Confronting Fake Facts in a Most Excellent Way

One of the roles librarians play in the Digital Age is that of helping patrons navigate the world of misinformation (incorrect information) and disinformation (intentionally wrong information). We all know, as everyone has become more sophisticated in being able to identify what is false and what is fact, the minions of misinformation and disinformation are hard at work making sure that it becomes more difficult to distinguish what’s real and what’s not. While some have referred to our time period as the Post-Truth Era, the reality is that what’s true has never changed – just the amount of noise attempting to keep people off the trail.

Imagine my surprise when the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child film trailer turned out to be an extremely well-done deep fake. While I felt both betrayed and, frankly, relieved, that experience then made me somewhat skeptical when I first heard that Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter – who first acted together in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure – would be appearing in a Broadway production of Waiting for Godot. This, however, turned out to be true. Now, while this does not fulfill my dream of them appearing in a take-off called “Waiting for Rufus” with the phone booth/time machine subbing for the bench in Waiting for Godot, in my world this is a major event. And a real event to boot.

The two entertainment examples above underscore the fact that while fanciful deep fakes may lead to excitement or disappointment, most of us are familiar with more serious misinformation/disinformation of, for instance, a political variety. Librarians are called upon to research questions on behalf of patrons who want to know fact from fiction in a world where the difference can sometimes be a bit blurry. 

(For those keeping score: No, there is no Harry Potter and the Cursed Child film, but Bill & Ted will be on Broadway together next year, albeit in different roles.)

There’s no way around it. We’ve all been sucked in. But being sucked in is not the problem. Once we know how to better navigate claims on the Internet, everyone can buy tickets to the right show and know the difference between reality and fantasy. Fortunately, beyond the fleet of librarians at MCLS to assist you in your quest for truth, we have a number of resources that may help those – particularly students – who want to look at claims on the Internet, and in general, with a more critical eye. To not do so would be, in the words of Bill & Ted, bogus.

Whenever I’m tackling a topic, I like to start with the most reliable information I can find. And, in my world, that means you can learn a lot from a dummy. And, on this topic like many others, they have not let me down.

Critical Thinking Skills – for Dummies
By Martine Cohen
Summary:
"The ability to think clearly and critically is a lifelong benefit that you can apply in any situation that calls for reflection, analysis, and planning. Being able to think systematically and solve problems is also a great career asset. Critical Thinking Skills for Dummies helps you hone your thinking abilities and become a better communicator. You’ll find hands-on, active instruction and exercises that you can put to work today as you navigate social media and news websites, chat with AI, fact-check your own and others views, and more. Become a thinking machine, with this Dummies guide. Identify other people's arguments and conclusions and spot holes in them. Evaluate evidence and produce more effective arguments in any situation. Read between the lines of what people say and form your own judgments. Apply critical thinking to school or college assignments to improve your academic performance." Provided by publisher.

The Art of Deception: An Introduction to Critical Thinking
By Nicholas Capaldi
Summary:
“Now reissued for contemporary readers, this entertaining primer on critical thinking has been teaching people to think and speak more clearly for more than four decades. This classic work on critical thinking uses a novel approach to teach the basics of informal logic.”

A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age
By Daniel Levitin
Summary:
"A primer to the critical thinking that is now more necessary than ever. We are bombarded with more information each day than the mind can process. It's raining bad data, half-truths, and even outright lies. One of our most trusted guides in the information age, internationally acclaimed author Daniel Levitin, shows us how to recognize misleading news stories, statistics, graphs, and websites, revealing the surprising ways lying weasels can make it so difficult to separate the wheat from the digital chaff. How do we distinguish pseudo-facts, distortions, and falsehoods from reliable information? A Field Guide to Lies tackles misinformation in two categories: the numerical (such as mishandled statistics and graphs) and the verbal (including faulty arguments and how to distinguish experts from hacks). The field guide caps this with an overview of the scientific method, which is, after all, the bedrock of critical thinking. As Levitin illustrates, infoliteracy means understanding that there are hierarchies of source quality and bias that variously distort our information feeds via every media channel, including Facebook and Twitter. We may expect newspapers, bloggers, the government, and Wikipedia to be factually and logically correct, but they so often aren't. Readers of A Field Guide to Lies learn to avoid the extremes of passive gullibility and cynical rejection. Levitin's charming, humorous, accessible guide can help anyone wake up to a whole lot of things that aren't so. And catch some lying weasels in their tracks."--Adapted from dust jacket.

And for younger readers. . .

Critical thinking
By Diane Lindsey Reeves
Summary:
“Students learn more about how excellent critical thinking can help them succeed in the classroom, socially, and in their future careers! The title tackles this essential life skill in an age-appropriate and participatory way, drawing them into fun-filled "investigations" of critical thinking skills illustrated to depict a realistic and relatable classroom situation. Critical Thinking invites readers to "investigate" four story-centered scenarios related to listening, talking, body language, and writing. Title includes table of contents, author biography, sidebars, glossary, index, and informative backmatter.”

Understanding Memes and Internet Satire
By Jeff Mapua, from the series Critical Thinking about Digital Media

As part of the comprehensive series, this volume focuses on understanding some of the more visual aspects of potential misinformation and disinformation.

Also available at MCLS is Ground News - An innovative platform that empowers readers to compare news coverage, spot media bias and think critically about current events in real time. Compare 50,000 news sources in one convenient place. Get media bias and factuality ratings for news outlets. See how news stories are covered across the political spectrum. Balance your news diet with the My News Bias dashboard.

And, just for fun, in case you need to catch up before Waiting for Godot feel free to hit the MCLS film collection for a most excellent adventure!

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Starring Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter and George Carlin
Summary:
Bill and Ted spent so much time forming their rock band, that they're flunking history. A guardian angel from the future, Rufus comes to them with a time traveling phone booth to take them in to the past to learn from history's most influential people. The journey turns out to be a blast, but will they learn enough to pass their class? -From the catalog

- Chip, Hopewell Branch