UW class on how to spot fake data goes viral within hours

[Generic Other]

When it came to picking a title for the course they will teach this spring, University of Washington professors Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West decided to abandon academic stodginess and get edgy.

Their new course title? “Calling Bullshit in the Age of Big Data.”

Bergstrom and West figured using a minor profanity was a surefire way to draw attention to the course. And sure enough — within hours of unveiling a wickedly funny webpage they created for the proposed class, and announcing it via Twitter, the BS course went viral.

The webpage went live at midnight, and “we woke up the next morning and it was over the whole planet,” West said. “I’ve never seen anything like it … the response has been insane — emails, questions, comments. …

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/uw-class-on-how-to-spot-fake-data-goes-viral-within-hours/

[madokie]

1. Outstanding

its nice to see the people are waking up from their 30 plus year of slumber

[frazzled]

2. We all should take that course!

I'm saving the syllabus and reading list, and might dig in a bit myself. My math/statistics skills are really rusty, though, so I'm not entirely sure how far I'd get.

[Brother Buzz]

3. Direct link to their webpage:

http://callingbullshit.org/index.html

Hell, their disclaimer, alone, was worth the trip:

Disclaimer: This website is intended for personal educational use and should be employed for informational purposes only. Accordingly, all warranties and forms of liability from your use of this website are disclaimed to the extent applicable in your jurisdiction. Nothing on this website constitutes guaranteed accuracy of any kind. Calls of bullshit represent the opinions of the instructors and are not intended as definitive judgements of fact. Callingbullshit.org is not liable for any loss of credulity you may suffer as a consequence of reading the information herein. Viewer discretion advised. May cause drowsiness. Void where prohibited. No animals were used during testing. May cause excitability. Not recommended for children under the age of 12. Use only as directed. Any similarity to any person living or dead is merely coincidental. Live, except on West Coast. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery while using this website. Objects on this site may be closer than they appear. Additional taxes may apply in some jurisdictions. Individual results may vary. Not to be used with alcoholic beverages. I bet you think this website is about you, don't you? Don't you?