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Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World

Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World

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  • Create Date：2021-06-28 06:53:44
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Carl T. Bergstrom
  • ISBN：0241438101
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Summary

The world is awash in bullshit， and we're drowning in it。 Politicians are unconstrained by facts。 Science is conducted by press release。 Startup culture elevates bullshit to high art。 These days， calling bullshit is a noble act。

Based on their popular， eponymous， course at the University of Washington， professors Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West catalogue bullshit in its many forms， explaining where bullshit arose in our evolutionary past and why it is ubiquitous today。 Calling Bullshit offers readers the tools to see through the obfuscations， deliberate and careless， that dominate every realm of our lives。 In this lively guide Bergstrom， a computational biologist， and West， a statistician， teach us that calling bullshit is crucial to a properly functioning social group， whether it be a circle of friends， a community of academics， or the citizenry of a nation。

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Reviews

Brenda Kochis ，

Opens one's eyes to some of the writings out there。 Opens one's eyes to some of the writings out there。 。。。more

Jerry James ，

Great overview of the more practical tools to handle misinformation。

Dugy ，

Awesome book full of tools how to spot and call bullshit ever more present in todays news， social media and society。

Ryan Routh ，

A sort of update to How to Lie with Statistics， Bergstrom and West give a very readable and well-paced book about how statistics are manipulated or misunderstood by modern media。 The best chapters are perhaps about data visualization techniques that are inappropriate and manipulative and there is a good chapter on p-hacking to close out the book。 A worthy read that I have used in my high school math classes。

Randal ，

Well-written， well-researched， clear and often funny。Four stars not five because I don't know who to recommend it to 。。。 we skeptics already know this stuff， the deeply ignorant typically want to stay that way。 That leaves the BS-curious， I guess， but how do you go up to someone and say "You seem particularly gullible， you should read this。" Well-written， well-researched， clear and often funny。Four stars not five because I don't know who to recommend it to 。。。 we skeptics already know this stuff， the deeply ignorant typically want to stay that way。 That leaves the BS-curious， I guess， but how do you go up to someone and say "You seem particularly gullible， you should read this。" 。。。more

Pseudo ，

The Art of Statistics by David Spiegelhalter， is a much more interesting and thorough book to read on the subject。 A bit harder， yes， but much more rewarding。 Because at the end of the day， it's all about statistical literacy : navigating the data without falling prey to biases and misinformation requires an understanding of how data is compiled into pertinent statistics。 This book is a bit superficial。 Imo， Bergstrom milks concepts David Spiegelhalter explains far better and more concisely （i。e The Art of Statistics by David Spiegelhalter， is a much more interesting and thorough book to read on the subject。 A bit harder， yes， but much more rewarding。 Because at the end of the day， it's all about statistical literacy : navigating the data without falling prey to biases and misinformation requires an understanding of how data is compiled into pertinent statistics。 This book is a bit superficial。 Imo， Bergstrom milks concepts David Spiegelhalter explains far better and more concisely （i。e。 correlation vs causation）。 The examples are more meaningful too。 And David Spiegelhalter takes you further， even if I have to admit a few of the later chapters （delta stuff） were challenging for me initially。 No matter， you will get much more out of reading a few chapters of The Art of Statistics than finishing Calling Bullshit。 And you can always skip the chapters you find difficult and come back to it later。 https://www。goodreads。com/book/show/5。。。 。。。more

Vaughan ，

There are lies， damn lies and statistics。 This book highights some of the cognitive biases， visualisation tricks used to misrepresent data and statistical traps that people fall for。 Most of it wont be new to you - but it is still worth the read。Note - I listened to the audio book， and it kept referring me to the associated PDF （which the library copy did not include）。 It is very likely I would have gotten more out of the book if I had the PDF rather than relying on my imagination to fill in the There are lies， damn lies and statistics。 This book highights some of the cognitive biases， visualisation tricks used to misrepresent data and statistical traps that people fall for。 Most of it wont be new to you - but it is still worth the read。Note - I listened to the audio book， and it kept referring me to the associated PDF （which the library copy did not include）。 It is very likely I would have gotten more out of the book if I had the PDF rather than relying on my imagination to fill in the blanks。 。。。more

Newton Campbell ，

Solid concrete tips on things to look for when being shown data。

Holliferous ，

Definitely had great points， but then belabored those points over and over again。 I'm glad I read it， just wish I would have skimmed more than I did。 Definitely had great points， but then belabored those points over and over again。 I'm glad I read it， just wish I would have skimmed more than I did。 。。。more

Greg Talbot ，

"A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its Shoes" - Mark TwainOur greatest invention， giving us tools to push past our limitations is science （p。206）。 Bergstrom describes science not as a "heart of ultimate reality" but a "collection of institutions， norms， customs and traditions that are developed by trial and error 。 It's easier to confront a lie， but no so easy to confront bullshit。 And with a data driven world， what makes us human makes us gullible。 It's sai "A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its Shoes" - Mark TwainOur greatest invention， giving us tools to push past our limitations is science （p。206）。 Bergstrom describes science not as a "heart of ultimate reality" but a "collection of institutions， norms， customs and traditions that are developed by trial and error 。 It's easier to confront a lie， but no so easy to confront bullshit。 And with a data driven world， what makes us human makes us gullible。 It's said that you can lie with statistics， but it's hard to tell the truth without them。 And so， approaching graphs， data transformations or any arrived conclusions requires we not succumb to the given data， but work back to the source of truth。The last chapter "Refuting Bullshit"， feels like it could have been it's own book。 Whether it's social media or just a work meeting， giving a perspective that counters a reality requires not just logic， but good judgement。 A wonderful book defending science against ourselves A bit of humility， a bit of skepticism， but serving the greater cause of reason， and teaching ourselves to be better。 。。。more

Katie ，

If I didn't have a PhD in psych and a strong quant background， with a pre-existing understanding of p-values and their flaws， this would have been a great overview。 I wasn't the intended audience。 If I didn't have a PhD in psych and a strong quant background， with a pre-existing understanding of p-values and their flaws， this would have been a great overview。 I wasn't the intended audience。 。。。more

Loren Sanders ，

Everyone should read this book。 If you don’t read the whole book， read chapter 10。

Bookworm1858 ，

I appreciate the light touch in the writing to a big topic that can be a lot。 I think readers will find much to enjoy here。

Daniel ，

A fantastic read。 Not only did they do a great job at outlining many ways misinformation is spread。 But they also took the time to focus on self evaluation and confirmation bias as the best place to start countering the spread of BS。

Alyce ，

this is an important book for our current fake news era。 it is based off a U of Washington course so at times it felt like some examples are a bit too dense; it made reading a bit slower or less exciting at a few points。 but i was still very interested to keep going and finish the book。 the final chapter on refuting bullshit was particularly useful and a good reminder of how to enter into those kinds of discussions。

Adam ，

A highly informative and accessible guide to how any data， information or statistic can be easily manipulated， corrupted or misconstrued either intentionally or unintentionally。I would consider this vital reading for anyone and would recommend to everyone。 There is q lot of bullsh！t out there， whether intentionally or not and for anybody living in the modern world this would provide a good understanding of what might otherwise seem like an indecipherable field。

Rae ，

Everyday statistics。 Misinformation。 Selection bias。 Big data。 Social media。

Rapeepat Ingkasit ，

สนุกมากครับ เป็นหนังสือที่ครบเครื่องเรื่องการหลอกลวงด้วยสถิติจริงๆ แนะนำให้อ่านในยุคที่ข้อมูลเสกขึ้นมาได้ง่าย และแพร่กระจายได้เร็วอย่างไม่เคยมีมาก่อน

Kim ，

The world would be a better place if more people read and understand this book。 But of course it will appeal to the people who already are skeptical and interested in facts！

Bob Ries ，

*************4。25 stars**********Although a bit "textbooky"， Calling Bullshit is a great compendium of interesting facts and strategic thinking tools related to bullshit in all of its many， varied forms。 It is a semi technical survey of the landscape of misinformation and disinformation that is pockmarked with deceptions， misconceptions and flat out statistical lies。Although a bit of a slow read（if you value the full comprehension of its contents）， the book is a valuable treatise on bullshit in *************4。25 stars**********Although a bit "textbooky"， Calling Bullshit is a great compendium of interesting facts and strategic thinking tools related to bullshit in all of its many， varied forms。 It is a semi technical survey of the landscape of misinformation and disinformation that is pockmarked with deceptions， misconceptions and flat out statistical lies。Although a bit of a slow read（if you value the full comprehension of its contents）， the book is a valuable treatise on bullshit in all of its glory and potentially damaging structures。 Ignore this book and its subject matter at your own peril。Robert Frank Ries 。。。more

