1. Betyrayers of the Truth - William Broad and Nicholas Wade
The lures of careerism and big money, the pressures of huge research factories, the repeated failure of supposedly fail-safe mechanisms of scientific inquiry to detect and correct fraud - Betrayers of the Truth is about how science really works and why scientists are tempted to cheat.
2. On Bullshit - Harry G Frankfurt
Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern. We have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves. And we lack a conscientiously developed appreciation of what it means to us. In other words, as Harry Frankfurt writes, "we have no theory."
3. Innumeracy - John Allen Paulos
Mathematical Illiteracy and It's Consequences. Innumeracy - the mathematical counterpart of illiteracy- is a disease that has ravaged our technological society.
4. A Drunkards Walk - Leonard Mlodinow
How Randomness Rules Our Lives.
5. Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely
Challenging assumptions about making decisions based on rational thought. No amount of education can reliably prevent us from making mistakes. We can be, because of our biases, the easiest person for us to fool.
A healthy dose of skepticism is necessary when looking at information. Be it the modern day media to science to technology, we all must have the ability to separate the truth from everything else. Our bias is our biggest enemy. We will prefer certain truths over others.
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