Library:Truth Decay
| Truth Decay | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jennifer Kavanagh & Michael D. Rich |
| First published | 2018 |
| ISBN | 978-0-8330-9994-1 |
| Role | Analysis |
| Domains | Politics & Elections Technology & Media |
| Tactics | |
Truth Decay is a 2018 book by Jennifer Kavanagh & Michael D. Rich.
Summary
Jennifer Kavanagh, a political scientist, and Michael D. Rich, president of the RAND Corporation, published this report in 2018 as part of a RAND research initiative. It names and defines a trend it calls "Truth Decay": the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life. Written as a research framework, it aims to describe the problem precisely enough to study it.
The four trends
The report defines Truth Decay as four related trends. First, increasing disagreement about facts and about analytical interpretations of facts and data. Second, a blurring of the line between opinion and fact. Third, an increase in the relative volume, and resulting influence, of opinion and personal experience over fact. Fourth, declining trust in formerly respected sources of factual information, such as government, the media and academia.
The drivers
The authors identify four main drivers. Cognitive biases make people favour information that confirms their beliefs. Changes in the information system, including the rise of social media and the twenty-four-hour news cycle, have increased the volume and speed of information. Competing demands on the education system have limited how well schools teach critical thinking and media literacy. Political, social and demographic polarization has divided people into groups that trust different sources.
Is this new?
The authors compare the present with earlier periods in American history, including the sensationalist "yellow journalism" of the 1890s, the 1920s and 1930s, and the 1960s and 1970s. They find similar patterns in each period, but argue that the current one differs, particularly in the scale of the decline in trust and the volume of information.
The consequences
The report argues that Truth Decay damages public life in several ways: it erodes civil discourse, contributes to political paralysis, alienates people from institutions and increases uncertainty in national policy.
A research agenda
Rather than prescribing solutions, the report lays out questions for further research. RAND continued the work with later studies.
Relevance to Bullshitopedia
The report offers a clear, nonpartisan framework for describing the problem the site addresses, which makes it useful for the statement of principles. Its four trends could serve as a vocabulary for explaining why the site exists without taking a partisan stance.