If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity

by Justin Gregg

The evolutionary biologist Carl T. Bergstrom and the information scientist Jevin West teach a course at the University of Washington titled Calling Bullshit, which they turned into a book of the same name. Although the course and book are lighthearted to some extent, with a goal to “provide your crystals-and-homeopathy aunt or casually racist uncle with an accessible and persuasive explanation of why a claim is bullshit,”41 they do not mince words about the serious threat that the proliferation of bullshit in the internet age poses to human civilization. They write that “adequate bullshit detection is essential for the survival of liberal democracy. Democracy has always relied on a critically thinking electorate, but never has this been more important than in the current age of fake news and international interference in the electoral process via propaganda dissemination over social media.”42