Resources to give facts a fighting chance against misinformation
- 1Skeptical Science (baerbelw@skepticalscience.com)
- 2Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (jocook@unimelb.edu.au)
Skeptical Science is a volunteer-run website publishing refutations of climate misinformation. Some members of the Skeptical Science team actively research best-practices refutation techniques while other team members use the provided materials to share debunking techniques effectively either in writing or through presentations. In this submission, we highlight several of our publications and projects, designed to help to give facts a fighting chance against misinformation. While some of the resources are directly related to climate change such as the rebuttals to common climate myths, the employed techniques apply across different topics. They include the “FLICC-framework” which features a taxonomy of science denial rhetorical techniques (FLICC standing for fake experts, logical fallacies, impossible expectations, cherry picking, and conspiracy theories), the Debunking Handbook 2020 which summarizes research findings and expert advice about debunking misinformation, and the Conspiracy Theory Handbook distilling research findings and expert advice on dealing with conspiracy theories. We will also introduce the Cranky Uncle smartphone game, which uses critical thinking, gamification, and cartoons to interactively explain science denial techniques and build resilience against misinformation.
How to cite: Winkler, B. and Cook, J.: Resources to give facts a fighting chance against misinformation, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-1575, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-1575, 2024.
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