Fact Checking
Skills & Resources
Start With The Basics...
Check for Relevance:
Is the information old and out of date?
Is it a joke or satire?
Think Critically:
Does it pass the smell test? Does this accusation sound correct?
Does basic science/physics support this?
Simplify and break the information down to elemental pieces. Do they make sense?
Was hateful political speech used?
Was photographic trickery used? Reverse image search photos.
Develop a critical and rational mindset, without emotion. Check your biases.
Do your Homework:
Read beyond the headline.
Check the author/publisher. What is their history?
Consider the Source: Reputation & Agenda.
Read any referenced studies/papers.
Learn about the Scientific Method and peer review, to better understand real science.
Corroborate:
Supporting Evidence/Sources?
Check other reliable sources.
Check with the experts. Fact check. Google it.
Tricks propagandists use to fool you
In photographs they will use a long lens to compress distance.
Objects half a mile away from each other can look close together through the use of a high MM telephoto lens. This is an old trick and is used often when smearing the wind industry. Turbines that are far from each other will appear close together utilizing this method.
An author will use overall percentages without starting numbers, ending numbers, timeframes, or other relevant details.
Details count. An example of this is a study showing that higher CO2 concentrations can boost plant growth by 40%. When you look at their study, they will start out with plant starvation concentrations of 150 ppm, which occurred in the distant past not at the beginning of the industrial revolution. Then they will take it to 600 ppm of CO2, and then only for certain species of plants that are well supplied with nutrients, water, and sunlight. Their number is not relevant for the average plant under current conditions, but you won't know that unless you dig.
Comparisons that use different scales in the comparison
For any meaningful comparison, it must be apples to apples. Same measurements, same timeframe, same variables.
False Equivalence
For example, an anti-solar advocate could say "solar panels use lots of energy and toxic chemicals to manufacture, so they're just as bad as fossil fuels". At a glance, this might seem to have merit, but when you look at the factual details, and do the math, you will see that solar panels produce energy that is orders of magnitude less damaging than fossil fuels.
"We've arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science and technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces."
-Carl Sagan