AI Summary
5 min readPeople often say we live in a “post-truth” world, but as Michael Shermer points out, the moment someone makes that claim they are implicitly arguing for something true. Shermer, founder of the Skeptic Society and author of the new book Truth: How the Many Sides to Every Story Finally Add Up, joined Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice on StarTalk to argue that objective truth exists—and that we have reliable tools to find it, even if we are error-prone creatures.
The central problem is not that truth is inaccessible, but that we are wired to resist it. Shermer’s framework rests on two pillars: fallibilism (the recognition that we could be wrong about anything) and a toolbox of scientific methods—correlation, randomized controlled trials, Bayesian reasoning—that let us correct our mistakes. The episode’s real work is in unpacking why people reject these tools, and what we can do about it.
The dragon in the garage and the problem of personal truth
Shermer opens with a classic skeptical parable: a person claims there is a dragon in their garage, but the dragon is invisible, levitating, cold-blooded, and breathes cold fire. When pressed for evidence, each objection is met with a new qualification. Eventually the question becomes: what is the difference between an invisible, levitating, cold-blooded, cold-fire-breathing dragon and no dragon at all?
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:25) **Opening: The Truth Problem** - Neil, Chuck, and guest Michael Shermer frame the episode around the crisis of truth in science, politics, and daily life.
- 2 (04:49) **Why a Book on Truth is Necessary** - Shermer rejects the "post-truth" label and defines objective truth as a provisional, evidence-based standard.
- 3 (06:33) **Fallibilism as the Foundation** - The conversation establishes that all knowledge is provisional and open to correction.
- 4 (07:05) **The Dragon in the Garage** - Shermer’s classic thought experiment illustrates the burden of proof for extraordinary claims.
- 5 (09:43) **Personal Truth vs. External Evidence** - Chuck shares his ayahuasca experience, exploring the boundary between subjective revelation and objective reality.
- 6 (12:16) **Truthiness, Motivated Reasoning, and Confirmation Bias** - The panel distinguishes between personal transformative experiences and claims that demand public evidence.
- 7 (15:19) **Institutional Trust and the COVID Crisis** - The collapse of public trust in science and medicine is examined.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Is there such a thing as objective truth? Are we living in a post-truth world? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly sit down to build a toolkit for finding the truth in an era of motivated reasoning, misinformation, and alternative facts with science historian and professional skeptic, Michael Shermer.
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