Don't Get Bunked!
Be Your Own Debunker
Scroll down for free online debunking resources.
Author Sam McCollough shares debunking resources and tips from his book DEBUNK: Arm Yourself With the Tenets of Critical Thinking (available on Amazon), which gives readers a toolkit for spotting misinformation, disinformation, fake news, and deep fakes.
I think it is so important that people be empowered to be their own debunkers that I am providing and maintaining this list of resources for you to use. They are in the book also, but things on the Internet can change so I wanted to also maintain this online and provide it to everyone for free.
Please share it on your preferred social media platforms, and send me a note below if you find something out-of-date on here or if you know of another resource that I should consider adding.
Thank you, and happy debunking!
Sam
Free Debunking Resources
General Debunking & Myth Busting
Debunking Outdated Science and Pseudoscience
Medicine
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
webMD
RefSeek's guide to the 25 best online resources for medical reference
LinksMedicus
PubMed (NIH Medical Journal Search Tool)
JSTOR – Explore the world’s knowledge, cultures, and ideas – Join a library to access with your library IDInternet Hoaxes
Fake News
FactCheck.org Debunking Fake News
NPR – Fake Or Real? How To Self-Check The News And Get The FactsFalse, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and/or Satirical “News” Sources (contains a terrific list of sites with ratings,such as “fake,” “satire,” “hate,” “unreliable,” “junksci” and “unknown.”) This snapshot is somewhat disheartening when you look at how few sites are marked as “reliable.
Deep Fakes
For images, you can do a reverse search on Google: right-click the image (or tap & hold on mobile), copy the URL, and go to Google Images to find out where it came from. Then, see the resources above to find if the site is legitimate or not. I have heard that TinEye is even better than Google at spotting fakes.
There is more information and tactics in the book, but this list should help you be your own debunker.
Don't get bunked!
Sam
About DEBUNK
The reference needed for today's world
The invention and widespread use of computers, and especially the proliferation of the Internet, brought us into a time when ordinary people have immediate access to more information than professors, librarians, and heads of state had access to only a short time ago. This is empowering, but it is also dangerous–the Information Age is also the Misinformation and Disinformation Age, and it is easier to find bad information on the Internet than good. Add to that the entities that have been popping up seemingly with the express purpose of disseminating fake news and the recent invention of deep fakes that are becoming harder and harder to detect, and the need for critical thinking, which provides a toolkit for spotting bunk, becomes more and more vital.
This book is that toolkit.
About Sam
Sam started his journey of understanding the world as it is in the late 1970s when he first read Carl Sagan's The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence.
He earned his Bachelors of English with a minor in History cum laude from the University of Maryland University College (now University of Maryland Global Campus) in 1992.
Sam has spent the past 30+ years educating himself with countless science and other books written for the layman on subjects as diverse as cosmology, physics, biology, anthropology, psychology and philosophy.
He saw a need for a book about the Tenets of Critical Thinking because of the volume of misinformation and disinformation, and now fake news and deep fakes that overwhelm us every day.
Sam has been teaching adults and designing and writing instructional materials for 25+ years.
Sam lives with his wife and two children in Jupiter, Florida.What's in DEBUNK:
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Critical Thinking
Principles of Logic and Logical Fallacies
Types of Causes and Effects
Axioms of Science
The Scientific Method
Good Current Science, Outdated Science, and Pseudoscience
Conspiracy Theories
Epistemology
Agnotology
Debunking Misinformation, Disinformation, Fake News, and Deep Fakes
Conclusions & Recap
Tenets of Critical Thinking
For Further Reading
Appendix: Logical Fallacies
Glossary
Index
Get in Touch
Connect, collaborate, and share your thoughts
Author Inquiries
For media requests, interviews, or speaking engagements, contact Sam for further information.
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Collaboration Opportunities
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Contact
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Copyright © Sam McCollough 2024