The Baloney Detection Kit

How do you sort the true and truly bullshit information that gets hurled in all directions on a constant basis? Who’s opinions do you trust? How do you spot an agenda?

Michael Shermer, editor of Skeptic Magazine, has a simple 10-point checklist for drilling through bullshit and finding the gold. I mean… if bullshit actually contained gold. Anyway… memorize these steps and stop believing every damn thing you hear.

Michael Shermer’s 10-Point Baloney Kit

1. How reliable is the source of the claim?
2. Does the source make similar claims?
3. Have the claims been verified by somebody else?
4. Does this fit with the way the world works?
5. Has anyone tried to disprove the claim?
6. Where does the preponderance of evidence point?
7. Is the claimant playing by the rules of science?
8. Is the claimant providing positive evidence?
9. Does the new theory account for as many phenomena as the old theory?
10. Are personal beliefs driving the claim?

Via Brain Pickings