Introduction to Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #1

We love the internet! It's a wealth of information where we can learn about just about anything, but it's also kind of a pit of information that can be false or misleading. So, we're partnering with Mediawise and the Stanford History Education Group to make this series on Navigating Digital Information. Let's learn the facts about facts!
Special thanks to our partners from MediaWise who helped create this series:
The Poynter Institute
The Stanford History Education Group (sheg.stanford.edu)
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Thanks to the following Patrons for their generous monthly contributions that help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever:
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[@derekhiemforth]

Of all the Crash Course series, THIS is the one that really needs to go viral in the mainstream and get hundreds of millions of views. We need this information SO much!

[@zidani.s6712]

Just send it to pewdiepie

[@andreajohnson6968]

Agreed!!

[@lerolerolerolerolero256]

One does not simply rank crash course series in order of importance. Every crash course series has at least something valuable to take away from.

[@derekhiemforth]

@@lerolerolerolerolero256 Of course they do. I'm just saying, with all due respect to, say, Crash Course theater (which I love, being a theater person myself all my life), the world would be more improved by millions of people learning more about navigating digital information than it would by millions of people learning more about theater. :)

[@owencutler229]

+

[@TheVanuPhantom]

Next up; CrashCourse, can I trust CrashCourse?

[@MihaiViteazul100]

Nope.

[@drew7457]

(X Files theme intensifies)

[@Zandonus]

Never trust anyone who asks for your trust soon after engaging you. Like a salesman or your relative. You can trust CrashCourse to be a crash course. You can't trust it to be anything else, of that you can trust me.

[@mishanguyen2147]

(Illuminati music)

[@ierax29]

Well, Kurzgesagt beated them to it

[@Bitsmap]

A professor here in Brazil said that we are in a flood of information, and we should be teaching children how to swim in this flood.

[@phantomcaralh]

Professor Átila Iamarino, biólogo e pesquisador! Kkkk

[@Bitsmap]

@@phantomcaralh esse mesmo😂

[@Lonsoleil]

We ain't getting any classes like that in the States!

[@Bitsmap]

@@Lonsoleil we neither, he said what we should do, but he is not so influencial.

[@IceMetalPunk]

So this is basically Crash Course: Critical Thinking for the Digital Age. We definitely need more people to see this! As someone with a background in biomedical engineering and genetic modification, who currently works as a software engineer and has 15 years of tech experience, it seems to me that technology and medicine are two fields where the belief in misinformation (and disinformation) runs rampant through the public. I could be overestimating the proportion of people who believe it, but... there's a movement that thinks vaccines cause autism and death, there's a movement that thinks GMOs will poison / kill / mutate anyone who eats them, and we all know AI will inevitably try to kill us and self-driving cars are more accident-prone than humans, right? (*Cough* that was sarcasm, it's false *cough* ) And the number of times I've seen people cite sources which are flagrantly inaccurate, or worse, which intentionally add citations and totally misrepresent what those citations even say in the first place... I swear, if I have to see someone quote or cite Serralini one more time, I'm going to punch their face. Gently, of course, but hard enough to get the point across. TL;DR: Dear Dante, we need more critical thinking courses in the public eye, like this one. Thank you, Crash Course people!

[@Alex-wi1mx]

[@maryjewell461]

Sing it, friend. I'm a college biology student and it's hard to believe how much mis/disinformation there is about science

[@michaelcrockis7679]

You are right as a road sign. In the meantime, in general, people don't need the truth. Most of the time they need something that bolsters their already formed opinion or soothing lies or sweet trifles to occupy their time with. Actually, as always. Past ages were not better.

[@lottielotte]

that subtle all the way down animation ;) So excited for this series!

[@StevenFarnell]

oh, I saw it at 11:57... the background for his book's cover... I missed it the first time I watched.

[@Noah-wx7fm]

I trust this guy! I believe every word he said! The graphics were really good!

[@iLLeag7e]

10 / 10 would facts again

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

Doesn't it matter that he's referencing a source sponsored by Google, a company which fired a man for expressing an idea its owners disagreed with?

[@Shadeblitz000]

@@Ggdivhjkjl What's wrong with that? Raping someone is an idea that people disagree with, should companies not fire a person ok with it?

[@tsuchan]

@@Ggdivhjkjl : 1) Everything matters, we've got to sort out how much it matters. 2) It's interesting to note that Google's technology gave a platform for the man to expound the ideas for which Google fired him, thus publicising his cause potentially at their expense, for expressing the idea its owners disagreed with. (I thought he made a worthwhile point, btw. I wonder if he's richer as a result of being fired. Maybe we could use Google to investigate.)

