Bullshit Detection 101: Why universities need to teach the new literacy

[Newsjock]

Source: Regret the Error

... Bullshit, you see, is everywhere. It is being produced, perfected, pontificated and pushed out at astounding rates by all manner of people and organizations. It spreads and multiplies. It morphs and mutates. People spew it, broadcast it, print it, tweet it, like it, blog it.

The bad news is there is too much bullshit. The good news — cue the theme to The Six Million Dollar Man — is we have the technology to defeat it. The strange news is that very same technology is also helping spread bullshit. Let me put it this way:

The Internet is the single greatest disseminator of bullshit ever created.

The Internet is also the single greatest destroyer of bullshit.

... Which means all of us need to develop what Ernest Hemingway called a “a built-in bullshit detector.“ Universities need to teach the new literacy, to give people the tools to sniff out bullshit and practice the art of verification.

Read more: http://www.regrettheerror.com/2011/01/20/bullshit-detection-101-why-universities-need-to-teach-the-new-literacy

[enki23]

1. especially considering the recent economic trends, i don't think university is soon enough.

not that it'll take, with most people. but it's worth a try. and if so, there is no reason whatsoever to wait till the poor and vulnerable have been shunted elsewhere.

[Hannah Bell]

2. call it by its true name: lies. we are lied to 24/7.

[greyl]

3. Like waiting to take driving lessons till after racing the Le Mans 24. nt

[saras]

4. Age 1-6

The bullshit detector needs to be up and functioning before kids enter school.

A quick start for your own kids: give them choices, let them make choices, let them live with the consequences of their choices. It's your job as a parent to decide what choices are appropriate, based on the kid's previous performance. By the time they're facing choices you have no voice in, you want them to understand freedom and the cost of freedom.