Random thoughts about fact-checking, science, reality, writing, journalism, human nature, history and puffins… Additional posts at Infinite Intersections.
Principles of fact-checking: 1. Facts aren’t stand-alone things (10/05/16)
Facts aren’t stand-alone things: they exist in a larger reality supported by a wider body of evidence. So — in matters of science in particular — it’s important to make sure the fact you’re examining is consistent with what MIT professor of science writing Thomas Levenson calls… (Keep reading)
Science affects your daily life whether you like it or not (05/01/16)
We might not think about it often, but science — and in particular, how it is dealt with by politicians, government officials and big businesses — impacts our lives every day and in many ways. If you eat, many hundreds of decisions made far away by… (Keep reading)
How fear influences our take on reality (04/16/16)
People aren’t rational animals… far from it. As much as we like to think that we make decisions based on facts and common sense, we typical determine our actions and beliefs through emotion and preconceived notions. It’s why we fear terrorism more than the flu (which is more than 3,000 times as… (Keep reading)
Shirley Siluk 