[@ciervo42]

It's curious how mature he now looks compared to World History

[@lcb9562]

True kkkkkk

[@ericstalcup]

He’s also talking much slower now.

[@phoenixshadow6633]

That's what parenthood does to people.

[@NostalgiaChubby]

he's grown up and all

[@robertmcgann5881]

That's called aging.

[@falnica]

Immediately after I finishes your vlogbrothers video this video was uploaded, uncanny

[@CulturePhilter]

Fernando Franco Félix - almost like it was planned that way 😉

[@StevenFarnell]

I totally came to this video because it was mentioned in the vlogbrothers video...

[@Bongs237]

7:15 Subtitles: "When you know that gif is pronounced gif" Deaf people: *[visible confusion]*

[@RangerRuby]

Hey Crash Course! I just wanted to say that today's video was great! Not only is John back ( thanks for that 😉 ), but there was a lot of great things said and taught. I always enjoy how you make your videos fun and interesting for the viewers as well as including great information! This comment is getting long now, but before I post it, I just want to say keep going, for all the nerds who love to watch, for all the college students studying for exam week, and for all the people who just want to learn about this wonderful world and community we live in. Thank you!

[@RangerRuby]

@@FlamingBasketballClub 😊

[@yaumelepire6310]

In Québec, we are taught to evaluate sources by checking if they themselves cite their own sources, identify their authors and sponsors, and if they are objective or seem biased. We also look at whether or not the source is written professionally by someone that knows what they are talking about. All those criteria are, of course, graded by importance; if we come across an article that doesn't cite its sources or identify its author, it usually means that it is not to be used or trusted, but a source that is not entirely objective is fine if it gives evidence that sufficiently supports its point of view. We are told to use our judgement as well, as we know that a plumber, for example, doesn't need to cite a source when explaining how to repair faulty plumbing since it is evident he knows what he is talking about. I don't know if it's done elsewhere in Canada though, since education is a provincial responsibility. I hope it is. It's a flawed method, I don't pretend otherwise, but it is at least a good basis to avoid the worst cases of false information.

[@frozenpotato7020]

+

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

What if the plumber were intentionally providing incorrect advice that would result in further problems so that people would then call him to ask for repairs?

[@yaumelepire6310]

@@Ggdivhjkjl At some point you're going to have to trust someone. The thing is chosing that person right; a plumber's the best choice to get info on plumbing. If you can get advice from multiple plumbers, that's even better.

[@lhfirex]

I hope one episode is titled The Fake News in Our Feeds and another is Fact-checking All the Way Down.

[@camiloiribarren1450]

Yes! Finally, John is back and teaching us about daily life online surfing

[@wrlrdqueek]

John Green, stuck in the pocket of big library. 😛

[@Lonsoleil]

Hahaha

[@Emily-ce7hd]

Man, my mom is a librarian and has been trying to teach this to her students for years. There are so many schools trying to teach tech literacy that I feel this series will be super useful!!

[@kausthubkrishnamurthy2410]

As much as I love all the crash course content in history and everything else this may well turn out to be the one thing people need most right now. It's not the CrashCourse we deserve but the one we need right now. 🤣👌🏾

[@sirbootylord6880]

" or risk talking to an actual human being" he killed me when he said that lol... I hate talking on the phone

[@ThinkFiveable]

John Green is a god! Thanks for helping us navigate the internet. Soon there will be tweets as part of APUSH DBQs 😭

[@Vezitos]

Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming! (but also be smart about it)

[@BJ-zd2or]

And be careful of the waves.... They are unpredictable....~~~~

[@AnimatedLessons]

Thanks for this series. I've been reading up how to responsibly use the internet lately for my own video. Surprising the amount of reliable information on this topic was quite sparse. I don't even think there's a lot of long term studies on the effects of the internet on our brain yet. Hope this all changes soon. I'm keen on learning more about this topic.

[@nutiketgotc]

As a technical and content editor in a job which has extremely high stakes for being wrong, I applaud this content.

[@thomaslikesmusic]

As a secondary social studies teacher in-training, this series looks to be a really valuable resource to my students and I! Thanks for tackling this, John and co!

[@tobyhring]

Thanks so much for this video. I teach a 6th grade history class on Information Revolutions and this is a perfect video to summarize the benefits and challenges of the internet. Also, thank you for speaking slowly. I can't use Crash Course history because they are too fast.

