Bullspotting: Finding Facts in the Age of Misinformation

by Loren Collins

At a time when average citizens are bombarded with false information every day, this entertaining book will prove to be not only a great read but also an indispensable resource. Birthers. Truthers. Moon hoaxers. Antivaxxers. Holocaust deniers. Young Earth creationists. These are just a few of the purveyors of misinformation who thrive on the Internet. Never in history has the truth been more accessible and lies so contagious. In this confusing environment, how does an honest person find the facts? This entertaining and educational book applies the tools of critical thinking to identify the common features and trends among misinformation campaigns. With illustrations drawn from conspiracy theorists and deniers of every stripe, this author teaches readers how rumors are started, and the rhetorical techniques and logical fallacies often found in misleading or outright false claims. What distinguishes real conspiracies from conspiracy theories, real science from pseudoscience, and actual history from bogus accounts purporting to be history? How does one evaluate the credibility of rumors and quotes or judge the soundness of legal arguments advanced by tax deniers? Readers will learn how to make these critical distinctions and also how to spot "evidence" that has been manufactured or manipulated in some way to create a false impression.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Skepticism, History, Philosophy, Sociology, Religion

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Misinformation takes many forms--conspiracy theories, rumors, quotations, hoaxes, pseudoscience, pseudohistory, and pseudolaw are all covered in this helpful text. Collins spells out the importance of authoritative sources with real-life examples of people chasing anomalies and denying credible evidence. Tools for spotting denialism, such as recognizing when a denialist is cherry picking or ignoring evidence or when fake experts are used to justify a claim are provided. After a thorough examination of all the ways misinformation arrives in our world, the concluding chapter reviews the reasons why this is a problem. Many people are harmed with misinformation--from vaccine deniers to those who get taken in by scams. Understanding concrete methods for evaluating information allows information consumers to base their decisions on sound evidence.

[Samantha Heuwagen · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I used to teach at the university level I spent a lot of time trying to get my students to use critical thinking skills and to see beyond whatever the internet told them. I wish I had had this book for them. Thoughtful and well researched, Collins provides a contemplated look at conspiracy theories and how to spot bunk. If there was ever a time to brush up on how to navigate today’s inundated world of misinformation it’s now.

[Kate Woods Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seventy-five percent of this book is useful, readable, reasonable and well-presented. Libertarian attorney and Birther debunker Loren Collins is especially good in the chapters on pseudoscience, pseudohistory and pseudolaw. In fact, he presented much that was new and fascinating to this mostly-mainstream thinker.

It was the remaining 25%,however...

Collins, whose blog "Barackryphal" is apparently the bane of Birthers and other far-right zealots, nevertheless commits some of the sins he condemns in others, especially in those sections in which he ridicules JFK assassination theories and the 9/11 Truth movement. He cherry-picks the most far-out beliefs and presents them as widely-held. He makes false equivalencies. And he constructs straw men. While this might win him friends in the halls of power, it doesn't make him the go-to guy for unbiased fact-checking.

I read a little about the author online and discovered he plans to run for office "in the future," after an unsuccessful Georgia write-in candidacy in 2006. That explains why he has so much mental energy invested in maintaining consensus reality.

Take this book with a grain of salt, and go where the facts lead you.

[Cleokatra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about spotting misinformation and conspiracy theories. This was a library book and, for me, the highlight of this book was that a previous borrower had scribbled over parts of the text that they disagreed with and written some really bizarre comments in the margins.

