Mike Caulfield and Sam Wineberg. Verified : How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions About What to Believe Online. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2023. 266p. Paper, $14 (ISBN: 978-0-226-82206-8).

Abstract

Acclaimed economist, political scientist, and computer scientist, Herbert Simon, is quoted by authors Mike Caulfield and Sam Wineberg in the conclusion of Verified : How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions About What to Believe Online and perfectly encapsulates the problem addressed by the book. Simon observed that, “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention” (212). Accordingly, Caulfield and Wineberg suggest not always focusing on what to pay attention to, but instead, how to “critically ignore” low-quality information in an effort to save time and mental energy in an online world overloaded with information. Written with humor and abundant in real-world examples, Verified expands upon Caulfield’s popular SIFT approach to evaluating information online and includes tips on identifying common dirty tricks used by purveyors of disinformation and misinformation, strategies for recovering lost context, a primer on peer review and scholarly communication, and an overview on how advertisements insidiously disguise themselves as real news.