BY ROBERT E. BARTHOLOMEW
“Things are seldom what they seem, skim milk masquerades as cream.”—W. S. Gilbert
When a mysterious epidemic of hallucinations was reported to have broken out in Oregon in October of 2016, media outlets around the world portrayed the story as a baffling medical mystery. There’s only one problem: it never happened. The case of the hallucinating Oregonians serves as a stark reminder of the threat posed by an uncritical media, and the need for skepticism and critical thinking.