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Misinformation Studies
Throughout history, the ability to tell increasingly believable stories has become available to more people. Kevin Ashton says that’s a blessing and a curse.
Carl Sagan's baloney detection kit taught us how to separate good science from the work of charlatans. In 2026, that matters more than ever.
A tour of the literary cover-ups, extraterrestrials, and cryptids lurking in the bookish backwoods.
"What’s happening now has, in fact, been happening since the very invention of language and writing."
In this excerpt from "Governing Babel," John Wihbey explores how AI is reshaping online moderation by offering tools that can help human moderators, but also raises the risk of disinformation and digital chaos.
Einstein is credited with saying, "If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." What he actually said has a very different meaning.
Duke sociologist Dr. Christopher Bail on the tech’s potential to foster empathy in an age of division.
John Templeton Foundation
Here in 2025, many of us claim to come to our own conclusions by doing our own research. Here's why we're mostly deluding ourselves.
For centuries, vaccines have been the top life-saving, expert medical intervention known to humans. How can individuals make the right call?
You don't need to be a scientist or a philosopher for facts, reality, and the truth to matter. The alternative is simply known as bullshit.
A new bill introduced into the US Senate claims to make us safer. Instead, it would destroy all virology research, and for no real cause.
We're all entitled to our own opinions, no matter how ill-informed they are. But facts are facts; we can't just choose the ones we prefer.
Timothy Caulfield, a leading science communicator, discusses the challenges of combatting misinformation in an age of information overload.
"Okay, dad, but GMOs help feed the world."
The cognitive scientist argues the current AI environment is failing us as consumers and a society. But it’s not too late to change course.
Alex Edmans, professor of finance at the London Business School, warns us to be mindful of the incentives surrounding misinformation — including our desire to believe it.
In partisan political times, recognizing the scientific truth is more important than ever. Scientists must be vocal and clear about reality.
The late philosopher suggested adding a couple of “Occam’s heuristics” to your critical thinking toolbox.
It's a problem on both sides of the political divide.
In "Not Born Yesterday," author and cognitive scientist Hugo Mercier makes the case that misinformation is overrated — and other human foibles are underrated.
SARS-CoV-2 first emerged in humans in 2019. Despite much noise generated by lab leak proponents, the evidence indicates a natural origin.
Most counties in the U.S. have only one local newspaper, often one that publishes weekly instead of daily.
Susannah Fox, former chief technology officer for the HHS, explains how technology has empowered us to help fill in the cracks of the healthcare system.
Philosopher Lee McIntyre discusses the dangers of disinformation, how such falsehoods spread, and what we can do about it.
The patron saint of calling BS, Harry Frankfurt, died watching his philosophy become more urgent than ever.
We're separating the facts about EVs from the fiction.
Your expectations form the way you experience the world.
We do not need to pause AI research. But we do need a pause on the public release of these tools until we can determine how to deal with them.
The biggest lingering question about GPT-4 isn't if it's going to destroy jobs or take over the world. Instead, it is this: Do we trust AI programmers to tell society what is true?
When someone attempts to make you afraid of something that hasn't happened instead of a true, present danger, suspect this nefarious ploy.