Truth : what it is, how to find it, and why it still matters / Michael Shermer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shermer, Michael, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Truthfulness and falsehood.

Interpersonal relations.

Psychology.

Social sciences.

Genre:

Informational works

Physical Description:

x, 370 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2026.

Summary:

"In a rebuttal to the notion of post-truth, the author explains why truth matters and why we should care that people sometimes believe things that are not true. He then explains how to get at truth, with chapters on evidence, causality, correlation/causation, and Bayesian reasoning. The next several chapters apply those concepts to different kinds of knowledge: scientific, historical, and religious truths. The author also takes up the possibility of alien life, the existence of God, and the nature of human consciousness"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Why Truth Matters: Skepticism as an Agent of Reason Against Organized Irrationalism

Part I: Known Knowns

The Truth About Post-Truth Truthiness: Why We Are Not Living in a Post-Truth, Postmodern, Fact-Free World

What Is Truth, Anyway?: Justified True Belief, the Principle of Universal Realism, and Why Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence

The Truth About Why: Causation, Correlation, Bayesian Reasoning, Signal Detection Theory, and the Determination of Cause and Effect

The Truth About Coincidences and Miracles: How to Think About Highly Unlikely Events

Part II: Known Unknowns

Religious and Mythic Truths: How to Think About the Resurrection and Other Myths

Historical Truths: The Noble Dream of Pursuing Objective Truth About the Past

Moral Truths: Science and the Search for Objective Universal Values

Alien Truths: UFOs and the Search for Sky Gods

Part III: Known Unknowables

The Truth About Consciousness: What Is It Like to Be You?

The Truth About Free Will: Determinism, Self-Determinism, and Your Future Self

The Truth About God: Arguments For and Against the Divine

The Truth About Existence: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing

Like Gods: The Expanding Sphere of Knowledge and My God Gambit.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781421453729

142145372X

OCLC:

1528171563