[@magnuspeacock5857]

You can change the playback speed

[@courtneywarren3698]

+

[@GrimmerPl]

@@magnuspeacock5857 It doesn't sound natural tho.

[@Techdivamedia]

Gosh, this is so well done. Something every internet user could benefit from. I’m totally geeking on this channel and this guy’s series.

[@IsmailKamdar]

I'm disappointed that so few people are studying this course, we need to spread the word about it. Very important!

[@VashdaCrash]

yep, it could use some more translations too. Like spanish, or chinese, or arab.

[@soaringtheclouds]

Wow, this series is indispensable for our generation. I am so grateful for these videos. Looking forward to the rest of the episodes.

[@andreimoga7813]

4:59 bold of you to assume people talk to me...

[@NCISfreak123]

This is the series I've wanted forever! I hope this becomes a staple and is seen by all

[@ShadowTBlack]

You will tell another joke at the end of the series? You know how to motivate me, sir

[@minhduong1336]

I love your World History series and it is great to see you back John. Can't wait for the next episode to come out!

[@ranirosiana9649]

God, your speech has improved so much! This means a lot for me because I am not native english speaker and I have a lot of difficulty following your speech on many of your videos. Because you spoke more slowly now I can totally understand what you're saying on first watch. And this topic is super interesting and relatable too (because this year indonesia is going to have election and the fake news generator is on fire)!!! I'm so gonna watch the entire episode of this course man! Thank you so much!!!

[@rozakfassah7730]

Ini harus dikasih terjemahan bahasa Indonesia, penting banget disebar tahun 2019

[@Lan5674]

This series needs to go viral and have as many translations or dubs as possible! This is far to important!

[@vickylogic]

This may not be a typical crash course series but I think this information is SO IMPORTANT and I appreciate you guys so much for making this! one of my biggest takeaways from my degree has definitely been being critical about information because these days the ease of access has in some ways marred the quality and authenticity of the things we see on the internet. Excited for this!

[@Warhawk-kf9mx]

I am aware this might be a stretch, along with partially due to my bias with my first Crash Course series I watched comprehensively being philosophy, but I would love to see a Crash Course series towards law.

[@BIONICLECLAYPOKEMON]

Definitely a series that would be lovely to learn though, I hope they find a way to do it!

[@TheLetterbomber]

*Watches John's new Vlogbrothers video* "Oh man, is Crash Course: Navigating Digital Information out now?" *Checks feed and doesn't see it, so watches the newest SciShow Space video instead* *Finishes that video only to be met with the notification that this video was posted* Awesome.

[@fairelvenlady]

There's a SciShow Space? How the heck was I not aware of that existing? *dashes off to go suscribe asap*

[@dismissing]

I know it's not, but your comment weirdly sounds sponsored

[@maryortom202]

Yea

[@confusedpotato8413]

Me: Is gif pronounced 'Gif' or 'Jif' God: Jif Me: okay Jod

[@lohphat]

The music in the outro completely swamps John's voice. Can't understand a word at one point.

[@BlueyMcPhluey]

the subtitles look accurate, I think they upload it themselves rather than relying on the auto-generating algorithm

[@mikeysrose]

I just came here from John's 1-month social media-free check-in, thinking that I could share it with my students this semester. I haven't even watched it yet, but the comments are overwelmingly positive!

[@willbateman-hemphill3277]

This is arguably the most important Crash Course Series you guys have made, so excited to see more! DFTBA!

[@TunkPotterSV]

Happy to see John is back! Lots of respect and admiration for him!

[@nari5161]

Great way to start 2019 - becoming more aware of and critical of our sources of information. Thank you, John!! Your videos always give me hope in one way or another

[@SeanLamb-I-Am]

I'm glad to see someone with influence looking into this. As an admin on Wikipedia since 2005, I am very interested in that upcoming episode.

[@jenisedai]

Yeah!!! My students have a discussion board next week on fake news. Definitely going to put this in the prompt as a resource and encourage them to keep watching. Thank you!

[@modestysnooze6154]

Love this series already! It feels like a special place created just for battle-weary school librarians like me, sick of hearing teachers say 'Go to Wikipedia'... This is my (digital) happy place!

[@thelexkex]

I've got to crash course through crash course philosophy and I'm so happy I did. Thank you guys!

[@ninjaesther]

LOVE THIS VIDEO and super excited for the series, it is so needed at the moment! (Also, love the attention to detail in the animation, as always but it deserves praise nonetheless)

[@thomasking49]

Excited to watch more! But PLEASE go over the difference between the world wide web and the internet.

