Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Preface
Contents
Figures and Tables
Summary
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
What Is Truth Decay?
A Note on Terminology
Objectives
Methodology
Organization of This Report
Increasing Disagreement About Facts and Analytical Interpretations of Facts and Data
A Blurring of the Line Between Opinion and Fact
The Increasing Relative Volume, and Resulting Influence, of Opinion and Personal Experience over Fact
Declining Trust in Formerly Respected Sources of Factual Information
Data and Evidence for the Four Trends
CHAPTER THREE: Historical Context: Is Truth Decay New?
The 1880s–1890s: Yellow Journalism and the Gilded Age
The 1920s–1930s: The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression
The 1960s and Early 1970s: Civil Rights, Social Protest, and the Vietnam War
A Comparison with Today: Similarities and Differences
Historical Analogues in Other Countries
Summary
CHAPTER FOUR: Drivers: What Is Causing Truth Decay?
Cognitive Processing and Cognitive Biases
Changes in the Information System
Competing Demands on the Educational System
Polarization
The Question of Agency
Summary: Truth Decay as a System
CHAPTER FIVE: The Consequences of Truth Decay
Erosion of Civil Discourse
Political Paralysis
Alienation and Disengagement
Uncertainty
Summary
CHAPTER SIX: The Road to Solutions: A Research Agenda
Research Stream 1: Historical and International Analogues
Research Stream 2: Data and Trends
Research Stream 3: Mechanisms and Processes
Research Stream 4: Solutions and Responses
Summary and Way Ahead
APPENDIX: Additional Information About Our Methodology
References