Dan Dimmock

I'll be sporadically doing these posts over the next few weeks as I have bult up a great library of books on misinformation, critical thinking and some history which are well worth sharing given the general direction of travel!

And I have used and adapted some of the spotting fake news exercises it has in the scienctific conspiracies lectures I used to do. The language and writing is very accessible but the lessons are vital for anyone, highly recommend it to any lecturers where we teach critical thinking. #Cats #Booksky

A great resource going through the history of misinformation, the psychology of Fake News and how it has been used as a tool to control and dominate socieities.
It's a good guide on understanding biases, evaluating news sources and social media posts and some great exercises for evaluating media.

The world is going through a bit of a *m o m e n t* right now;

So I've recruited Poppy to help to do a little series recommending some fantastic books which help to understand the odd place we find ourselves in.

First up is True or False, A CIA analysts guide to spotting Fake News by Cindy Otis.

References on behalf of students for MSc courses that require 500+ words. In a profession where we know we are overburdened and do constant outside hours work, why do we request this from each other? It's not fair on academics nor students.

@samcoatessky.bsky.social was expressing his astonishment yesterday on Sky News that the PM had singled out one judicial review applicant to blame for the legal challenges bedevilling infrastructure projects.

Let’s fix that 😈

Here’s a story that starts with a man shut in his cellar.

Rachel Reeves more credible today than yesterday, it seems.

Flashback to 2020:

CA official: "If we ignore the science and put our head in the sand... we're not going to succeed together protecting Californians."

Trump: "It'll start getting cooler. You just watch."

"I wish science agreed with you."

Trump: "I don’t think science knows, actually."

The engagement data and instant feedback loops they have means the opinion leaders are much more influenced by their own audiences than before too, which I think is underexplored. The incentives end up making opinion leaders genuinely believe high engagement = truth (E.g Dr John Campbell )

My favourite paragraph. Just 3 unhinged banger statements for a Tech-bro Trump backer to make and have faux concern about. He's going to get a massive shock when he checks US deficits and real estate price growth 2016-2020.

And we're live! The NTU library has jumped over to Bluesky , give it a follow! - @ntuyourlibrary.bsky.social

I think you could quite easily sell reading as a punk activity, a way for young people to rebel against and escape the short form video hellscape they are bombarded with. Also that old school cool like vinyl records or roll-up cigarettes (Which are apparently popular as a rejection of vapes!)

Someone clearly told him how much NATO spending goes to US arms and materiel companies.

The amount of bots already flooding this site is quite depressing. Our information wells are incredibly polluted...

For those trying to make sense of reports of mysterious drones in NJ, there may be some similarity to the epidemic of “pitted windshields” in and around Seattle in 1954: issues.org/rumors-resea...

Selective attention and contagion effects are likely playing a role in at least some of the reports.

Poppy is Christmas ready! #cat #christmascat

With raw milk, many of these purported benefits can be found elsewhere. Bacteria? Yoghurts, kefiers etc..Vitamins? Fruits, vegetables etc." Grifters and cranks use studies and scientific language to overwhelm and confuse, sometimes you need to approach messaging from a different angle. #Rawmilk 3/3

I think it's fine to concede ground you don't need to to make a better point "Free Solo Climbing has fantastic benefits for strength, flexibilty, cardio etc. But, if we compare risk, you are much safer doing other form of exercise for the same benefits.... 2/3

On Raw Milk studies, most are of questionable validity or don't take into consideration the effect of stomach acid on all these supposed "super" nutrients, EVs, vitamins etc. But going through these is tedious. 1/3

Interested to see how this tracks vs all other incumbents around the world. Seems people are just angry at whoever is in charge at the moment.

Appreciate the urgency from Labour on this! Is there any more info on what is happening with Barton quarter phases 2-4 in Chilwell? The site has lay dormant for years now and it being a giant car park for 3 vintage buses is a waste! Also this AG homes site is stagnant for years now.

I imagine it's something to do with funding between FE and HE and student fees not covering it, but it seems a no brainer for additional top ups from the new Skills department set up!

- Currently almost guaranteed high wage employment, good for students and uni figures.
- Unis have much better resourced support structures and placement regulation, tackling some of the issues with poor quality apprenticeships.
- Offer additional skills in business, accounting, IT etc.

Does the UK have enough workers to ‘get Britain building’? The Labour government dreams of kick-starting a housebuilding boom, but the construction sector relies heavily on migrants to plug a skills gap

Reading this and wondering why unis haven't started collaborating with colleges on joint trade/undergrad degrees. E.g Plumbing with business management. Some good reasons:
- Uni lifestyle is the 2nd most important reason students go to uni. - on.ft.com/3VwPG51

A festive two tile comic strip illustrating the difference between misinformation and disinformation. Tile A: Disinformation. Scene: Christmas morning in the living room. A child looking at wrapped Christmas present which seems to have the outline of a bicycle. Parents stood in the background are telling the child "It's from Santa Claus!". Tile B: Misinformation Scene: Later that day, the child is riding his new bike outside. While passing his three friends standing on the sidewalk, he shouts "It's from Santa Claus!". Credit: This comic strip is a collaboration between @brentlee.bsky.social & artist @felixuncia.bsky.social

Misinformation?
Disinformation?
What's the difference?

A very simple and festive explainer. 🎅

Credit:
🎨 @felixuncia.bsky.social
🧠 @brentlee.bsky.social

, digital literacy, critical thinking, Success For All and Student Employability. Will likely be posting HE pedagogy, HE policy and thoughts around misinformation, pseudoscience and conspiracies in the digital age!

Hello World! Paying down the cat tax with our wonderful cat Poppy to kick things off. I'm a Teching and Learning Consultant at Nottingham Trent, used to be active on the "other" site as a Biosciences academic a while back, but retreated for obvious reasons. Passionate about quality teaching