We could say that the whole reason the Skeptical Inquirer exists is to counter misinformation. And in this era of ubiquitous social media and electronic outlets, that is an increasingly tall order. Everybody now has the equivalent of their own printing press, and nearly everyone seems to think they are an expert. One result is a plethora of misinformation. This may indeed be the Age of Misinformation, a term we first used as the theme of our CSICOP conference in 1996, just when widespread public Internet access and email was getting underway. Two decades later, the problem has only intensified.
In this issue, Columbia University professor David J. Helfand surveys the current situation and gives us his guide to “Surviving the Misinformation Age.” There is nothing new about misinformation in public life (Helfand gives an example from 2,400 years ago), but modern technologies to send it instantaneously to millions have given it a life of its own. Yet, as he says, facts about the physical world still exist, and for those of us still convinced that rational analysis of those facts has value in understanding that world (what a thought!), a counterattack may be in order. Helfand gives positive advice and guidelines, and they all depend on our using the methods, habits, and values of science (“the most powerful intellectual tool humankind has yet invented”) to lead us out of the morass of misinformation.
Helfand has been on the faculty of Columbia’s Department of Astronomy for four decades and is a former department chair. A fellow of our Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a recent president of the American Astronomical Society, Helfand spoke at our 2016 CSICon conference and last year published a seminal book on these topics, A Survival Guide to the Misinformation Age. I highly recommend it.