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Here is a near-intact draft of the slides from my talk at #celt12 earlier today. If you download it, you will find that the native pptx file will have the videos embedded and will have retained the original animations. I'll be blogging about this soon...
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Literacy in the 21st Century
Dr Brian HughesSchool of Psychology, NUI Galway
@b_m_hughes
28%
http://www.gallup.com/poll/19558/Paranormal-Beliefs-Come-SuperNaturally-Some.aspx
http://goo.gl/Dkp8F
“Sittin’ on the sidelines...cribbin’ an’ moanin’...”“...I don’t know how people who engage in
that don’t commit suicide”
Policy-makers’ reticence towards academic debate
http://goo.gl/MyPaH
Popular right now: The Internet
Data: http://www.gapminder.org
Hours per day spent on selected leisure pursuits, by age (2010)
Age-group ReadingRelaxing/ thinking
Computer use (for leisure)
15-19 .12 .11 .8520-24 .16 .28 .6525-34 .13 .18 .3735-44 .16 .24 .2945-54 .24 .25 .1955-64 .35 .26 .2965-74 .62 .55 .3875+ .85 .64 .49
(US) Bureau of Labor Statisticshttp://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.t11.htm
@Th
reeShip
sMedia
HTTP://XKCD.COM/386/
February 28, 1998
BMJ (2011), 8 Jan & 15 Jan
“Failed in your duties”
“Acted against the interests of your patients”
Lancet paper was “dishonest”, “irresponsible”, and “misleading”, in several respects and overall
Overall finding of “serious professional misconduct”
28 January 2010
The 10 worst anti-science websitesvia skeptoid.com
Burden on claimant, not criticReversed burden of proof
Prioritization of parsimonyLack of parsimony
Emphasis on refutationConfirmation bias
Unproven as false = unprovenUnproven as false = true
Accuracy in measurementVagueness in measurement
Valorises falsifiabilityAvoids falsifiability
SciencePseudoscience
Differences of principle
Science vs. Pseudoscience
Differences of practice
Shared endeavourExaggerated importance of key persons
Acceptance of paradigmsLack of theoretical agreement
Appeals to reductionismAppeals to holism
Empirical evidenceAnecdotal evidence
Argument “ad rem” Argument “ad hominem”
Peer reviewScience by press conference
Publication of dataSecrecy of data
SciencePseudoscience
Science vs. Pseudoscience
Pseudoscientific features in the MMR-autism controversy
• Science by press conference
• Secrecy of data• Vagueness in
measurement• Confirmation bias• Reversed burden of
proof• Exaggerated importance
of key contributors• Argument “ad
hominem”• Anecdotal evidence
Today’s milieu of mis-information presents many chances to put the concept
of ‘information’ into context
The online space provides means, motive, and
opportunity to engage and cultivate learners’ analytic
skills
THE END