Ben ，

While I appreciate the attempt to call attention to different sources of biases in data collection， analysis and reporting， the authors dissect and ultimately legitimize the findings from a horrendous sexual orientation facial recognition algorithm in chapter 8。 It’s disgusting to see them dismiss the ethical concerns surrounding the study， claiming that “the first question should be whether the study itself was any good。”

Jenny ，

I don’t think I’m the right audience for this book。 I read three chapters and was mostly bored and wondering when they were gonna tell me something I didn’t know in a super generalized way。

Ultralimitem ，

The book focuses mainly on « spotting » bullshit in the context of information shared online。 It does a great job at defining what bullshit is and is not and gives concrete examples to help spot it。 The book is written in simple and clear language and is easy to navigate when you want to devote more attention to one type of bullshit more than another。 The book talks about rebutting bullshit in the last chapter and provides wise words about when it is appropriate or not to do so。 With the title a The book focuses mainly on « spotting » bullshit in the context of information shared online。 It does a great job at defining what bullshit is and is not and gives concrete examples to help spot it。 The book is written in simple and clear language and is easy to navigate when you want to devote more attention to one type of bullshit more than another。 The book talks about rebutting bullshit in the last chapter and provides wise words about when it is appropriate or not to do so。 With the title and the number of pages， I was expecting to find a bit more。 In particular， how do you deal with compound bullshit？ Corporate bullshit？ How do you deal with a deluge of bullshit， where the bullshitter inundates the audience to sow confusion？ How do you deal with bullshit « live »？ I found the book gave helpful hints for the asynchronous world of online interactions， but I am left with some unanswered questions about real-world interactions。 That being said， there are so many nuggets in the book that maybe I just need to let the ideas simmer， get better at « spotting » and the live applications will follow。 。。。more

Connor ，

This book was so much fun。 It has that special sauce。 It made me feel the way I felt when I first read “Freakonomics” or those early Malcolm Gladwell books: the authors take you on a ride through their field of expertise， and you are going to be surprised and delighted。 For there truly is far too much bullshit in the world， and until now there has been no winsome strategy for how to call it out。 But Bergstrom and West aren’t stodgy referees。 Instead， they’re like your older brother’s college fri This book was so much fun。 It has that special sauce。 It made me feel the way I felt when I first read “Freakonomics” or those early Malcolm Gladwell books: the authors take you on a ride through their field of expertise， and you are going to be surprised and delighted。 For there truly is far too much bullshit in the world， and until now there has been no winsome strategy for how to call it out。 But Bergstrom and West aren’t stodgy referees。 Instead， they’re like your older brother’s college friends who， for some reason， are totally cool with helping you on your homework。 Most of all， I left this book feeling less overwhelmed with misinformation and how to respond to it。 。。。more

Stev606 ，

Fantastic and impactful work on understanding data， statistics and the representation of information in the news and world around us。 The general approach taken by the authors in regard to ‘calling bulls**t’ is applicable to all parts of life。 Highly recommended。

Jonas Goessaert ，

Af en toe redelijk droge materie， maar in het vervolg filter ik de bullshit er wel uit ;-）

Nikki ，

I enjoyed this。 The authors go into various ways things can be skewed and thus become bullshit instead of legit information。 They also point out that often this is not done maliciously。 We see how headlines can be less than helpful， like when they end up misrepresenting data or a study。 They go into how to look at data visualizations with a critical eye。 Social media and sharing is touched upon several times， sometimes with more focus and depth than other times。 They've also got a whole section I enjoyed this。 The authors go into various ways things can be skewed and thus become bullshit instead of legit information。 They also point out that often this is not done maliciously。 We see how headlines can be less than helpful， like when they end up misrepresenting data or a study。 They go into how to look at data visualizations with a critical eye。 Social media and sharing is touched upon several times， sometimes with more focus and depth than other times。 They've also got a whole section of the last chapter dedicated to instructing people to not be a "Well， actually。。。" guy， including a footnote about the deliberateness in using a gendered term （guy） in the description。 Overall， this book is informative， helpful， timely， important for everyone not just data nerds。 And it's funny。 Honestly， there's some great humor in here。 。。。more

