The world is awash in BS. Pandering politicians, winking advertisers, startup soothsayers, television “experts”, and even some scientists use the news media to promulgate half-truths, misrepresentations and sometimes outright lies. Their clickbait headlines and titles are often supported with data reports, fancy figures and complex statistics. But with every fact being contradicted by an opposing view supported by their own expert, statistic, or deep fake video, we are more confused than ever. So, how can we distinguish bullshit from fact? And how do we call bullshit when we see it?
In this talk, Jevin West of the Information School of the University of Washington will highlight some of the pitfalls and strategies for spotting and refuting bullshit, especially the kind wrapped in data, statistics and fancy algorithms.
For more on the Digital Initiative, check out digital.hbs.edu.
5 окт 2024
