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May Contain Lies review: How to cut to the truth and think smarter

Can you see through deceiving data and beguiling stories? Read Alex Edmans's new book and take his card test to find out

By Chris Stokel-Walker

17 April 2024

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Facts communicated over social media are often made to fit an existing narrative to go viral

Carol Yepes/Getty Images

May Contain Lies
Alex Edmans (Penguin Business, 25 April (UK); University of California Press, 14 May (US))

Here is a logic puzzle. You have been given four double-sided cards, each with a number on one side and a letter on the other. You are told to test this: “If a card has a vowel on one side, it has an even number on the other side.” The cards, as dealt, read “E, K, 2, 3”. Which do you turn?

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