Here’s the dilemma: nothing’s real. You can’t trust anything. For as long as information’s contrived into a narrative, it’s biased. The way we talk about things influences the way we think about things. And I think one of the most dangerous and damaging things we do is frame things poorly. Climate change, for instance, for years has been framed as a debate as if it’s something you either believe in or don’t believe in. Whereas if the debate had been framed pragmatically around what we could do to solve the problem rather than whether the problem exists, humanity might have stood a better chance of outliving this blog post. We’re so addicted to being outraged and righteous that it slows down pragmatism and progression.
To sift through the haystacks of opinion and find the needles of truth buried within, I’ve made a list of things to check that ultimately help me figure out which scientific research is most trustworthy and reliable. This is the Fact Check List:
- How was the research study funded?
- When was the research conducted?
- How many participants were in the study?
- What demographics do the participants represent?
- What stimulus materials were participants exposed to?
- What research methods were used?
- Were the results statistically significant?
- Has it been replicated?
I go into more detail in the original blog on Corporate Culture‘s website.