[@ReimervdHoek]

I learned from this video that mediawise sponsoring this video means it has a reason to make knowing the difference between true information and false information seem more difficult than it actually is!!!! So educational!!!

[@ReimervdHoek]

Also if mediawise is supported by google, why does it seem like google (along with facebook and the like) is one of the main culprits in all of this?

[@aek12]

Please update this series every year.

[@wem3121]

I came here straight from the vlogbrothers' video. I am soo excited for this segment.

[@khuzemaali7176]

The fact that this is happening on my birthday just makes me not enthusiastic. Thank you, John. Thank you, Crash Course.

[@julioramirez8069]

Happy birthday 🎂

[@mattwelch6103]

I am truly excited to see this series. Even as an intelligence analyst who frequently deals in open source information, determining anything on the spectrum of real to fake can be incredibly difficult. I hope those who watch take to heart the methodologies here, not only when they wish to prove something biased, but when they come across anything that goes with their pre conceived notions

[@gitoshrisen7687]

Internet is so important that we also need education to use it appropriately and effectively. Thanks Crash Course for helping with that.

[@Kingatje]

It's been so long for me seeing John on CC. It's been so long since I looked at CC! Glad to be here and to be able to promote this content.

[@Mijn24]

Your channel inspires me, I’ve learned a lot! :)

[@SarahEustisHough]

Really looking forward to the rest of the series! Reminds me of Crash Course Media Literacy, which was also fantastic.

[@nateweinand4209]

This was surprisingly interesting! Excited to see more! And also more John!

[@cherielee2894]

As a librarian, I would like to say we are information professionals. Not just book professionals. We, too, can assist you in navigating online information. Modern libraries provide digital databases and ebooks and friendly staff who know how to navigate the Internet. I hope this series consults some librarians.

[@bookwormwen]

I'm excited about this series! As both an aspiring librarian and a person who exists on the internet, I already feel that there's a lot of useful information in the episodes to come. (I also appreciate y'all mentioning that libraries are still important for providing equal access to information!)

[@BertaRS]

Anyone else remembers when the Russian government used to attack LiveJournal after it started being used by the opposition? Good times.

[@Eeeeehhh]

I'm studying Online Communications and this is actually pretty nice for revising the basics :)

[@Roast_Penguin]

Thank you for this. With your permission I might be able to use this video-series during lessons.

[@Allovimo]

Crash Course is a free educational program that is open to everyone. I think you're good :).

[@lashram32]

This should be taught in Jr/high schools. This alone is a valuable tool in navigating the modern world.

[@infinite1der]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for this! Now, if only we could get EVERYONE to watch AND learn this series...

[@RD-eg1df]

Yay! Welcome back John! We missed you ;)

[@ethan-loves]

I am so thankful for this series! I've always wanted to go to Fact Checker School!

[@2LazySnake]

Thank you so much for this content! This needs to go viral no matter what it takes.

[@JoanneMartinLucas]

I hope this series informs all users of the internet to be a little less gullible and a bit more scrupulous. Everyone would benefit from a more thoughtful and conscientious space to think, learn, create, play and even ‘live’

[@MusicalRaichu]

I hope this video presents factual information! Do you have a link to the study you mentioned?

[@Tfin]

It seems there is not such a link. There's actually a good chance no such link exists, as research often ends up locked behind a paywall, with only... (wait, "paywall" is actually in my browser's dictionary?)... with only researchers having access to it.

[@MusicalRaichu]

@@Tfin So not only is research paid by taxes not available to the public, but it's not possible for anyone to review it and assess its accuracy. So much for navigating digital information.

[@rfldss89]

@@MusicalRaichu i believe you can. Most if not all published studies are available through the author's website or by asking them by email. All the money you pay to view a paper goes to the publication company, the authors have no incentive to hide their studies from the public.

[@joannemarkov]

Do you mean the Stanford History Education Group? I joined it, and they have all the data as well as the materials you need to recreate the experiments with your own students. I'm not sure if you need to have an educator email for that, though.

[@TomK2602]

@@Tfin Public and university libraries often have subscriptions to most (and sometimes all) trusted publication platforms, and make them accessible to the public. For cases where this acces is not available (for example with lower budget universities in non-rich countries) a certain Kazakhstani researcher created a certain *hub* for *science* , where thanks to pirates you can bypass these paywalls. Using this, however, might be formally illegal depending on where you live.

[@thomasr.jackson2940]

These are skills that should be a part of basic grade school curricula, infused as part of all courses, science and humanities. Good work.

