Seanna Watson
Have you heard about the infodemic? Coined in 2003, the word is not (yet) recognized officially by most authorities. It is a portmanteau, blending “information” and “epidemic,” referring to a rapid and far-reaching spread of information, both accurate and inaccurate. As facts, rumours, and fears mix and disperse, it becomes difficult to learn essential information about an issue. Most of us have seen increasing examples of this since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Historians have suggested that sometime around the 1600s, it became impossible for a person to know everything. Speculations about the last person to do this include Francis Bacon, Thomas Young , and even Leonardo da Vinci. These days, though no individual can hope to know everything, many of us are privileged to have a wealth of information at our fingertips, just a few clicks or taps away. The process of acquiring information from the Internet has been likened to trying to get a drink of water from a firehose, with the added danger that some of the liquid we consume might not be particularly thirst-quenching, and some might even be toxic!
At CFIC, one of our goals is to help people find rational, science-based, and evidence-based answers to their questions. To that end, following are just a few sources we have filtered out of the stream from the firehose, and found to be accurate, informative, and also often entertaining.
Websites/blogs
- Your Local Epidemiologist — translating science for public consumption
- Skeptical Raptor — vaccines, cancer, nutrition, evolution
- Science-Based Medicine — goes without saying
- Snopes — fact-checking, from the serious to the ridiculous
Podcasts
- Skeptics Guide to the Universe — science, critical thinking
- Sawbones — medicine, current and historical
- White Coat Black Art — medicine
- Point of Inquiry — science, skepticism, critical thinking
- Nature Magazine
Do you have webpages, blogs, podcasts, or YouTube channels that are your go-to for information? Please let us know in the comments.
This is a great list, Seanna. I’m going to keep it for future reference.