In the 60th episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, Mary, and Georgia are joined by retired Purdue Northwest philosophy professor David Detmer, PhD to discuss with one of the oldest and slipperiest questions in human history, what is truth, and how do we find it?
Starting with Wonder Woman’s golden lasso and the fascinating science of the left-brain interpreter, the crew explores how our minds construct reality, and why sincerity is no guarantee of accuracy. From there the conversation digs into the media landscape, corporate consolidation, the myth of objectivity, and the differences between misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation.
David shares his decades in the philosophy classroom to explain confirmation bias, logical fallacies, and the surprisingly hard job of teaching people to think critically. The crew also discusses the theories of truth, the Liar’s Paradox, the limits of lie detectors and truth serums, AI hallucinations, deepfakes, and the ethics of compelling someone to tell the truth.
Where to Find David Detmer
Website and books:
Check out what the RHR crew is creating:
Joe:
Red Line: Chicago Horror Stories Anthology featuring a story by Joe!
Joe’s Sci-fi physiological thriller Novel: Will You Still Love Me If I Become Someone Else?
Joe’s Rom-Com Novella: Tomorrow May Be Too Late
Essay by Joe: From Beyond Press: Specific Knowledge: Jotham Austin, II, PhD on Transformations in Fiction
Joe explores how many calories it would take to transform into monsters across sci-fi and horror—think 222 Big Macs and tubs of Cherry Garcia.
Future Events to Hang with the Crew:
Podcast Cross-Appearances
Joe on GoIndieNow: 21grams with Joe Compton talking about villains.
RHR Crew on This Podcast Will Change Your Life with Ben Tanzer
Events & Conventions:
5th Annual Mai Fest - Blue Island, IL (May 9th 2026 12-5pm)
Avondalia Night Out - Rosa’s Lounge in Avondale, Chicago IL (May 14th 2026 7-8pm)- Joe reading
Creative Arts Summit - DIY Podcast Workshop at Lake County Public Library (Merrillville, IN) on May 23rd, 2026
ConCarolinas - Charlotte, NC (May 29–31, 2026 ) - Joe attending as Guest
Shore Leave 46 - Lancaster, PA (July 10-12, 2026)
Lancaster Wyndham Resort and Convention Center
Dragon Con - Atlanta, GA (September 3-7, 2026) - Joe attending as Professional
It’s Science for Weirdos
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We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):
Your brain is constantly filling in the gaps, has your left-brain interpreter ever had you believing something you later realized wasn’t true? What changed your mind?
Comedians, philosophers, and picture books, oh my! You heard from the RHR crew, but where do you get your most honest dose of truth? Who or what do you trust to cut through the noise (besides RHR, ;)?
If Wonder Woman’s lasso actually existed, would you want to use it? And more importantly, would you be willing to be lassoed yourself?
Drop your thoughts in the comments. We read them all, and your ideas often shape future episodes.
Future Episodes
Episode 62 – The Science of Fear: Phobias, Physiology & Splatterpunk
Guest: Phrique
Diving into the biology of fear, phobia formation, and the extreme horror genre of splatterpunk with author Phrique.Episode 64 – Planetary Defense: Saving Earth from Other Worldly Impact
Guest: Charles Blue
Exploring asteroid detection, planetary defense systems, and what it takes to protect Earth from cosmic collisions.Episode 66 - Hive Mind: Plubris
Guest: Wes Thorn (returning guest — Simulation Hypothesis episode)
The crew dives into hive minds, collective intelligence, and the blurry line between the individual and the swarm.
Episode 68 - Into the Deep: Humans, Caves, and the Final Frontier
Guest: Ernie Bell, PhD (NASA and Blue Origin)
What can living underground on Earth teach us about surviving on other worlds?
For more stuff (Images, Episode Highlights, events, etc), subscribe to our Substack newsletter!
Show Notes & Fun facts
Movies, TV & Pop Culture Mentioned
Wonder Woman (DC Comics / Film) — the golden lasso of truth
Malcolm in the Middle — Nick’s example of perspective vs. proof (Lois’s car accident episode)
The Great Dictator (1940) — Charlie Chaplin, referenced by Georgia
Stranger Things — briefly mentioned in relation to MK Ultra
Beast Games — Joe’s repeated plug for sponsorship from Mr. Beast.
Phil Ochs — 1960s/70s singer-songwriter, subject of David's Current Affairs article
Jon Stewart — Longtime host of The Daily Show
George Carlin — Legendary stand-up comedian and social critic known for using profanity-laced humor to dismantle political corruption, consumerism, and the absurdities of American culture
Books Mentioned
The Media Monopoly — Ben Bagdikian
Challenging Postmodernism — David Detmer
Zennophobia — David Detmer
A People’s History of the United States — Howard Zinn
Killer Underwear Invasion — Elise Gravel (critical thinking book for kids; Mary’s recommendation)
The Will to Believe — William James (referenced philosophically)
Some of the Science/Philosophical Concepts Mentioned
MK Ultra — Classified CIA program that tested drugs like sodium pentothal on unwitting subjects in search of a working truth serum, with deeply unethical results.
