How to Avoid Deception

“You can never get all the facts from just one newspaper, and unless you have all the facts, you cannot make proper judgements about what is going on.”–Harry S. Truman

The last couple of blogs were about how to read a newspaper, a process that applies to news magazines as well.  Perhaps even more important is how you engage your brain when gathering information. 

One of my favorite websites is www.factcheck.org.  Below I have shared their article, “A Process for Avoiding Deception,” designed to help students learn to think for themselves.  I like it so well that we use it as a practice article in our speed reading classes.  I especially like the last paragraph about the rooster.  I often think of this mistaken cause-and-effect example when reading “facts” in newspapers and even health journals.  Enjoy!

 A Process for Avoiding Deception  397 words
http://factchecked.org/tools-of-the-trade/

• Keep an open mind. Most of us have biases, and we can easily fool ourselves if we don’t make a conscious effort to keep our minds open to new information. Psychologists have shown over and over again that humans naturally tend to accept any information that supports what they already believe, even if the information isn’t very reliable. And humans also naturally tend to reject information that conflicts with those beliefs, even if the information is solid. These predilections are powerful. Unless we make an active effort to listen to all sides we can become trapped into believing something that isn’t so, and won’t even know it.
• Ask the right questions. Don’t accept claims at face value; test them by asking a few questions. Who is speaking, and where are they getting their information? How can I validate what they’re saying? What facts would prove this claim wrong? Does the evidence presented really back up what’s being said? If an ad says a product is “better,” for instance, what does that mean? Better than what?
• Cross-check. Don’t rely on one source or one study, but look to see what others say. When two or three reliable sources independently report the same facts or conclusions, you can be more confident of them. But when two independent sources contradict each other, you know you need to dig more deeply to discover who’s right.
•  Consider the source. Not all sources are equal. As any CSI viewer knows, sometimes physical evidence is a better source than an eyewitness, whose memory can play tricks. And an eyewitness is more credible than somebody telling a story they heard from somebody else. By the same token, an Internet website that offers primary source material is more trustworthy than one that publishes information gained second- or third-hand. For example, official vote totals posted by a county clerk or state election board are more authoritative than election returns reported by a political blog or even a newspaper, which can be out of date or mistaken.
• Weigh the evidence. Know the difference between random anecdotes and real scientific data from controlled studies. Know how to avoid common errors of reasoning, such as assuming that one thing causes another simply because the two happen one after the other. Does a rooster’s crowing cause the sun to rise? Only a rooster would think so.

Multitasking May Hurt Your Performance, But It Makes You Feel Better

It’s been proven that multitasking limits performance, but it is so very popular.
This article that was in my news from Ohio State tells why. and how it becomes addicting.   Interesting read.

Multitasking May Hurt Your Performance, But It Makes You Feel Better.

More on Newspapers: Bias & Opinion Pieces

One More Thing on Headlines:  When going off about headlines last time, I forgot to give kudos to headline writers for using their creativity for fun instead of sensationalism.  My dad was a punster and a lot of headline writers are too!  They play on the double meanings of words when they write headlines, and, if you have a sense of humor, look for them!  If you find some great headlines, post them as a comment on the blog.  We’ll make a collection.

Is It Biased? You also want to decide if the story is slanted or balanced.  For a good many years, the publisher or the editor of our local paper had a definite political bias, which was reflected in the headlines and opening paragraphs.  The balance or other side of the story did not appear until half way to two-thirds into the article.  I think they thought we’d stop reading it by then, and so I told my students during that era that they needed to look in the middle of the articles for the real story.   For a while, our local paper was much more balanced and accurate than that, but it is now balanced on some articles and not on others.  It seems they alternate days, and the articles are particularly biased near an election.  Sometimes, however, you can tell that the story was used “as is” from a press release provided by Washingon, the governor’s office, or something like that, as when a news article next to it has opposite “facts.”   

