summary ofCalling BullshitBook by Carl T. Bergstrom, Jevin D. West

first KEY POINT

We all need to open our eyes to the many underhanded uses of bullshit

You may think you live in a world of truth. But if you dig deeper, you'll see that many of the things you assume to be accurate are actually nothing short of an illusion. For sure, that can leave you feeling a little nervous. After all, how are you supposed to identify the truth from the lies? But, by learning how to call out bullshit, you'll feel far more assured in the reality of the world we live in.Carl T. Bergstrom & Jevin D. West see bullshit everywhere. But, they've identified the reason why and where it comes from. All of this helps them decipher the truth from the lies, and they want to share their advice for you to do the same thing.They see the calling out of bullshit as a priority because it can affect democracy. Fake news can easily cause people to sway their vote or think a certain way about a political candidate. Understanding bullshit helps you to separate all of this.

You might think that the world of bullshit we live in is something pretty new, but it's been around since the dawn of time. People have always manipulated others into thinking a certain way or doing a particular thing. The only difference now is that we have the Internet to help spread misinformation much faster and far wider.Bullshit also comes in many forms. It can be using fancy language to describe something to the point where it sounds far better than it is; “garbage disposal unit” is one good example; it actually means trash can. Dressing things up in statistics and graphs is another. Salacious headlines and clickbait advertising takes it to another level.The truth is that you can't always rely upon the information around you to be genuine. In this summary, you will learn how data can be skewed to look a certain way, the drivers behind it, and how you can protect yourself against bullshit. Your ability to spot misinformation relies on it.