Disinformation spreads like wildfire in social media. When it comes to news reporting, sometimes it is more important for journalists to be fast than accurate. Which is why it’s useful to know how to evaluate news the way a scientist does.
Cultivate your skepticism
Science moves forward by challenging accepted wisdom. You can do the same.
When you learn a new piece of information through social media, think to yourself: “This may be true, but it also may be false.”
Look at the evidence
When evaluating a claim, ask yourself:
- Can the sources be traced?
- Are they reliable?
- Is the conclusion based on a rational evaluation of the information?
Beware of the tendency to cherry-pick information
Another human bias — confirmation bias — means we’re more likely to notice stories or facts that fit what we already believe (or want to believe).
When you search for information, you should not disregard the information that goes against whatever opinion you might have in advance.
Find out who is making the claim
In science, researchers have to declare potential conflicts of interest before publishing their findings. When you encounter a new claim, look for conflicts of interest. Ask:
- Do they stand to profit from what they say?
- Are they affiliated with an organization that could be swaying them?
Recognize the difference between correlation and causation
- Just because two things increase simultaneously, this does not mean they are causally linked to each other. Correlation does not equal causality
- Take a wider view and look into the other contributing factors to determine the true causes of events
Watch out for the halo effect
- This is a cognitive bias that makes our feeling towards someone affect how we judge their claims
- If we dislike someone, we are a lot more likely to disagree with them, and if we like them we are biased to agree
- New scientific papers under review are read “blind” with the authors’ names removed