When  reading an editorial or an op-ed piece, I always read the author bio, the publication they write for, and the first and last paragraph first.  These paragraphs are usually good introductions and excellent summations.   If I think, “These comments are really wacky,” I remember what publication they work for.  There are some publications with consistent leanings so opposite of mine that I rarely like or agree with anything they have to say.  But if I need to get my adrenalin going, I’ll read them as well as the letters to the editor.  Sometimes, I actually agree with something they say!  And my horizons have been broadened a bit.  It also helps to read papers with different views.  I had a student once tell me that she never read anything she didn’t agree with.  People like her used to be rare.  Now it is easier than ever for people to shield themselves from the “danger” of an open mind.

Our next blog will be “A Process for Avoiding Deceiption from FactCheckED.org.

How to Read a Newspaper

“If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed.” –Mark Twain

Mark Twain was a very wise man!  But to start with I must state that I believe in getting informed through newspapers.  I firmly support our newspaper in this day of TV soundbites and website headlines and videos.  I want my local newspaper to succeed.  I get plenty irritated with it sometimes, but I will always subscribe, read it, and let the editors know when they have missed the mark.  The key to getting the most out of a newspaper is reading it in the right way, so I’ve decided to post a series of articles on how best to read a newspaper.

Mark Twain’s statement is definitely true in too many publications, particularly those with a definite bias.  Some have a subtle bias.  Some used to only have a bias close to elections–but since it is always “the silly season” these days, it’s always good to read with a skeptical mind.  I wrote the piece below 5 years ago as a response to a student’s question.  So the examples of the articles are old news, but they are still valid.  I’ve added some current findings in italics in the body of the article.

From April 2007:  We were discussing how to read a newspaper in my introductory speed reading lesson the other night.  I always teach my students to read the first and last paragraph in journal articles and newspaper human interest stories (along with headings and visual aids) and the first paragraph in news articles.  One of my students said that she had noticed that the writers in our newspaper had started to get creative and were not getting to any facts until about the third paragraph.  So the next morning I did a survey by reading all of the first paragraphs of all the articles in our paper. (Being a speed reader really helped with that!)

The Structure  The first paragraph in most hard-news articles—business, world affairs, events and even sports–are classic journalism style with the facts presented in the opening paragraph.  The human-interest articles that accompany the hard news are told as a story, as my student was saying.  As that paper was dated the day after the tragic events at Virginia Tech, most of the main section was about that tragedy.  There were two main articles:  one on the left and one on the right with a picture in the middle.  The article on the right was straight forward with just the facts and the first paragraph containing the most pertinent information.  The article on the left was told like a story, building curiosity and interest and gradually getting to the facts.  Either way, the first paragraph sets the stage for the article, and you can quickly find out whether it is going to give you hard news you want or a human-interest story.  The human interest stories do give the facts two or three paragraphs down, but a news article gives them straight out.  By reading the first paragraph, you can determine if you want to read the rest.  Now, the front page is arranged this way only when something major has happened.  Recently, the articles on the front page are all over the place for subjects and range from journalism style to  human-interest style. 

The last paragraph in a news article is still a summation of what has been going on about that subject forever (i.e. Anna Nichole’s marriage/baby/son/death) that you would only need if you had been on a desert island for a month or two.  But you might read them, if you really have been out of touch.

Headlines can be deceiving.  They can show a real bias in a publication known for a slanted view—or possible sensationalism to grab attention.  You really can only use the headlines to determine the subject and decide if you want to read the article, not to form an opinion.  I have seen headlines that are actually opposite of the conclusions drawn from the entire article.   Sometimes I swear headline writers have never read the articles.  What sticks in my craw after decades was a headline that declared a standoff with police from a young man barricaded inside his house.  The sad truth was that the gunshots neighbors heard were the young man killing himself.  He was dead before the police arrived. 

The next blog will have more about bias and reading opinion pieces.

Learn to Speed Read and Stay Forever Young!

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.  Anyone who keeps learning stays young.  The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”–Henry Ford

You know the secrets to living a longer, healthier life:  quit smoking, eat a healthy diet, get your beauty sleep, and exercise.  But did you also know that exercising your mind is just as important as exercising your body?  Exercising your mind will keep you young, keep your memory sharp, and even help ward off Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, dementia, and strokes. 

