https://RationalAmerica.com/tags/misinformation/Recent content in Misinformation on Rational AmericaHugoen-usSat, 12 Sep 2026 09:00:00 -0400https://RationalAmerica.com/posts/2026-09-12-how-to-evaluate-government-claims-with-scientific/Sat, 12 Sep 2026 09:00:00 -0400https://RationalAmerica.com/posts/2026-09-12-how-to-evaluate-government-claims-with-scientific/<p>What do you do when a government press release lands in your feed at 6pm and makes an enormous promise? Your usual toolkit is probably one of two things: faith in the institutions, or deep suspicion of them. The first reaction is easy, too easy. So is the second. A genuinely useful third path is harder, which is why I’ll lay it out here.</p> <p>Scientific skepticism is not a job title or a personality trait. It is a set of learned behaviors, and they can be applied to policy claims just as they can be applied to a study about gut microbes or a claim about dietary cholesterol. Let’s unpack, then, how the method works when the thing being measured is not a molecule, but a government&rsquo;s public statement.</p>