Post-Truth: The Tragedy of the Trust Commons Gleb Tsipursky Skeptic

Read More Skeptic In our “post-truth” world, objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. In the U.S., citizens’ trust in their government is at historically low levels, and the trust gap is difficult to bridge because individuals who practice deceptive behaviors often gain. This type of situation is known as a “tragedy of the commons.” Behavioral scientist Gleb Tsipursky offers the Pro-Truth Pledge (PTP) as one solution to help rebuild trust in and decrease deception in the political sphere, encouraging all officials, policy experts, and academics to take the PTP. The The PTP uses all four components shown by behavioral science research as crucial to addressing tragedies of the commons.