Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community

An iconic line of dialogue from the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke—“What we have here is a failure to communicate”—is an apt summation not only of a polarized society but also of journalist and theologian Kristian’s (A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today) treatise on the current lack of a shared epistemology. She posits that wildly divergent and seemingly irreconcilable beliefs can be traced back to how people no longer agree on what constitutes knowledge and truth. With sources of information having grown exponentially since the advent of the internet (which makes everyone a content producer), all opinions have grown to be seen as equally valid—experts garner no more respect than anyone else offering a point of view. Kristian believes that this has led to a social state where people can no longer talk to each other without passing judgment, deepening an already cavernous split between political groups, friends, and family members. She does offer some solutions, including detaching from constant social media consumption and eschewing “news” that puts profit above good journalistic practice.