Bad Science

The world is awash with misinformation, much of which has the appearance of being 'scientific': from striking graphs shared widely on social media, to algorithms used for decision-making by governments and self-serving claims made by companies. This makes the ability to detect various forms of 'bad science' – from misleading data visualizations to algorithms with bias 'baked in' – a critical skill for any citizen. Being able to reject bad apples in the 'marketplace of ideas' is vital not just for the autonomy of individual decision-making, but for justice and democracy.