A Survival Guide to the Misinformation Age
Scientific Habits of Mind
David J. Helfand
- Learning
- how
- to
- tell
- news
- from
- fake
- news
- from
- fake
- fake
- news:
- An
- “important
- and
- timely”
- book
- on
- protecting
- ourselves,
- and
- society,
- from
- the
- infodemic
- (Library
- Journal).We
- have
- billions
- of
- bytes
- of
- data
- at
- our
- fingertips.
- But
- how
- much
- of
- it
- is
- misinformation—or
- even
- disinformation?
- A
- lot
- of
- it
- is,
- and
- your
- search
- engine
- can’t
- tell
- the
- difference.As
- a
- result,
- an
- avalanche
- of
- misinformation
- threatens
- to
- overwhelm
- the
- discourse
- we
- so
- desperately
- need
- to
- address
- complex
- social
- problems
- such
- as
- climate
- change,
- the
- food
- and
- water
- crises,
- biodiversity
- collapse,
- and
- emerging
- threats
- to
- public
- health.
- This
- book
- provides
- an
- inoculation
- against
- the
- misinformation
- epidemic
- by
- cultivating
- scientific
- habits
- of
- mind.
- Anyone
- can
- do
- it—indeed,
- everyone
- must
- do
- it
- if
- our
- species
- is
- to
- survive
- on
- this
- crowded
- and
- finite
- planet.This
- survival
- guide
- supplies
- an
- essential
- set
- of
- apps
- for
- the
- prefrontal
- cortex
- while
- making
- science
- both
- accessible
- and
- entertaining.
- It
- will
- dissolve
- your
- fear
- of
- numbers,
- demystify
- graphs,
- and
- elucidate
- the
- key
- concepts
- of
- probability,
- all
- while
- celebrating
- the
- precise
- use
- of
- language
- and
- logic.
- David
- Helfand,
- one
- of
- our
- nation’s
- leading
- astronomers
- and
- science
- educators,
- has
- taught
- scientific
- habits
- of
- mind
- to
- generations
- in
- the
- classroom,
- where
- he
- continues
- to
- wage
- a
- provocative
- battle
- against
- sloppy
- thinking
- and
- the
- encroachment
- of
- misinformation.“Provides
- a
- vital
- antidote
- to
- the
- ills
- of
- misinformation
- by
- teaching
- systematic
- and
- rigorous
- scientific
- reasoning.”
- —The
- Times
- Literary Supplement