 ”When you challenge the brain, you increase the number of brain cells and the number of connections between those cells,” says Keith L. Black, M.D., chair of neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. ‘But it’s not enough to do the things you routinely do — like the daily crossword. You have to learn new things, like sudoku or a new form of bridge.”  (From Beth Howard’s article for AARP The Magazine | Feb./Mar. 2012 issue.)

There are all kinds of ways to challenge your brain.  Jack Tatar in his book, Safe 4 Retirement:  The 4 Keys to a Safe Retirement, offers several suggestions for exercising your mind:

1. Take a class.
2. Read!
3. Turn off the television unless you’re watching a documentary.
4. Talk to people with an open mind.  Remember to listen, listen, listen.
5. You know what to do.  Just go out and do it!

Another way to challenge your brain is to learn to do something in a new way.  Deliberately changing how you do something that you have been in the habit of doing one way for years and doing it a new way really excercises those brain connections.  Our speed reading course does just that.  Going from deliberately seeing and saying one to three words at a time to seeing paragrahs all at once and thinking concepts and ideas is definitely changing a habit!  It’s challenging–but doable.  It also covers all five of these suggestions listed above:  You’ll be taking a class, reading –not watching t.v., talking to new people, and we’ll get you to trust yourself enough to just do it!  This is a great way to excercise your brain and keep it young if you are retired.  You’ll get to read all those things that you’ve wanted to read for years.  It’s also a great way to excercise your brain and to keep learning no matter what age you are–and to keep your mind agile and used to challanges for your career and/or education.  Here’s to staying young and continuing to learn!

Judith Barker and Bonnie James

Speed Reading: Scientific Fact or Science Fiction?

“I feel the need…the need for speed.“            –Maverick in Top Gun

Speed reading has its roots in research conducted by the United States Air Force in the 1940s.  World War II fighter pilots used an instrument called a tachistoscope to identify aircraft silhouettes flashed on a screen for a fraction of a second.  Air Force scientists wondered what would happen then if the images were replaced with words.  The pilots worked up to reading four words at a time flashed on the screen at five-hundredths of a second.  This proved that with practice people could learn to read at rates much faster than “normal.”

In Advanced Reading Concepts’ early years, our fastest adult student had received Friend or Foe Recognition Training when he was in the service.  In this training, which engaged the participants’ peripheral vision, different kinds of aircraft were flashed on a screen to be recognized as friend or foe.  In battle, the pilots had to trust this recognition enough to instantly decide whether or not to push a button to bring the aircraft down.  Our student applied his earlier Friend or Foe Recognition Training to his speed reading, knowing that while using peripheral vision, the subconscious will accurately remember the information.   He told me that, while the rest of the class was initially skeptical that speed reading would work, he knew from his training that there was no doubt speed reading worked and jumped right in to apply it on the first day.

Today the United States Air Force encourages Air Force personnel to learn speed reading, which is especially important in required academic and leadership courses.  Our company has conducted many courses for them and other military organizations.  Speed reading has branched out from its roots.  Our eye techniques don’t flash words; they develop peripheral vision so that the reader sees, not individual words, but whole paragraphs at once, and, along with other comprehension techniques, they teach the reader to see the big picture as well as the details and to trust the information that the eyes have funneled to the brain to be recalled later. 

Some speed reading courses only teach eye techniques, but we use a variety of approaches to cover all kinds of written and electronic reading material from memos and emails to research reports, journals and procurement documents.  And something that our course includes (that the pilot did not need) is instruction on how to organize the information learned for later use for writing reports, taking exams and giving presentations.

Skeptics, take notice.  If no less an authority than the United States Air Force believes speed reading to be scientific fact, not science fiction, then you can believe speed reading is indeed scientific fact.

Judith Barker and Bonnie James

You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read with a child

You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read with a child.  Some other quotes here that go with our Read Across America blog post.