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The certainty illusion : what you don't know and why it matters / Timothy Caulfield.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: [Toronto] : Allen Lane, 2025.Description: 304 p. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 9780735245884 (hardcover)
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 302.23 23
Summary: In a world where there is so much conflicting information about how we are supposed to live, what can we really know? Knowing the truth, what's real from what's fake, should be easy. In today's world, that's far from the case. In The Certainty Illusion, Timothy Caulfield lifts the curtain on the forces contributing to our information chaos and unpacks why it's so difficult--sometimes even for experts--to escape the fake. Whether it's science, our own desire to be good and do the right thing, or the stories and opinions of others, there's more to sussing out the truth than simply tracking down what feels like an authoritative source. Caulfield argues that these major forces--science, goodness, and opinion--drive beliefs and behaviour, but the ways that they can be corrupted, or worse, used to nefarious ends by bad actors, are endless. While it may feel, at times, as though we are circling the drain of truth, especially as new technologies make it even easier to spread dangerous fictions, Caulfield pulls us out of the vortex and keeps us afloat, helping us recognize and combat the forces that threaten to pull us under.
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Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
300 - 399           300 - 399 West Grey Durham Branch Shelves Non-fiction 302.23 CAU (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Checked out 02/18/2025 33321003260636
Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references and index.

In a world where there is so much conflicting information about how we are supposed to live, what can we really know? Knowing the truth, what's real from what's fake, should be easy. In today's world, that's far from the case. In The Certainty Illusion, Timothy Caulfield lifts the curtain on the forces contributing to our information chaos and unpacks why it's so difficult--sometimes even for experts--to escape the fake. Whether it's science, our own desire to be good and do the right thing, or the stories and opinions of others, there's more to sussing out the truth than simply tracking down what feels like an authoritative source. Caulfield argues that these major forces--science, goodness, and opinion--drive beliefs and behaviour, but the ways that they can be corrupted, or worse, used to nefarious ends by bad actors, are endless. While it may feel, at times, as though we are circling the drain of truth, especially as new technologies make it even easier to spread dangerous fictions, Caulfield pulls us out of the vortex and keeps us afloat, helping us recognize and combat the forces that threaten to pull us under.


The support of the Government of Ontario, through the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, is acknowledged.


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