Andrzej ，

Super important book to read nowadays。 For everyone。 Shows just how we as a society treat science and technology as a contemporary magic。 This book reminds us of the basic principles of scientific method and how it helps to interpret information and gives tools to criticize unsound research。

Zach ，

This book says it is adopted from a college course and I think that fact is one of the book's most prominent characteristics。 It's not a great field guide。 It's not a tightly written pop science book。 It's a series of loosely connected lectures， for an audience of already-educated people， in text form， with a wrapup at the end so you can reflect before the exam。 I find the structure really painful because it's a topic that badly needs a readable， digestible， entertaining book you can easily reco This book says it is adopted from a college course and I think that fact is one of the book's most prominent characteristics。 It's not a great field guide。 It's not a tightly written pop science book。 It's a series of loosely connected lectures， for an audience of already-educated people， in text form， with a wrapup at the end so you can reflect before the exam。 I find the structure really painful because it's a topic that badly needs a readable， digestible， entertaining book you can easily recommend to your friends and， uh， people who need to read something like this。 Instead， this book is a dense text packed with jargon that wants you to work your way through some difficult and counterintuitive concepts on your own as it leaps from topic to topic。 I guess you could pick up this book and skip to the last two chapters， but even those chapters are just summaries and don't have what I'm really looking for。 I would not recommend this book without a lot of caveats。The authors claim they don't want to be partisan， and so they are choosing a scattershot of illustrative stories across multiple disciplines。 It really is scattered - from personal anecdotes about Colorado skiing to thought experiments involving grouse hunting to machine learning papers about phrenology to 3d graphs about manure production to Hillary Clinton's instagram to Hillary Clinton's instagram again。 That's weird。 Then a graph about Stand Your Ground laws。 Well， so much for avoiding partisanship。 I found this scattershot approach incredibly distracting。 Lots of time is spent explaining context for crime rates in suburbs vs inner city core， then lighting conditions for photos in resume headshots versus in prison lineups， and several other unrelated fields。 If they stuck to one topic across the entire book （or even per chapter！）， gave the context up front， and then showed how to bullshit it according to the methods they wanted to show， we could have saved a lot of time and space。 Scientists get a chapter of sympathetic examination looking at the various pressures that cause the the appearance of contradictory results， but it sometimes feels like everything else from Jersey Shore （？？？） to social media to newspaper headlines gets one-sentence potshots about their evil influence on society。 Ironically， these prejudices don't always pass the author's own filters for detecting and calling bullshit。 Hey， if headlines are saying Russian trolls caused unprecedented division in American politics by making Facebook posts， doesn't that sound a bit bad to be true？ Shouldn't we examine that？ Too late， we're galloping off to the next topic。 It would be one thing if every single example used was a shocking example of bullshit， but some of the concepts the authors discuss honest come across as nitpicking instead of enlightening。 I think pointing out that framing imprecise metaphors in the framework of very precise things like mathematical formulas is fair game， but the amount of ink spilled on the misuse of periodic tables seems like overkill。 Sure， a "periodic table of music" is kind of bullshit in an abstract way， but does it matter？ Does it really cause harm， or is just a clumsy marketing gimmick？ The authors seem too upset at the corruption of a useful scientific concept to say。 Similarly， the first shot at Hillary Clinton's Instagram complains a bar is "labeled 75 percent but stretches 78 percent of the way to the right edge"。 Compelling stuff。 Oh， sorry， I truncated in a way that removes it from context - a clear sign of bullshit！ Here's the next sentence: "The bar for Asian women is even more misleading。 It is labeled 84 percent but extends a full 90 percent of the way to the right edge"。 Chilling！I'm a technical guy。 I work in software， I generate graphs and data to explain complicated concepts to less technical people， and I consider myself a pretty good skeptic。 I found a lot of the technical and mathematical details went over my head a bit。 I felt like in order to understand things I needed to stop reading， sit， think， reread， think， reread， and think some more。 That's fair for a college course。 That's fair for most books。 Unfortunately I don't think that's fair for a book that is supposed to address an urgent need， or a book that promises to teach a skill that it claims is badly needed。 I really appreciate it when an author is able to take the time to approach problems from multiple angles， and puts effort into making something understandable。 That's the difference between a book technically covering a material， and being an excellent reference you can recommend to other people。 I do not feel this book met that bar。 The really killer part is that I wanted to love this book。 I think the topic is incredibly important。 I follow Carl Bergstrom on Twitter， which is how I found out about the book， and he seems like a delightful guy。 The last two chapters come so close to what I wanted - a field guide of useful techniques to keep in mind and use。 On their own， they are too thin。 And with the structure of the book as it is， they are too frustrating to put into practice。 I don't feel it taught me a new skillset。 I do think I picked up a few fun anecdotes and a useful technique。 。。。more

