You have the facts; now share them, reads an advertisement urging me to buy a gift subscription to Scientific American. Perhaps we’re seeing a backlash against Kellyanne Conway’s infamous “alternative facts,” or a response to fears that the U.S. has entered a post-truth era. One way or another, facts have become a hotter commodity than coconut water and kale.
But how do any of us know for sure that the facts we believe are the real ones? Should you go with what your smartest friends post on social media? What you were taught in school? What the newspapers report? Wikipedia? The pages of Scientific American?
