Calling BS: UW course aims to counter a profane new problem

Students couldn’t help but chuckle as University of Washington biology professor Carl Bergstrom greeted them on the first day of class, a one-credit seminar candidly titled “Calling Bullshit in the Age of Big Data.”

It’s not often that a teacher says the word “bullshit” more than 10 times in a minute, and this teacher really seemed to enjoy saying it.

“So much bullshit,” Bergstrom told the packed auditorium last Wednesday at the weekly seminar. “Everywhere. We’re drowning in it.”
Politicians lie, he said. Science gets simplified by press releases. Startup culture is more hype than substance.

As for ordinary people? They’re not off the hook. “Americans spend nearly an hour a day on Facebook,” Bergstrom said. “Doing what? Mostly spreading bullshit.”

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