What future for truth?

It’s become a cliché that we live in a post-truth era in which emotions triumph over facts. But J. McKenzie Alexander argues that a better way to understand the increasing disregard for the truth is by appreciating the social role of belief. Believing in something, these days, is often a way of conveying which social group one belongs to, rather than the result of evidence weighing. Coupled with the ruthless business model of the attention economy, we have arrived at this new era.