In 1987, Carl Sagan published a two-page article in Parade magazine titled “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection.” He picked Parade due to its readership (at the time) of sixty-five million. In the first sidebar, he even highlighted The Skeptical Inquirer, calling it “cheerful, irreverent, instructive and often funny.” Wow, that must have done wonders for our subscriptions!
Sagan also warned that “when governments and societies lose the capacity for critical thinking, the results are catastrophic.” After describing critical thinking skills as “tough habits,” he closed with: “if we don’t practice these tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us—and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who comes along.”
In 1995, that article expanded into a book chapter in The Demon-Haunted World. The book’s subtitle, Science as a Candle in the Dark, represents the true purpose of scientific skepticism. Today, however, it still feels like we are living in darkness. Extraordinary claims abound. Extraordinary evidence is in short supply. As disheartening as it is, Sagan offered inspiration with this adage: “It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” So, that’s exactly what we’ll continue to do.
As we strive to provide light among the darkness, we need our candle to shine as brightly as possible. Toward that goal, in this issue, longtime SI contributor Massimo Pigliucci takes a fresh look at Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit, helping us reflect on how to best detect baloney in our digital age.
Stefan T. Siegel also takes a fresh look at strategies for busting myths. His discussion of the fact-myth-fallacy-fact approach incorporates other concepts, such as the benefits of prebunking. These concepts are all part of a growing body of research on the science of science communication.
To best heed Sagan’s warning about a catastrophic future, we need effective tools in our kit, and this issue of SI is here to help us optimize the tools of our trade.
