The Rubin Report How to Spot Lies & Find Truth as Conspiracies Spread on Both Sides | Michael Shermer
Jan 31, 2026
Michael Shermer, author and founder of Skeptic Magazine, is a science writer who studies truth and debunking conspiracies. He discusses the erosion of trust after COVID, how to use Bayesian, evidence‑based thinking amid misinformation, the threats of deepfakes and AI to visual evidence, and why historical revisionism and politicized science fuel false narratives.
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Religious Stories Hold Pragmatic Value
- Religious stories provide pragmatic, emotional truths even when not literally true.
- Engaging respectfully with believers reveals deeper social and moral functions of religion.
Secular Rituals Rarely Replace Religion
- Secular attempts to mimic religion (community rituals, ceremonies) rarely scale because they miss emotional and narrative power.
- Science alone doesn't fulfill societal needs that religion historically met.
Test Historical Claims With Converging Evidence
- Evaluate historical claims by testing hypotheses and seeking a convergence of evidence from professional historians.
- Trust scholarly consensus and documented evidence over pundit speculation.
