Do you remember the card game called ‘Bullshit?’
It’s a fond memory from my childhood, although I hadn’t thought about it in years… But I remember how thrilling it was to finally yell out the word without getting in trouble!
I wrote a blog post awhile back about Checking yo’ self and Checking yo’ sources, and there’s a bunch of great information there. Another post I’d recommend is Techniques of Misdirection, where I shared about many of the tactics used against unsuspecting targets on social media.
I am touching on these topics again because calling bullshit involves a set of skills that are increasingly important, and may even save your life one day!
“Bullshit involves language, statistical figures, data graphics, and other forms of presentation intended to persuade by impressing and overwhelming a reader or listener, with a blatant disregard for truth and logical coherence.”
“Calling bullshit is a performative utterance, a speech act in which one publicly repudiates something objectionable. The scope of targets is broader than bullshit alone. You can call bullshit on bullshit, but you can also call bullshit on lies, treachery, trickery, or injustice.”
Calling Bullshit
The inspiration for this particular post is a cleverly named course from the University of Washington’s Information School. Calling Bullshit in the Age of Big Data (INFO198/BIOL106B), taught by UW instructors Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin West, is a one-credit elective available to UW students.
Luckily for the rest of us, the instructors decided to videotape their class and share it with the rest of us!
Calling Bullshit 1.1: Introduction to Bullshit first aired on YouTube on April 15, 2017. The playlist has grown to FIFTY-ONE bite-sized videos about detecting deception or manipulation.
Some of the topics covered include:
- Fermeni’s equation
- Unfair Comparisons
- Correlation and Causation
They are entertaining and very informative… Watch the series today!
Rules for Bullshit Calling
Spotting and calling out bullshit is kinda tricky… No one likes to find out that they’ve been deceived… Even more than that, no one wants to hear they were wrong! Do you?
And if you don’t take care not to offend someone you are talking to, then you may push them further down the wrong road of disinformation. For this reason, it helps to give them an out by saying something like, “while that may be the case some of the time, but…” or “I understand, I used to believe that, too…”
You can call out bullshit without being an ass about it. There was once a time when you didn’t know what you know now, so be patient with others that you are given the opportunity to help…
Keep these ‘Bullshit Calling’ rules in mind (as shared by Mr. Bergstrom in Calling Bullshit 1.5: The Philosophy of Bullshit).
- Treat others with respect
- Call bullshit on claims, not people
- There is room here for diverging views. Do not make others feel unwelcome or unsafe for speaking their mind
Dot Org
For more information on the course, the instructors, their new book Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World (2021) and more tips for calling out bullshit, visit their website CallingBullshit dot org.
“On Bullshit”
And if you haven’t had enough bullshit…
You can listen to a reading of the great philosophical essay called ‘On Bullshit,’ written in 1986 by Harry Frankfurt. This scholarly discourse on bullshit was mentioned several times in the video series Calling Bullshit.
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Iridescent Alchemyst 