INTRODUCTION:

More people alive today know more about more things affecting human experience than ever in history. We overflow with knowledge, have millions of books and journals and an Internet that updates information daily and spans the world. Despite this, we have a growing problem with being able to trust in the knowledge of our "experts" and "intellectuals." How can we know that they are really experts? Evaluating sources and critical thinking are crucial to making sound decisions, whether in policy making or determining your own future.

How do we know that professors, diplomats, and journalists who specialize in international disciplines are trustworthy? If they do their work in some of the lesser developed countries in the world, are they free to tell us how things really are or must they wait until they retire?

How do we know that such disciplines as Middle East Studies, Islamic Studies, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and the Arab/Persian hostilities are being covered in a way that reflects the latest scholarship on these issues?

And do we understand numbers--how statistics are used and abused? And how science is changing at such a rapid pace that we will be confronting challenges to our laws and to our understanding of how the world really works?

This book is a survey of such issues and will surely stimulate plenty of discussions and thoughts.