[Wally B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for the individuals that want to take a deeper dive for their examination of how to find
truth within the era of misinformation and selective spin factory that is available.
The summary of this delightful book is to equip the reader with how to think critically about the
information that is found in the mass media. The mass media are news platforms of all types,
social media and other locations that are utilized to inform the audiences that they are seeking to
inform. An example of this is to evaluate the bias level of the platform that is reporting the
information such as an actual event versus if that event was actually a false flag operation.
The book also discusses how to determine if the information is providing denialism based upon
rumors to the rumors and urban legends that give birth to conspiracy theories. Not every platform
available offers actual truth that is impartial or leans to a certain narrative.
In my opinion this book is an excellent tool to assist those individuals who desire to analyze
the soundness of the information that is digested to learn about various topics. For example, the
election season for the United States presidency is quickly drawing to a close and the
misinformation is rampant depending on the source. An example of this is how a certain city in the
Midwest that has a large legal Haitian population were eating a copious amount of dogs and cats.
Through careful examination this particular story was debunked as false by the mayor of the town
and also, by the governor of the state. It was determined that these rumors were a dog whistle for
those individuals who believe in low information that does not involve fact checking prior to
reporting to support a certain candidate for re-election after being defeated in 2020. Now there are
also, individuals that believe that the 2020 election was stolen from the rightful winner which also
points to another point that the author is making. That point is denialism. Denialism is to discredit
and to refute information that is true in order to live in a false narrative that gives the subscriber
comfort. Although this book was written in 2012, the lessons that it offers are still relevant twelve
years after its publication. This book would make a lasting edition to a library whether private or
public that can provide the curious tools to evaluate if the information that they are being provided
has informative value.

[Ron Piovesan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good primer on misinformation.

[Scott Lupo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would actually give this 3.5 stars if I could. The author Loren Collins attempts and mostly succeeds at fleshing out the difference between real facts and pseudofacts and how anybody, with some practice, can do the same. This book really gets at the heart of what I consider a sickness in our society: being proud to be uneducated and closed minded to evidence and facts. Collins touches on the biggest illustrations of bull including birthers, moon hoaxers, antivaxxers, holocaust deniers, young Earth creationists, homeopathy, ghost hunters, and truthers. I give Collins much credit for mostly staying away from ad hominem attacks and sticking to how ridiculous their thought processes are, regardless from who it is coming from, by using mountains of evidence to make his point. This is no easy task. As he explains, it is much easier for a denier or conspiracist to simply poke a hole or two out of context than it is to explain the mountain of evidence and facts that work together as a collective whole. The average person these days wants the easiest way to get facts, something that is quick to understand and easily digestible instead of having to take time and effort to really comprehend the concepts related to the issue. At the end of each chapter he gives the reader some tips and how to spot misinformation and how to combat it. If anything, this book is practically a manual on how to think critically and reasonably using relevant topics and examples. Great book for those who have not yet solidified their thinking processes and closed their minds.

[Alan J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Loren "the Moron" Collins is a liberal fascist. It is one thing to debunk someone's cockamamie theory about Holocaust revisionism, moon landing etc. but it is another to try to get someone locked up for saying Obama's father was a Black CPUSA member and mother was a whore. I mean half the kids at my High School in Brooklyn would be locked up for saying "Your mother's a whore." This is what Collins tried to do to Joel Gilbert. He filed a complaint with the FEC attempting to force Gilbert to divulge his source of funds for mailing out his DVD for free to people in swing states. Joel can mail out anything he wants and if you feel you are libeled you can sue him in Federal Court. But this dude tried to rally the liberal Dems and Obama supporters on the FEC to ask the FBI to investigate him for essentially writing a book. Going after Holocaust deniers is one thing but Joel did the research for The Lone Wolf, a book about Zev Jabotinsky, who told the Jews in Europe to split because they were going to be mass murdered.

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that every conspiracy theorist should read, though they'd probably say that the production of the book was just part of the conspiracy. Collins takes apart Young Earth creationists, Birthers, Truthers, Holocaust deniers and the like by showing the methods they use to get around their lack of evidence. There's nothing really groundbreaking here, but it's nice to have it all in one place, laid out clearly. Not previously being familiar with pseudo law, I was especially interested in the penultimate chapter.

[Steve Goble · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, although it seems repetitive at times and occasionally lacks detail. Much of its contents will be familiar to most people who pay attention to things. The book will not be popular amount young Earth creationists, 9/11 truthers, Birthers, moon landing hoaxers and anti-vaxers.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth a read, but doesn't add anything more than common-sense approaches to analyzing misinformation.

[Perrian]

so informative- many aspects of incidents/theories I have never contemplated

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Skimmed it. Know some email forwarders who could benefit from it.

[PaddytheMick · Rating 3 out of 5]

should be required reading in 9th grade. no joke.

[Armand · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring.

[Darla Stokes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A how-to manual for telling the difference between having an open mind and having it so open that your brains fall out. :)