Raghu ，

There was a time when we trusted a news item if it appeared in one of the reputed media outlets。 Newspapers like New York Times， Washington Post， and newsreaders like Walter Cronkite had the credibility and trust of the public。 But things are not that simple anymore。 Lies， disinformation， and misinformation have been around ever since humankind invented the printing press。 We have added fake news， fake images， and fake videos to this collection in the era of the Internet。 Sharp political polariz There was a time when we trusted a news item if it appeared in one of the reputed media outlets。 Newspapers like New York Times， Washington Post， and newsreaders like Walter Cronkite had the credibility and trust of the public。 But things are not that simple anymore。 Lies， disinformation， and misinformation have been around ever since humankind invented the printing press。 We have added fake news， fake images， and fake videos to this collection in the era of the Internet。 Sharp political polarization has made most media hyper-partisan。 Even scientific literature has become suspect because of quite a few papers of dubious quality passing the vetting of peer review in reputed journals。 We come across fancy graphs， math equations， and statistics that are downright false or half-truths。 In such an atmosphere， it is hard to filter truth from lies。 We need professional help， and that is what this brilliant book provides。 It educates by asking us to cultivate and keep a healthy skepticism。 It provides us with fundamental tools we can use in detecting and refuting lies， falsehoods， and fake news。 The authors use the term ‘Bulls**t’ to refer to them。 It is also in the book’s title。 （I shall use the abbreviation ‘BS’ instead of ‘Bulls**t’ from hereon so that it will pass muster with the standards of Goodreads and Amazon）。The book comprises four modules of discussion。 The first eight chapters in the book deal with the means through which the modern internet era presents BS to us。 Then comes a chapter on the positives and susceptibilities of science as a method。 The next two chapters discuss how to identify BS， and how to call and refute it。 The techniques for presenting BS as if they are the truth employ many methods。 Deploying spurious correlations or confusing us to mistake correlation for causation are time-worn techniques。 Numbers are another vehicle。 While words may seem verbose and manipulative， numbers have the inherent feel of not being subjective。 They give a scientific feel and suggest precision， having an independent existence in Nature。 Selection bias is yet another way to present BS。 When we select individuals， groups， or data for analysis in a way that we compromise randomization， we engage in selection bias。 Data visualization examples present BS in another form。 Programs like Excel and Google spreadsheets make it simple for anyone to generate bar charts， pie charts， graphs， and fancy-looking tables and images。 These entities tell stories。 Subtle choices， such as the range of the axes in a bar chart or line graph， can affect the story a figure tells。 They can reflect the underlying data with rigor or tell a story the designer wants you to believe。 Big Data and Artificial Intelligence are brilliant innovations。 But they are also the most recent methods misused to present BS。 Choice of the database， assumptions， and biases in the algorithms and data are some contributors。 Inaccessibility of the reasoning in a neural network is another。 Now that we know how BS gets presented， we apply them to spotting BS。 The authors give a checklist of actions to help us。 Whether we scan our social media feeds， listen to the news， or read an essay or article on improving our health， we must apply the following list of validations。1。 Question the source of the information。 Information without access to its source is suspect。 Ask who is saying this。 How does the person know it？ What is this person trying to sell me？2。 Beware of unfair comparisons。 For example， we see lists of the most violent cities in the US， ranked 1 to 10， in the media。 Often， they are meaningless because the entities used may not be comparable。 The book discusses one such example。3。 Remember the dictum， ‘If it sounds too good or too bad to be true， then it probably is’。 The media posts many claims to attract attention。 Some are often too extreme to be true。 Search the web for other sources， making the same claim。 The book illustrates it with an example from an NBC tweet on US universities。4。 Think in orders of magnitudes。 For example， the National Geographic Society warned that we dump nine billion tonnes of plastic waste into the oceans every year。 The authors show how we can question it in terms of magnitudes。 There are only seven to eight billion people on Earth。 So， it means each one of us dumps one tonne of plastic waste every year in the ocean。 Does it sound credible？5。 Avoid confirmation bias。 This is a well-known principle and does not need elaboration。6。 Consider multiple hypotheses。 In May 2018， Reuters reported that Walt Disney shares dropped 2。5% after ABC TV canceled the ‘Roseanne’ show for racism。 