This Critical Thinking About Climate video explains 23 rhetorical techniques used in misinformation. Understanding the techniques of science denial is like a universal vaccine against misinformation. Once you know these red flags, you’ll be able to spot attempts to mislead … Continued
How do you tell the difference between facts and misinformation? This Critical Thinking About Climate video explains how to deconstruct arguments so you can spot if it’s misinformation and tag any misleading fallacies. This is a skill we all need … Continued
My next Critical Thinking About Climate video is an in-depth explainer on how to communicate science in a way that grabs attention, gets shared, and sticks in people’s memory. The six traits of sticky messages are Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, … Continued
An effective rebuttal requires three elements. Fact. Myth. Fallacy. This video to explain how to tie these together into a cohesive debunking. First, you need to provide an explanation that neatly replaces the myth in people’s mental model. Your fact … Continued
The scientific consensus on human-caused global warming has been a fierce topic for decades. To understand why, you need to know the history of consensus. The first message the public heard about the consensus on climate change was that there … Continued
You can summarize climate change in just ten words: it’s real, it’s us, experts agree, it’s bad, there’s hope. Climate change misinformation is like a bizarro world version of this summarized with five categories: it’s not real, it’s not us, … Continued
My eleventh Critical Thinking about COVID video explores the fake expert strategy: one of the most persuasive forms of misinformation. In the 1980s, tobacco companies were desperate to convince us smoking wouldn’t kill us. They had a secret weapon – scientists willing … Continued
Over the past few months, I’ve been publishing a series of Critical Thinking About COVID videos, examining the fallacies of misinformation. Sprinkled throughout these videos are cartoons I’ve drawn to more clearly expose the fallacies (a technique known as parallel … Continued
My tenth Critical Thinking about COVID video explores how slothful induction helped COVID-19 spread. The myth that the flu is worse than COVID commits the fallacy of slothful induction – ignoring relevant evidence when coming to a conclusion. Back in March when … Continued
My ninth Critical Thinking about COVID video explores how false equivalence has been used to justify reopening schools. False equivalence is comparing two things as if they’re equal but when you look closer, they’re not equal at all. This fallacy has been … Continued