John Cook
@johnfocook.bsky.social
Researches climate & vaccine misinformation at the University of Melbourne. Founded SkepticalScience.com. Published Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change. Developed the games Cranky Uncle (crankyuncle.com) and Cranky Uncle Vaccine (crankyunclevaccine.org)
The Debunking Handbook 2020 has now been translated into Basque, making it the 21st translation of this influential guide to the psychological research into debunking misinformation. Many thanks to translator Laida Arbizu Aguirre and Wendy Cook for typesetting sks.to/db2020
September 17, 2025 at 12:02 AM
The Debunking Handbook 2020 has now been translated into Basque, making it the 21st translation of this influential guide to the psychological research into debunking misinformation. Many thanks to translator Laida Arbizu Aguirre and Wendy Cook for typesetting sks.to/db2020
This cartoon parodies the (false) argument that Greenland used to be green so human-caused global warming isn't real. The only relevance it has to recent news is it also involves ridiculous alternative names for Greenland (IMO Icesheetia or Spectaculonia are still better than Red, White & Blueland)
February 13, 2025 at 11:54 PM
This cartoon parodies the (false) argument that Greenland used to be green so human-caused global warming isn't real. The only relevance it has to recent news is it also involves ridiculous alternative names for Greenland (IMO Icesheetia or Spectaculonia are still better than Red, White & Blueland)
What fossil fuel knew vs. what fossil fuel did @geoffreysupran.bsky.social @naomioreskes.bsky.social
February 12, 2025 at 11:29 PM
What fossil fuel knew vs. what fossil fuel did @geoffreysupran.bsky.social @naomioreskes.bsky.social
My cartoon on the questionable practise of trusting winter predictions to a groundhog when scientists’ climate predictions are called into question. Almost as questionable as my drawing of a groundhog!
February 2, 2025 at 6:14 AM
My cartoon on the questionable practise of trusting winter predictions to a groundhog when scientists’ climate predictions are called into question. Almost as questionable as my drawing of a groundhog!
It's Lindzen. This is my caricature of Pielke (junior, not senior).
January 17, 2025 at 5:34 AM
It's Lindzen. This is my caricature of Pielke (junior, not senior).
No, not John Christy. This is my caricature of John Christy from the "97 Hours of Consensus" - which was retweeted by Obama and reached millions of people skepticalscience.com/97-Hours-of-...
January 16, 2025 at 5:37 AM
No, not John Christy. This is my caricature of John Christy from the "97 Hours of Consensus" - which was retweeted by Obama and reached millions of people skepticalscience.com/97-Hours-of-...
A cartoon on how people cherry pick among experts (and fake experts) until they find one saying what they want to believe. Incidentally, all the scientists here are caricatures of real scientists (although @simondonner.bsky.social's hair no longer looks like that, sadly for caricaturists).
January 16, 2025 at 2:24 AM
A cartoon on how people cherry pick among experts (and fake experts) until they find one saying what they want to believe. Incidentally, all the scientists here are caricatures of real scientists (although @simondonner.bsky.social's hair no longer looks like that, sadly for caricaturists).
When creating Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change, I emailed Ben Santer asking if I could use his likeness to depict the strengthening scientific consensus on human-caused global warming. Later, I attended a DC talk by Ben. He saw me & apologetically confessed he was using that cartoon. I was chuffed!
January 15, 2025 at 12:15 AM
When creating Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change, I emailed Ben Santer asking if I could use his likeness to depict the strengthening scientific consensus on human-caused global warming. Later, I attended a DC talk by Ben. He saw me & apologetically confessed he was using that cartoon. I was chuffed!
Whether it's wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, drought, whenever we're devastated by extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change, we are shooshed by climate deniers. It's another attempt to delay action on climate change and is making our world more dangerous.
January 13, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Whether it's wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, drought, whenever we're devastated by extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change, we are shooshed by climate deniers. It's another attempt to delay action on climate change and is making our world more dangerous.
As we're about to enter a U.S. administration determined to decimate climate science & climate action, let's reminisce bittersweet over the times when a President supported & amplified climate science (not to mention highlight our 97% scientific consensus study).
January 8, 2025 at 10:28 PM
As we're about to enter a U.S. administration determined to decimate climate science & climate action, let's reminisce bittersweet over the times when a President supported & amplified climate science (not to mention highlight our 97% scientific consensus study).
Single cause fallacy
January 7, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Single cause fallacy
I recommend you read the full article! One last comment - the cover of the Skeptical Inquirer article includes hilarious cartoon caricatures of the contributors including myself & Cranky Uncle. IMO they did a better job on me than Uncle! skepticalinquirer.org/2024/12/the-...
January 5, 2025 at 10:55 PM
I recommend you read the full article! One last comment - the cover of the Skeptical Inquirer article includes hilarious cartoon caricatures of the contributors including myself & Cranky Uncle. IMO they did a better job on me than Uncle! skepticalinquirer.org/2024/12/the-...