Disney’s revenue for 2017 was $55 billion。 The Roseanne show generated $45 million in 2018。 Does it sound plausible when a show that generated 0。1% of Disney’s revenue causes its shares to drop 2。5%？ The stock market had a dramatic drop that day and Disney too dropped 2。5%， well before the ABC announcement。7。 Misinformation appears as images， videos， or text。 Use tools on the web like reverse image lookup or fact-checking websites to find the truth。 When you use social media， remember the mantra， ‘think more， share less’。After spotting BS， it is not enough to just identify it。 We must call it out and refute it。 The authors show the methods we can adopt to refute BS in the last section of the book。1） A lot of fake news gets posted on the web with dubious numbers and statistics， to bolster its credibility。 We can use the ‘reductio ad absurdum’ principle to expose them。 In the summer Olympics of 2004， Yuliya Nesterenko ran the 100-meters in 10。93 seconds。 It was two seconds faster than what women did seventy years earlier。 Inspired by this， researchers saw that the gap between men’s and women’s timings is shrinking all the time。 So， they predicted that in the year 2156， women will outpace men， based on a rather simplistic model。 Others called it out by using the same model to show that women would run 100 meters in less than zero seconds by the year 2636！2） Look for counterexamples to refute doubtful claims。 One researcher in the Santa Fe Institute， New Mexico， claimed: ‘In order to survive in a pathogen-filled environment like ours， long-lived multicellular organisms such as the humans must have certain distinctive features in the immune system’。 Though it seemed a reasonable argument， an experienced immunologist posed the counter-question， ‘what about trees？’。 Trees are also long-lived multicellular organisms。 They have immune systems but with few of the features claimed by the researcher。3） Use analogies to help re-contextualize claims that may seem reasonable at first glance。 By drawing parallels between an unfamiliar situation and an example we understand with ease， we gain confidence in our abilities of critical thinking。4） Redrawing figures， graphs， and bar charts can help to spot BS。 Using the ‘Null model’ helps to refute misinformation in other instances。 Throughout the book， the authors make a powerful plea to place our trust in Science and keep a skeptical outlook。 According to them， science is the best method we have to cut through BS and seek Truth。 Science is self-correcting。 Every claim is open to challenge， and evidence can falsify every model or fact。 Science is a cumulative process。 It progresses when researchers build upon previous results。 If a result is false， we cannot build upon it and our efforts would fail。 This will make us go back and reassess the original findings。 This way， the truth will come out。 As science moves toward accepting some claim as a fact， experiments that contradict that claim become noteworthy。 It treats them as if they are positive results。 Science allows us to understand the nature of the physical world at scales far beyond the capabilities of our senses and the evolution of our minds。 We have created technologies that would seem magical to those a few generations ago。 However， science is not an absolute guarantor of truth。 Many scientific theories and results have been wrong in history and will continue to be so。 But science is empirically successful。 Despite its failures， the institution of science is strong。 It is important to keep this perspective when evaluating human knowledge - and BS - that is out there。The book results from a popular course of the same title as the book。 The authors taught the course to students at the University of Washington。 I found the book playful in tone and also serious。 An extensive number of examples illustrate every idea the authors advance。 It makes the book an engaging and purposeful read。 Many of us would already have come across several of the principles expressed here。 But the authors string them together in a composite story that is a masterclass。 Given the complexities of the times we live in， this book becomes very important for us to read and teach both at the high school and university levels。 If at all I have one criticism of the book， it is with the examples chosen。 The authors give examples of BS only from the right-wing of the political spectrum。 There are hardly any examples from the Left and Liberal spectrum。 History tells us that the entire political spectrum has disseminated BS to advance its agenda。 For decades， the Left tried to paint Soviet communism as more benign than it was using the techniques given in this book。 Environmentalists have presented distortions of the truth to promote their agendas。 It is important to stress that we need to be skeptical of the entire political spectrum and just not the Right。 All of them have their vested interests to advance through falsehoods， couched in the language of Maths and science。 This is a necessary book of our times。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0