A clear-eyed look at thinking straight in a world crowded with noise, bias, and misinformation.
"Fake news." "Alternative facts." "Post-truth." Misinformation is everywhere, sparking public confusion and polarization. In Truth, best-selling author Michael Shermer cuts through the noise to argue that not only does truth still matter—but also that its essential to our individual and collective flourishing. This sharp-sighted and accessible book provides a framework for thinking more clearly in an age clouded by doubt and distortion.
Shermer, the author of Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational, explores why truth deserves our attention, how falsehoods take hold in the publics imagination, and how we can resist manipulation through reason, evidence, and open inquiry. This book introduces powerful tools for evaluating claims, including the concepts of causality, correlation, and Bayesian reasoning. Beyond these abstract ideas, Shermer also examines how we determine truth in specific domains—such as science, history, and religion—and brings clarity to hot-button topics like UFOs, conspiracy theories, miracles, mystical experiences, consciousness, morality, God, and even existence. With his trademark wit and intellectual rigor, Shermer reveals how even the most intelligent among us fall prey to such pitfalls as "myside bias" and motivated reasoning and how a commitment to universal realism can help push back against tribalism and misinformation.
Truth offers a timely antidote to cynicism and confusion. It emphasizes critical thinking and urges readers to rebuild the intellectual foundations of a functioning democracy by embracing the pursuit of truth, however complex or inconvenient it may be.
Michael Shermer is the publisher of Skeptic magazine, the executive director of the Skeptics Society, and the host of the popular podcast The Michael Shermer Show. He is the author of Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational; Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time; and The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies-How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths.
Prologue. Why Truth Matters Skepticism as an Agent of Reason Against Organized Irrationalism Part I. Known Knowns Chapter 1. The Truth About Post-Truth Truthiness Why We Are Not Living in a Post-Truth, Postmodern, Fact-Free World Chapter 2. What Is Truth, Anyway? Justified True Belief, the Principle of Universal Realism, and Why Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence Chapter 3. The Truth About Why Causation, Correlation, Bayesian Reasoning, Signal Detection Theory, and the Determination of Cause and Effect Chapter 4. The Truth About Coincidences and Miracles How to Think About Highly Unlikely Events Part II. Known Unknowns Chapter 5. Religious and Mythic Truths How to Think About the Resurrection and Other Myths Chapter 6. Historical Truths The Noble Dream of Pursuing Objective Truth About the Past Chapter 7. Moral Truths Science and the Search for Objective Universal Values Chapter 8. Alien Truths UFOs and the Search for Sky Gods Part III. Known Unknowables Chapter 9. The Truth About Consciousness What Is It Like to Be You? Chapter 10. The Truth About Free Will Determinism, Self-Determinism, and Your Future Self Chapter 11. The Truth About God Arguments For and Against the Divine Chapter 12. The Truth About Existence Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing Epilogue. Like Gods The Expanding Sphere of Knowledge and My God Gambit Acknowledgments Notes Index
A clear-eyed look at thinking straight in a world crowded with noise, bias, and misinformation.
Michael Shermer reminds us that the search for truth is not a luxury, but a necessity. This book is a powerful argument for why reality matters and a practical toolkit for how to find it.
—Sabine Hossenfelder, author of Existential Physics: A Scientists Guide to Lifes Biggest Questions
Michael Shermer has a fine record as a long-time crusader for evidenced rationality. This fascinating and wide-ranging book should further enhance his impact on current controversies.
—Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, former President of the Royal Society
Michael Shermer is one of our most influential intellectuals. Truth lances the myth of truths subjectivity, arguing (provocatively) that truth can generate moral absolutes. This stimulating, excellent book inspires you to spread the word that the Earth is not flat and that truth matters.
—Robert Sapolsky, author of Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will
Michael Shermer has spent his career grappling with the slipperiest word in our language: truth. As someone who knows firsthand what happens when truth gets lost in noise and narrative, Im grateful for Shermers clear-eyed insistence that truth is not only real, but necessary.
—Amanda Knox, author of Free: My Search for Meaning
Michael Shermer pulls no punches: in a world where opinion too often masquerades as fact, he dismantles delusion and arms us with the tools to meet reality head-on.
—Brian Greene, author of Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe
