Truth: What It Is, How to Find It, and Why It Still Matters

by Michael Shermer

A clear-eyed look at thinking straight in a world crowded with noise, bias, and misinformation.

"Fake news." "Alternative facts." "Post-truth." Misinformation is everywhere, sparking public confusion and polarization. In Truth, best-selling author Michael Shermer cuts through the noise to argue that not only does truth still matter—but also that it's essential to our individual and collective flourishing. This sharp-sighted and accessible book provides a framework for thinking more clearly in an age clouded by doubt and distortion.

Shermer, the author of Why the Rational Believe the Irrational, explores why truth deserves our attention, how falsehoods take hold in the public's imagination, and how we can resist manipulation through reason, evidence, and open inquiry. This book introduces powerful tools for evaluating claims, including the concepts of causality, correlation, and Bayesian reasoning. Beyond these abstract ideas, he also examines how we determine truth in specific domains—such as science, history, and religion—and brings clarity to hot-button topics like UFOs, conspiracy theories, miracles, mystical experiences, consciousness, morality, God, and even existence. With his trademark wit and intellectual rigor, Shermer reveals how even the most intelligent among us fall prey to such pitfalls as "myside bias" and motivated reasoning and how a commitment to universal realism can help push back against tribalism and misinformation.

Truth offers a timely antidote to cynicism and confusion. It emphasizes critical thinking and urges readers to rebuild the intellectual foundations of a functioning democracy by embracing the pursuit of truth, however complex or inconvenient it may be.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Science

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 27, 2026

About the author

Michael Brant Shermer (born September 8, 1954 in Glendale, California) is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating and debunking pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members.

Shermer is also the producer and co-host of the 13-hour Fox Family television series Exploring the Unknown. Since April 2004, he has been a monthly columnist for Scientific American magazine with his Skeptic column. Once a fundamentalist Christian, Shermer now describes himself as an agnostic nontheist and an advocate for humanist philosophy.


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Reviews

[Jerry James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read, kind of a ‘best of’ Shermer’s books. A lot of the philosophical questions he explores can be answered by “humility” in my opinion, but his command of reason is a breath of oxygen in this unreasonable time we live in.

[Micah Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic! I plan to reread this over and over again to better understand the complicated chaos of irrational beliefs and Shermer's concise, objective responses and analyses of them.

My initial thought while reading the book was I don’t know why we have to continually be subjected to intelligent people who don’t have a basic understanding of science or the systematic process for pursuing truth. Rational explanations are available for those who genuinely want to know the truth. However, I think we have to accept that there are a lot of people who don't want to know the truth. Also, there are people who believe they have found the "truth" and will use their abilities to defend their version of it. I think one of the most concerning things is that the most intelligent people are the most able to support their confirmation biases and dance around the inconsistencies of their beliefs.

Yet, for skeptics and objective truth seekers we have much knowledge at our disposal to navigate the false beliefs that pervade our society. Ultimately, there is much more for humans to know and understand about the universe and the simple response to the unknowns of "I don't know" is perfectly acceptable.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good and solid foundation on how to think about truth in the modern context where pseudoscience and echo chambers make it hard to know what to believe.
Lost a few stars for the handling of the more philosphically tricky concepts like free will and morality. The latter was definitely worth tackling and the basic groundwork was good, but the arguments weren't particularly convincing for anyone other than those who already buy into his approach.

For a general audience, many of whom don't have a good grasp of science or philosophy, this is definitely worth a read to understand how people who don't like to take things at face value or on faith think about what information to trust.

[Hamid · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book argues that objective truth exists, can be pursued through reason and evidence, and remains essential for trust, justice, and meaningful discourse. It’s a clear, accessible defense against postmodern relativism and “alternative facts,” though its traditional approach may feel unadventurous to seasoned philosophers. Worth reading for anyone frustrated by spin, cynicism, or the erosion of shared reality.

[Candy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This made my head spin ...

[Daniel DeLappe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author always writes a great book. Kind of a hard read, but very much worth the effort