[@MegaIkkuh]

this is exactly what i need! i'm really bad at determining wether something is trustworthy or not! i tend to rely on my own logic and be sceptic about everything but there are just too many things i know nothing about :(

[@Sternendeuter364]

Wow, this video made me realise how much I will need to watch this series. Really looking forward to it!

[@annaolesen9871]

This series should do an episode on Deep Fakes, and other dangers of the internet that you don't expect, but are extremely realistic.

[@BIONICLECLAYPOKEMON]

Nice, I've been looking forward to this series! Thanks John!

[@MatthewGerrish]

A privilege to swim along with you John

[@scarlettfelix925]

watched this in class. laughed at "misinformation all the way down" nobody understood

[@MegaMaxclan]

What's the joke?

[@appa609]

Something about turtles

[@memathews]

THIS. The most important skill set for our age. May it become as popular as thigh gap; as meme'd as a black/blue or white/gold dress; as well heard as Yani/Laurel. In the third grade we were taught to identify communist propaganda--hey, this was a century ago, OK?--these techniques are still used today and the same skills still work to validate the information. Of course, that refresher on the way to a J-degree probably reinforced the original lessons. Thank you for making this series, I'll be sharing it widely and often.

[@Julie_youtube_]

I feel the need to speed up John’s talking 2x so it feels like an original Crash Course.

[@milenastoyanova2277]

What a really great idea! As a long time fan of Crash Course, as well as both Hank and John I have to say that this course is the one I'm most excited about. It would be tremendously useful to everyone improve our fact checking skills, as well as lateral reading. Can't wait. :)

[@MatanPresberg]

wow! this is 100% my current favorite video on the Internet and I am also online almost constantly

[@janadeppe1389]

During the course of this video, I repeatedly thought 'Oh, I know this stuff already' and then had to consciously make myself aware that I am falling into the trap John was talking about. So, I'll do my best to put my arrogance aside and try to learn from these videos. They are, I am sure, very necessary! Thank you!

[@BloodySunnday]

This series is very much needed indeed. Thanks!

[@neilw7347]

Really looking forward to this series, it's definitely something we need right now.

[@jenzvoice]

This series is gonna be really helpful. Thanks can’t wait for more.

[@kiramiller4982]

And thank you for citing your work most KZbinrs that do any kind of factual videos tend to not do that in their video they might do to the description but never in the video.

[@savvapouroullis7927]

This course is what the world needs.

[@Shakeelsway]

After a long time, John. Good to see you. My favorite guy on KZbin.

[@SunriseFireberry]

Misleading information? In media? Say it ain't so. :-)

[@mlemleh]

"It ain't so" - Albert Einstein

[@SunriseFireberry]

@@mlemleh "Trusssst in meee, jussst in meee, close your eyess and trussst in meee." --Kaa the python from Disney's Jungle Book

[@neverthelessthesun1428]

That picture near the beginning of the video of a phone with like 800 notifications almost gave me a heart attack.

[@sam_toland]

Feedback - great and timely series. Music at the end of the vid means you can't hear the credits well (which includes your disclosure around funding). Kudos on the series.

[@carriepett6660]

Thank you Crash Course..the course I've NEEDED!!!

[@sarahwensink692]

SO ready for the next 9 episodes!

[@erinbrown8697]

Since Crash Course U.S History you have learned how to speak slowly. Congrats! I don’t know how to feel about it

[@santiqwerty]

You can't do a video about misinformation and cite a study we don't have access to. For the sake of complete coherence, you should at least cite your sources in the description. That being said, I believe this is a very important series and I'm looking forward for the next entries.

[@threedividers]

Whew, I thought I was the only one who noticed. Such an odd oversight. EDIT: As was pointed out elsewhere, the sources are hidden away in the captions at the very end of the video. I doubt I would have found them on my own! Having them in the description would be much more helpful.

[@love_tammy]

this is such an important and interesting series, can't wait to watch more!

[@ChessMasteryOfficial]

*I think one day you'll find that you're the hero you've been looking for. ¥*

[@kelleyklein]

Wow, I'm so excited for this series!

[@darylworkman4316]

Wonderful as I teach SPeech and Debate to 7th and 8th graders. Thanks. As I tell students who tell me how great I am, "I would never argue with such legitimate facts as your well thought out opinion."

[@Suprsim]

Love seeing you again John, missed you! (and Stan!)

[@stcrussman]

You guys handled this subject very well. You just walked the tightrope while folding origami.