Cranky Uncle's 5 techniques of science denial

John Cook

This 2.5 minute video presents techniques used in climate change denial argumentation in a humorous cartoon format. The argumentation techniques addressed are misleading cherry picking, fake experts, logical fallacies, impossible expectations and conspiracy theories.

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Notes from our reviewers

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This video could accompany climate change curricula that has students evaluate materials that dissuade the public that climate change is happening and impacted by human behavior. Students could evaluate these materials by identifying the inauthentic tools of argumentation presented in the video. The video is extracted from [link https://crankyuncle.com/book/ 'the book'] which could be used as a primary resource for an educator interested in including discussions around "climate wars" in public media. The video could be used as a lead-in to the [link https://crankyuncle.com/game/ 'Cranky Uncle Game']. The game has "interactive quizzes and reward feedback to engage players, taking them deeper into the game â the longer they play, the more resilient they become against climate misinformation." It may be a good inter-topic transition tool on discussions of anthropogenic-driven climate change and science denialism, a discussion on the value of the scientific method and the peer-review process, used as a pause before a critical thinking exercise, or used as a tool when examining how climate change is depicted in the media and by climate deniers.
This video explains how to recognize common deceptive counter-arguments to mainstream fact-based science. References are not cited in the video but are available through the link provided on the YouTube page. Note: This YouTube video does not have a scientific attribution but it is created by Dr. John Cook, George Mason University and editor/creator of the blog, Skeptical Science. The goal of the video segment is to equip learners and the public to be aware of scientifically invalid argumentative techniques used in climate denial. Comments from expert scientist: Scientific strengths: Provides a framework for countering climate science denial. This is more about human interactions around climate science, not about climate science itself, though there are a couple of accurate science examples used. Suggestions: No concerns - this is well done, but it doesn't stand alone.
The video provides visual and auditory learning. The video is whimsical and will capture the attention of students; it is also short enough to hold their attention and engaging enough to inspire them to have a deeper discussion on denialism and/or simply dig deeper on their own. The video assists learners in recognizing the five methods of misrepresenting authentic science and improve critical thinking skills. Students would need to have learned some climate science elsewhere for this to make sense.