by 40 percent. This improbably large effect is where the “if it sounds too good or bad to be true…” rule of thumb comes into play. We find that this third rule is particularly good for spotting bullshit that spreads across social media. In a social media environment, the posts that are spread most widely are often those that shock, spark a sense of wonder, or inflame feelings of righteous indignation: namely, those that make the
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