How to Think, How to BePresented at UC San FranciscoMarcus A BanksNovember 21, 2016

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TopicGeneral principles of

critical evaluation of sources, which apply to

everything from wiki entries to journal articles to news stories to textbooks.

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PremiseMor

e Nobl

e

Less Nobl

eHuman Motivation

Erroneous Informatio

n

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Call to ActionBe a more thoughtful

reader, watcher

and listener.

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Facts and Erroneous Information

Facts and Erroneous Information

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Settled Facts (A Partial List)

2 + 2 = 4Yellow and Blue Make GreenThere are 180 degrees in a triangleA square is a rectangle, a rectangle is not a square

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Typology of Erroneous Information

Overstatement

Mis-statement

Lies

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Overstatement: Passion

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D. Robert Worley, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/d-robert-worley/conservatives-progressives_b_1879200.html

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Wayne Besen, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wayne-besen/in-defense-of-liberalism_b_116941.html

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Overstatement: PassionThese are strongly held claims, honorably made. Rhetorical over-reach occurs, but without a conscious attempt to evade, mislead or deceive.Signs of a passionate overstater:

They have argued the same points the same way for many yearsThey frequently use phrases such as “well, we’re all entitled to our opinion” and “guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.”

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Mis-statement: Bad Incentives

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Scientific Studies with John Oliver

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Mis-statement: Bad Incentives

Novelty and Bold Claims

Publish or Perish

Scholarly Publishing

Errors or

Fraud in

Articles

Retraction of Scientific

Papershttp://retractionwatch.com/

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Misconduct accounts for the majority of the retracted scientific publication. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1212247109

http://www.pnas.org/content/109/42/17028.full.pdf?with-ds=yes

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http://www.pnas.org/content/109/42/17028.full.pdf?with-ds=yes

Misconduct accounts for the majority of the retracted scientific publications. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1212247109

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http://www.pnas.org/content/109/42/17028.full.pdf?with-ds=yes

Misconduct accounts for the majority of the retracted scientific publications. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1212247109

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Mis-Statement: Bad Incentives

More disturbing than the excesses of passionate overstatementAn active intent to deceiveExplainable – not justified ethically – as the consequence of perverse incentives behind academic advancementChange those incentives, change the behavior

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Lies: Bad Character

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Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/viral-fake-election-news-outperformed-real-news-on-facebook?utm_term=.lcmRm0pBz#.lhV04Gx82

21Source: http://bzfd.it/2fKLQzZ

Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/viral-fake-election-news-outperformed-real-news-on-facebook?utm_term=.lcmRm0pBz#.lhV04Gx82

22Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/viral-fake-election-news-outperformed-real-news-on-facebook?utm_term=.lcmRm0pBz#.lhV04Gx82

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Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/partisan-fb-pages-analysis?utm_term=.ge1amjXW1#.oqoKRL7W3

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Lies: Bad CharacterAn active intent to defame and deceiveNot reversible by shifting incentivesResponses by shaming are futile, as this entire mode is shameless

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Why Lies WorkConfirmation Bias: We all gravitate toward information that confirms our pre-conceptions, and recoil from information that challenges our ideasSystem 1 Thinking (Daniel Kahneman): The mind generally makes rapid decisions on the basis of limited and/or false information

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Be a more thoughtful

reader, watcher

and listener.

How to Think, How to Be

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How to Think, How to Be

Proactively call on System 2 Thinking.

The conscious mind that actively challenges our mental short cuts and lazy thinking. Hard but invigorating work.

Support good and engaging journalism.

Trust Project: http://thetrustproject.org/

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Do not despair. The Internet is still just a baby, so

the infantile behavior we see online is not so surprising. The

Web remains the greatest tool for knowledge creation and sharing

ever known.

We can help it grow up.

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Thank You!