Another solution is the "truth sandwich" where you structure your debunking by starting with the facts, then explaining how the myth misleads, then end with the facts. This fact-myth-fallacy-fact structure puts the emphasis on the facts & also helps people reconcile the conflict between fact & myth.
January 5, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Another solution is the "truth sandwich" where you structure your debunking by starting with the facts, then explaining how the myth misleads, then end with the facts. This fact-myth-fallacy-fact structure puts the emphasis on the facts & also helps people reconcile the conflict between fact & myth.
One solution we've explored to overcome this challenge is gamification - teaching people how to spot misinformation techniques through the digital game Cranky Uncle. The game uses cartoons & humor to explain FLICC techniques, then quizzes to practise spotting fallacies crankyuncle.com
January 5, 2025 at 10:50 PM
One solution we've explored to overcome this challenge is gamification - teaching people how to spot misinformation techniques through the digital game Cranky Uncle. The game uses cartoons & humor to explain FLICC techniques, then quizzes to practise spotting fallacies crankyuncle.com
But explaining the misleading rhetorical techniques used in misinformation comes with a challenge. There are a lot of them! Building public resilience against misinformation means teaching them these techniques deeply enough that they can spot them "in the wild" sks.to/flicc
January 5, 2025 at 10:46 PM
But explaining the misleading rhetorical techniques used in misinformation comes with a challenge. There are a lot of them! Building public resilience against misinformation means teaching them these techniques deeply enough that they can spot them "in the wild" sks.to/flicc
Once you've identified the logical fallacy in misinformation, you can counter the misinformation by explaining how it misleads. With ekvraga.bsky.social, leticiabode.bsky.social & Sojung Kim, we ran a study testing fact- vs logic-based corrections journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
January 5, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Once you've identified the logical fallacy in misinformation, you can counter the misinformation by explaining how it misleads. With ekvraga.bsky.social, leticiabode.bsky.social & Sojung Kim, we ran a study testing fact- vs logic-based corrections journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Here's an example of deconstructing "climate is changing because climate has always changed", identifying the hidden premise "whatever caused climate change in the past must be causing it now", which commits single cause fallacy
January 5, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Here's an example of deconstructing "climate is changing because climate has always changed", identifying the hidden premise "whatever caused climate change in the past must be causing it now", which commits single cause fallacy
How to logic-check? @reasondisabled.bsky.social, David Kinkead & I developed a step-by-step process for deconstructing misinformation into an argument (premises & a conclusion), identify any hidden premises or unstated assumptions, then identify any fallacies iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
January 5, 2025 at 10:32 PM
How to logic-check? @reasondisabled.bsky.social, David Kinkead & I developed a step-by-step process for deconstructing misinformation into an argument (premises & a conclusion), identify any hidden premises or unstated assumptions, then identify any fallacies iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
One example of misinformation that is hard to fact-check is "paltering" - using true statements to mislead. Cherry picking is a classic example such as making a true statement about a short period in order to cast a false impression about longer periods.
January 5, 2025 at 10:28 PM
One example of misinformation that is hard to fact-check is "paltering" - using true statements to mislead. Cherry picking is a classic example such as making a true statement about a short period in order to cast a false impression about longer periods.
A Cranky Christmas to all!
December 25, 2024 at 12:54 AM
A Cranky Christmas to all!
When I wrote Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change, I packed the book with pedagogical cartoons using "parallel argumentation" - transplanting fallacies from climate misinformation into analogous situations - to provoke critical thinking through humour. This was not one of those cartoons.
December 19, 2024 at 11:39 PM
When I wrote Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change, I packed the book with pedagogical cartoons using "parallel argumentation" - transplanting fallacies from climate misinformation into analogous situations - to provoke critical thinking through humour. This was not one of those cartoons.
The psychological challenge of climate change - our brains are hard-wired to respond to immediate threats, not a slow-motion disaster happening at a global scale (and that's not even considering the tsunami of misinformation hitting us every day).
December 18, 2024 at 10:01 PM
The psychological challenge of climate change - our brains are hard-wired to respond to immediate threats, not a slow-motion disaster happening at a global scale (and that's not even considering the tsunami of misinformation hitting us every day).
Given the confounding result of the 2024 U.S. election, perhaps we need to rethink our approach to public communication of climate change! P.S. I drew this cartoon in 2018, there are so many other Trumpisms over the last half-decade that I could draw on if I was to create a sequel...
December 15, 2024 at 11:50 PM
Given the confounding result of the 2024 U.S. election, perhaps we need to rethink our approach to public communication of climate change! P.S. I drew this cartoon in 2018, there are so many other Trumpisms over the last half-decade that I could draw on if I was to create a sequel...