A field guide to lies and statistics : a neuroscientist on how to make sense of a complex world

**Winner of the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction**Winner of the 2017** National Business Book AwardShortlisted for the 2016/2017 Donner Prize****From the bestselling author of __The Organized Mind__, the must-have book about how to analyze who and what to trust in the age of information overload.** It's becoming harder to separate the wheat from the digital chaff. How do we distinguish misinformation, pseudo-facts, distortions and outright lies from reliable information? In __A Field Guide to Lies__, neuroscientist Daniel Levitin outlines the many pitfalls of the information age and provides the means to spot and avoid them. Levitin groups his field guide into two categories--statistical infomation and faulty arguments--ultimately showing how science is the bedrock of critical thinking. It is easy to lie with stats and graphs as few people "take the time to look under the hood and see how they work." And, just because there's a number on something, doesn't mean that the number was arrived at properly. Logic can help to evaluate whether or not a chain of reasoning is valid. And "infoliteracy" teaches us that not all sources of information are equal, and that biases can distort data. Faced with a world too eager to flood us with information, the best response is to be prepared. __A Field Guide to Lies__ helps us avoid learning a lot of things that aren't true. Winner of the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction Winner of the 2017 National Business Book Award Shortlisted for the 2016/2017 Donner Prize From the bestselling author of The Organized Mind , the must-have book about how to analyze who and what to trust in the age of information overload. It's becoming harder to separate the wheat from the digital chaff. How do we distinguish misinformation, pseudo-facts, distortions and outright lies from reliable information? In A Field Guide to Lies , neuroscientist Daniel Levitin outlines the many pitfalls of the information age and provides the means to spot and avoid them. Levitin groups his field guide into two categories--statistical infomation and faulty arguments--ultimately showing how science is the bedrock of critical thinking. It is easy to lie with stats and graphs as few people "take the time to look under the hood and see how they work." And, just because there's a number on something, doesn't mean that the number was arrived at properly. Logic can help to evaluate whether or not a chain of reasoning is valid. And "infoliteracy" teaches us that not all sources of information are equal, and that biases can distort data. Faced with a world too eager to flood us with information, the best response is to be prepared. A Field Guide to Lies helps us avoid learning a lot of things that aren't true. We live in a world of information overload. Facts and figures on absolutely everything are at our fingertips, but are too often biased, distorted, or outright lies. From unemployment figures to voting polls, IQ tests to divorce rates, we're bombarded by seemingly plausible statistics on how people live and what they think. In a world where anyone can become an expert at the click of a button, being able to see through the tricks played with statistics is more necessary than ever before. Daniel Levitin teaches us how to effectively ask ourselves: can we really know that? And how do they know that? In this eye-opening, entertaining and accessible guide filled with fascinating examples and practical takeaways, acclaimed neuroscientist Daniel Levitin shows us how learning to understand statistics will enable you to make quicker, better-informed decisions to simplify your life We are bombarded with more information each day than our brains can process, especially in election season. It's raining bad data, half-truths, and even outright lies. Daniel J. Levitin shows how to recognize misleading announcements, statistics, graphs, and written reports revealing the ways lying weasels can use them. This book outlines recommendations for critical thinking practices that meet the challenges of the digital age's misinformation, demonstrating the role of science in information literacy while explaining the importance of skeptical reasoning in making decisions based on online information Machine generated contents note: pt. ONE EVALUATING NUMBERS -- Plausibility -- Fun with Averages -- Axis Shenanigans -- Hijinks with How Numbers Are Reported -- How Numbers Are Collected -- Probabilities -- pt. TWO EVALUATING WORDS -- How Do We Know? -- Identifying Expertise -- Overlooked, Undervalued Alternative Explanations -- Counterknowledge -- pt. THREE EVALUATING THE WORLD -- How Science Works -- Logical Fallacies -- Knowing What You Don't Know -- Bayesian Thinking in Science and in Court -- Four Case Studies -- Conclusion: Discovering Your Own