Book Review – Truth Decay
Image: Truth Decay by Len Lantz (CC BY-NC-ND)
Synopsis: Len's Star Rating: 8 out of 10. A helpful analysis of the increasing disagreements over facts as a driver of worsening polarization in US society.
BY LEN LANTZ, MD / 10.12.2025; No. 134
Disclaimer: Yes, I am a physician, but I’m not your doctor, and this article does not create a doctor-patient relationship. This article is for educational purposes and should not be seen as medical advice. You should consult with your physician before you rely on this information. This post also contains affiliate links. Please click this LINK for the full disclaimer.
Star Rating – 8 out of 10
Rating guide: 1 = horrible, 5 = average and 10 = wow
Authors
Jennifer Kavanagh and Michael D. Rich
About the authors
Jennifer Kavanagh, PhD, is a political scientist and published researcher in US national security and defense policy. She currently serves as senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities. Her previous roles include working as a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and as a senior policy analyst (2011-2022) at the RAND Corporation. Dr. Kavanagh achieved her BA in government at Harvard and her PhD in political science and public policy from the University of Michigan. She is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University.
Michael D. Rich is president emeritus at the RAND Corporation, where he served as president and CEO from 2011 to 2022. He held a variety of leadership roles throughout his career at RAND, beginning as a summer intern in 1975 and joining the organization full-time in 1976 as a researcher. Rich obtained his BA in Urban Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and his JD from the UCLA School of Law. He was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Policy in 2022 from the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He is credited with helping create the RAND National Defense Research Institute and launching a fundraising initiative to support RAND researchers and students.
General description
Truth Decay is an original research report available in printed form and as a free download, which seeks to improve understanding of and set research priorities related to increasing political polarization and decreasing civil discourse in the US, mainly due to disagreements over facts. Declining trust in our institutions and each other, combined with an inability to collectively agree on the facts, has wide-ranging negative effects on us as individuals, as well as on our communities and our nation. The focus of Truth Decay is on four concerning, interrelated trends in the US:
“An increasing disagreement about facts and analytical interpretations of facts and data”
“A blurring of the line between opinion and fact”
“An increase in the relative volume, and resulting influence, of opinion and personal experience over fact”
“Declining trust in formerly respected sources of factual information”
Unique and most important aspects
Truth Decay is a well-researched, thoughtfully considered, and citation-heavy text that highlights the decline of critical thinking in US society, the increase in social and political polarization, and the paralysis of our federal government. The book’s subtitle, An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life, signals that the text has a strongly academic tone.
Why care about the increase of Truth Decay in the US? Increased polarization places our country at elevated risk for civil unrest, and our increasing lack of trust and unity also makes the US more vulnerable to enemy states. While Truth Decay was published in 2018, the problems it describes have unfortunately continued to increase.
From a personal perspective, I was most interested in reading Truth Decay based on my increasing frustration in failing to communicate with people who did not share my political perspectives. I found that if we couldn't agree on the facts, we couldn't have a meaningful conversation. The authors of Truth Decay expressed a similar finding and elaborated on the topic with research and facts. The main weakness of the book is that the suggested solutions to counter Truth Decay (other than improving our educational system) are unlikely to be pervasive enough to make a difference. Essential features of this book include:
The four potential drivers of Truth Decay
Cognitive processing, such as the use of heuristics and cognitive bias, can “allow opinion to subsume fact”
Changes in the information system (social media and the 24-hour news cycle)
Difficulty of the educational system keeping pace with changes in the information system (reduced emphasis on civic discourse, media literacy, and critical thinking skills)
Political, sociodemographic, and economic polarization (severe and worsening, overlapping and reinforcing)
A comparison of current Truth Decay to three other periods of Truth Decay in the US
1880s–1890s
1920s–1930s
1960s–1970s
The impact of the Fairness Doctrine
The importance of drivers (general conditions or changes) and agents (political or foreign actors or entities) in causing or accelerating Truth Decay
Best quotes
“Today, however, we see that lack of trust across the board—in government, media, and financial institutions—and a far lower absolute level of trust in these institutions than in previous eras.”
“However, national political debate and civil discourse do not follow this same trend of increased use and reliance on facts and data. Instead, over the past several decades, the opposite trend has emerged: an erosion of trust in and reliance on objective facts in political debate and civil discourse about public policy. This erosion has occurred alongside a sharp rise in political partisanship and polarization and alongside the emergence of 24-hour news cycles and social media platforms.”
“For example, attacks on vaccines—an issue that has become increasingly polarized—are based almost entirely on false information. Yet some parents’ resulting refusal to vaccinate their children has real consequences, including new deadly outbreaks of diseases that had previously been nearly eradicated, such as measles.”
“Because the consequences of Truth Decay appear to directly affect the health of American democracy and have the potential to harm U.S. national security and personal health, it is essential that we gain a clearer understanding of the trends occurring as part of Truth Decay, their drivers, key mechanisms, and specific consequences.”
“We believe that the problem at hand is severe and dangerous, and that it requires an immediate and far-reaching response. Without agreement about objective facts and a common understanding of and respect for data and analytical interpretations of those data, it becomes nearly impossible to have the types of meaningful policy debates that form the foundation of democracy.”
“Unless action is taken to restore trust in and respect for facts, data, and analysis, much of the basis for the internal stability and prosperity of the United States could be at risk.”
“Although polarization can survive on its own, it is possible that Truth Decay requires polarization to survive.”
“When the length of news broadcasts increased from two to 24 hours per day, there was not a 12-fold increase in the amount of reported facts. Instead, most of this additional time is filled with opinions and commentary.”
“The fact that immigrants are actually less likely to commit crimes than people born in the United States and the fact that the number of illegal immigrants in the country appears to be decreasing are simply overwhelmed by the news accounts and social media conversations filled with personal anecdotes claiming the opposite.”
“In fact, a review of psychological studies on the relationship between emotion and decisionmaking suggests that, although rational choice theory is relevant, emotion plays a consistent, shaping, and often determinative role in decisionmaking—one that can overpower fact.”
“Several studies suggest that being aware of bias, either one’s own or that of a source, can reduce the effects of cognitive bias.”
“In part, declining trust in media organizations of all types could be attributed to the increasing bias and inaccuracy of news coverage.”
Who would enjoy this book?
Readers interested in a rigorous analysis of the causes and consequences of increasing social and political polarization, as well as decreasing civil discourse, will likely enjoy Truth Decay.
Who would not enjoy this book?
Readers who struggle with academic texts or distrust research from the RAND Corporation are unlikely to enjoy Truth Decay.
Conclusion
Truth Decay offers a helpful analysis of the increasing disagreements over facts as a driver of worsening polarization in US society.
