A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020\n'A modern classic. . . leaves the reader feeling a very particular kind of smarter: the empowered kind' Wired\nWe think we know bullshit when we hear it, but do we?\nTwo science professors give us the tools to dismantle misinformation and think clearly in a world of fake news and bad data\nPoliticians are unconstrained by facts. Science is conducted by press release. Start-up culture elevates hype to high art. The world is awash in bullshit, and we're drowning in it.\nBased on a popular course at the University of Washington, this book gives us the tools to see through the obfuscations, deliberate and careless, that dominate every realm of our lives. In this lively, provocative guide, biologist Carl Bergstrom and data scientist Jevin West show that calling out nonsense is crucial to a properly functioning social group, whether it be a circle of friends, a community of researchers, or the citizens of a nation.\nThrough six rules of thumb, they help us to recognize when numbers are being manipulated, to cut through the crap wherever we encounter it - even within ourselves - and learn how to give the real facts to a crystal-loving friend or climate change denier uncle.\nCalling Bullshit is an indispensable handbook to the art of scepticism.

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

Bergstrom, Carl T.

West, Jevin D.

Computers & Technology

Allen Lane.

Bullshit&nbsp;isn't&nbsp;what it used to be.&nbsp;Now, two science professors give us the tools to dismantle misinformation and think clearly in a&nbsp;world of fake news and bad data. &nbsp; "A modern classic . . . a straight-talking survival guide to the mean streets of a dying democracy and a global pandemic."--Wired Misinformation, disinformation, and fake news abound and it's increasingly difficult to know what's true. Our media environment has become hyperpartisan. Science is conducted by press release. Startup culture elevates bullshit to high art. We are fairly well equipped to spot the sort of old-school bullshit that is based in fancy rhetoric and weasel words, but most of us don't feel qualified to challenge the avalanche of new-school bullshit presented in the language of math, science, or statistics. In&nbsp;Calling Bullshit,&nbsp;Professors Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West give us a set of powerful tools to cut through the most intimidating data. You don't need a lot of technical expertise to call out problems with data. Are the numbers or results too good or too dramatic to be true? Is the claim comparing like with like? Is it confirming your personal bias? Drawing on a deep well of expertise in statistics and computational biology, Bergstrom and West exuberantly unpack examples of selection bias and muddled data visualization, distinguish between correlation and causation, and examine the susceptibility of science to modern bullshit. We have always needed people who call bullshit when necessary, whether within a circle of friends, a community of scholars, or the citizenry of a nation. Now that bullshit has evolved, we need to relearn the art of skepticism.

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

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Psychology & Counseling

Random House]

Product Description 
Bullshit isn’t what it used to be. 
Now, two science professors give us the tools to dismantle misinformation and think clearly in a world of fake news and bad data.\n“A modern classic . . . a straight-talking survival guide to the mean streets of a dying democracy and a global pandemic.”—Wired 
Misinformation, disinformation, and fake news abound and it’s increasingly difficult to know what’s true. Our media environment has become hyperpartisan. Science is conducted by press release. Startup culture elevates bullshit to high art. We are fairly well equipped to spot the sort of old-school bullshit that is based in fancy rhetoric and weasel words, but most of us don’t feel qualified to challenge the avalanche of new-school bullshit presented in the language of math, science, or statistics. In 
Calling Bullshit, Professors Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West give us a set of powerful tools to cut through the most intimidating data.\nYou don’t need a lot of technical expertise to call out problems with data. Are the numbers or results too good or too dramatic to be true? Is the claim comparing like with like? Is it confirming your personal bias? Drawing on a deep well of expertise in statistics and computational biology, Bergstrom and West exuberantly unpack examples of selection bias and muddled data visualization, distinguish between correlation and causation, and examine the susceptibility of science to modern bullshit.\nWe have always needed people who call bullshit when necessary, whether within a circle of friends, a community of scholars, or the citizenry of a nation. Now that bullshit has evolved, we need to relearn the art of skepticism. 
 Review 
“A modern classic . . . Bergstrom and West leave the reader feeling a very particular kind of smarter: the empowered kind. . . . A straight-talking survival guide to the mean streets of a dying democracy and a global pandemic.” 
—Wired\n“A passionate exposition of how the language of science can be weaponized to mislead both researchers and the public . . . landing just when it has never been more important to know how to navigate data.” 
—Nature\n“The information landscape is strewn with quantitative cowflop; read this book if you want to know where not to step.” 
—Jordan Ellenberg, author of How Not to be Wrong“If I could make this critical handbook’s contents required curriculum for every high school student (thus replacing trigonometry), then I would do so. I highly recommend 
Calling Bullshit for our modern existence in the age of misinformation, and regret only that I didn’t think of the title for my own book.” 
—Cathy O’Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction\n“I laughed, I cried—to read Bergstrom and West’s great examples of ‘bullshit.’ This is a gripping read for anybody who cares about how we are fooled (and how not to be), and the connection to numeracy and science. But it’s also just great fun. This is a necessary book for our times.” 
—Saul Perlmutter, Nobel Laureate and professor of physics, University of California at Berkeley 
“If you want to read what will surely be a classic, buy 
Calling Bullshit. It addresses the most important issue of our time: the decline in respect for Truth. It is also a literary masterpiece. Every page—indeed, every paragraph—is a new bit of fun.” 
—George Akerlof, 2001 Nobel Laureate in economics 
“Each of us now swims through deception so pervasive that we no longer realize it’s there. 
Calling Bullshit presents a master class in how to spot it, how to resist it, and how to keep it from succeeding.” 
—Paul Romer, 2018 Nobel Laureate in economics“Part playful polemic and part serious scientific treatise on a plague that ‘pollutes our world by misleading people about specific issues and . . . undermines our ability to trust information in general’ . . . a statistically challenging master class in the art of bullshit detection.” 
—Kirkus Reviews 
 About the Author 
Carl T. Bergstrom is an evolutionary bio

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Random House Trade Paperbacks

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