Today, issues about which facts really matter – for example, the safety of genetically modified foods, the hazards of extracting shale oil and gas, and the impact of global warming – are debated without regard for scientific evidence or in ways that use distorted and cherry-picked information to promote a chosen position. Politicians and activists portray these issues as social struggles or morality plays: big businesses against small farmers, oppressors versus liberators, or conspirators seeking to deceive innocent citizens.