Episode 4 - John Cook

Sustainability Education Podcast

Biography John Cook

John Cook is a Senior Research Fellow at the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. He holds a PhD from the University of Western Australia, where he studied the cognitive psychology of climate science denial. In the past he has also worked in web programming and graphic design. John's current research focuses on understanding and countering misinformation related to scientific issues such as climate change and vaccination. He has authored and co-authored numerous international publications in prestigious journals and has received several awards and prizes for his contributions to science communication. In 2007, John founded Skeptical Science, a website that received the 2011 Australia Museum Eureka Prize for Advancing Climate Change Knowledge. He also created the Cranky Uncle game, which uses cartoons and gamification to enhance critical thinking and resilience against misinformation. He currently works with organizations like Facebook, NASA, and UNICEF to develop evidence-based responses to misinformation.

Short Summary of the Interview

In this episode of the Sustainability Education Podcast, John Cook discusses the cognitive psychology of climate science denial, emphasizing the importance of countering misinformation. He delves into various types of myths and misconceptions about climate change and sustainability education. The conversation explored the difficulties in falsifying / fact-checking sustainability education-related claims versus climate science myths. Cook notes that sustainability topics often involve less settled science, making them more challenging to fact-check compared to the well-established areas of climate science. He shares insights into educational strategies for addressing myths and misinformation, particularly through his creation of the Cranky Uncle Game, which employs humor and gamification to foster critical thinking skills. Cook advocated for integrating sustainability education into broader educational frameworks to combat misinformation effectively. He emphasized the importance of not only teaching the facts, but also debunking misinformation within educational settings to enhance learning and critical thinking.

(Selected) References, Resources, and Persons Mentioned During the Episode

• Dr John Cook's Profile at the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne: https://psychologicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au/melbourne-centre-for-behaviour-change#people
• Skeptical Science: https://skepticalscience.com/
• UQx: Making Sense of Climate Science Denial: https://www.edx.org/learn/climate-change/the-university-of-queensland-making-sense-of-climate-science-denial?index=product
• Kozyreva, A., Lorenz-Spreen, P., Herzog, S.M. et al. Toolbox of individual-level interventions against online misinformation. Nat Hum Behav 8, 1044–1052 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01881-0
• Lewandowsky, S., Cook, J., Ecker, U. K. H., Albarracín, D., Amazeen, M. A., Kendeou, P., Lombardi, D., Newman, E. J., Pennycook, G., Porter, E., Rand, D. G., Reifler, J., Roozenbeek, J., Schmid, P., Seifert, C. M., Sinatra, G. M., Swire-Thompson, B., Van der Linden, S., Vraga, E. K., … Zaragoza, M. S. (2020). Debunking Handbook 2020 [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.17910/B7.1182
• Cook, J. (2020). Cranky uncle vs. climate change: How to understand and respond to climate science deniers. Citadel Press. (book with cartoons and humor)
• Swire-Thompson, B., Cook, J., Butler, L.H. et al. Correction format has a limited role when debunking misinformation. Cogn. Research 6, 83 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00346-6
• Lamb, W. F., Mattioli, G., Levi, S., Roberts, J. T., Capstick, S., Creutzig, F., Minx, J. C., Müller-Hansen, F., Culhane, T., & Steinberger, J. K. (2020). Discourses of climate delay. Global Sustainability, 3, e17. https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2020.13

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