Teaching baloney detection to children (and adults!) is very important in today’s social, political, and AI internet environment. It is crucial to recognize misinformation and disinformation. Usually, the difference between the two is that disinformation is false information that is deliberate. Misinformation is false or inaccurate, but it may simply be the result of not checking carefully. Nevertheless, they both add to misperceptions and untruths online.
In his book The Demon Haunted World** the prescient Carl Sagan described how to recognize careless thinking, bunk, and outright deception. This requires discovering fallacies of logic and appeals to sensationism. Here is my summary of his important points in detecting online lies (baloney).
- You must verify facts.
- Do this by checking the source and credentials.
- Examine all REASONABLE views of the issue.
- Data should be measurable and accurate.
- Sensationalism and appealing to lesser human instincts should give us pause.
- Verify each step. If ONE step is questionable, the entire viewpoint FAILS the reposting test.
Unfortunately, we are living in a world where our elected representatives lie to us. Let’s all do our part to recognize and not repost fabricated online lies (baloney.) Use common sense.
It is also important for our country and world that all teachers to include lessons in critical thinking, even when the textbook doesn’t cover this topic.
Here are some ideas for
50 Critical Thinking Strategies for Learning
For a funny, but effective, method I used for teaching baloney detection with second graders, see this previous post:
FYI: these internet sites for fact checking are (so far) nonpartisan and non-profit:
* Sagan, Carl. (1987) Baloney Detection Kit, Parade Magazine. 2/1/87
**Sagan, Carl. (1996) The Demon Haunted World. Random House.
@ Reading Spotlight 2026
Here are some interesting posts about education from my friends at TBOTEMC