Bullshit Busters
Debunking fake stories
In "post-factual times", statements are not based on facts: It's the perceived truth that counts. "This dangerous populist trend of alternative facts makes a new clarification necessary," write Christoph Wirl, journalist and magazine editor, and Axel Ebert, psychologist, trainer and consultant. The authors wanted to understand what is problematic about the stories and what recent findings there are on these topics. They collected frequently heard stories and claims and tested how realistic they are - with some astonishing results. The story of the frog that does not jump out of the slowly warming water, but instead waits phlegmatically for its death, is a first-class bullshit story. It is often used to illustrate that humans do not react to gradual changes, but remain stoic. In fact, the authors also found evidence to prove that a healthy frog does try to flee. But the myth lives on to this day.
Three types of errors
Behind the myths and misconceptions they have compiled, Ebert and Wirl recognize basic patterns that they divide into three categories: Fabrications, fallacies and myths include falsely transmitted stories or invented experiments; these are urban legends and historical stories that have been distorted so that their basic message is no longer true. Unproven and outdated assumptions are based on outdated theories or superficially plausible assumptions that cannot be scientifically confirmed. Inadmissible generalizations and over-extensions contain plausible basic assumptions that are incorrect or questionable because they have been over-interpreted or inadmissibly transferred to other areas. With the Bullshit Detector, the team of authors offers criteria for a quick fact check - for anyone who wants to check the trustworthiness of a story or claim themselves.