Bogus Pipeline — A psychological technique where subjects are convinced a fake machine can detect their lies, causing them to tell the truth out of fear of being caught.
fMRI Lie Detection — Functional MRI technology that maps real-time brain blood flow to detect deception, but is compromised by anxiety, belief, and individual physiology.
The Mandela Effect — The phenomenon where large groups of people share the same false memory, named after the widespread false belief that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s.
Flat Earth Society Conference — Documented by philosopher Lee McIntyre, who attended to study how people construct and defend beliefs that contradict observable reality.
Bertrand Russell — Influential 20th century British philosopher and logician who won the Nobel Prize for Literature and was famously gracious when proven wrong.
Mortimer Adler — Popular mid-20th century American philosopher known for making philosophy accessible through PBS and books, though often criticized by academic peers.
Howard Zinn — Historian and author of A People’s History of the United States, which tells American history from the perspective of marginalized groups rather than those in power.
William James & John Dewey — Founders of American pragmatism, arguing that truth is defined by what works and produces useful results in practice.
Aristotle — Ancient Greek philosopher credited with the correspondence theory of truth — a statement is true if it accurately reflects reality.
Alfred Tarski — 20th century logician who formalized the Liar’s Paradox (”This statement is false”), exposing a fundamental crack in formal logic systems.
Charles Sanders Peirce — Early American pragmatist philosopher who argued that people are so uncomfortable with doubt they will grab the first available belief just to feel certain.
Fun Facts:
Your brain is a writer, not a recorder. Every time you recall a memory you are not playing it back, you are reconstructing it, which means it can change a little every single time. Your memories are literally rewritten each time you access them.
The Left-Brain Interpreter is real. Split-brain research by Nobel Prize winner Michael Gazzaniga showed that when the two hemispheres of the brain are severed, the left brain will confidently invent explanations for things it has no access to, and deliver them as absolute truth. We all have this system running, all the time.
Lie detectors don’t detect lies. Polygraphs measure physiological stress responses — heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductivity — not deception itself. They are so unreliable they are inadmissible as evidence in most courts, and can be beaten by someone who is calm, practiced, or genuinely believes their own lie.
Truth serums don’t extract truth. Drugs like sodium pentothal used in MK Ultra and other CIA programs don’t make people tell the truth, they lower inhibition and increase suggestibility, making subjects more likely to say what they think the interrogator wants to hear, not what actually happened.
AI hallucinates for a surprisingly human reason. Large language models are prediction machines, they are designed to give you a complete, satisfying answer. If they don’t have the information, they will predict what should go there and fill it in confidently, much like the left-brain interpreter does. The problem isn’t malice. It’s a system optimized to please.
Misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation are not the same thing.
Misinformation is false information spread accidentally, without intent to deceive.
Disinformation is false information spread deliberately, as a weapon.
Malinformation the information is technically true, but weaponized and spread out of context specifically to cause harm.
Episode Highlights
00:00 Basement Studio Intro — The full RHR crew plus guest David Detmer get settled in the basement studio for a full table conversation.
00:17 Meet David Detmer — David introduces himself as a retired philosophy professor of 35 years at Purdue Northwest.
01:10 Wonder Woman Truth Lasso — Joe opens with the monologue asking the uncomfortable question: what if the person lassoed is telling the truth and still wrong?
01:45 Left Brain Interpreter — The crew unpacks the split-brain research behind the left-brain interpreter and what it means for how we construct reality.
02:48 Perspective vs Proof — Nick’s Malcolm in the Middle story sparks a debate about the difference between personal perspective and verifiable proof.
05:09 Politics and Verifiable Lies — David uses Trump’s graduation claims as a case study in how verifiable lies persist in the public sphere.
10:18 Media Objectivity Debate — David argues that media got objectivity wrong, confusing accuracy with false balance between two sides.
11:38 Media Monopoly and Money — Nick and David discuss Ben Bagdikian’s The Media Monopoly and how corporate consolidation shrinks the diversity of truth.
14:43 Misinfo Disinfo Malinfo — Joe breaks down the critical differences between misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation with real world examples. David mentions Bill Clinton’s Arkansas tax burden claim as a perfect example: completely true, entirely misleading.
18:45 Comedy as Truth Teller — Georgia makes the case for Charlie Chaplin, Jon Stewart, and George Carlin as some of history’s most effective truth tellers.
19:59 Teaching Critical Thinking — Mary asks David how he taught students to find the truth, opening a rich discussion on logical fallacies and scientific reasoning.
21:21 Confirmation Bias Tools — David walks through practical exercises for fighting confirmation bias, including actively seeking counter evidence.
25:16 Theories of Truth — Joe runs through the four major theories of truth: correspondence, coherence, pragmatic, and deflationism.
27:28 Flat Earth Conference Story — David recounts philosopher Lee McIntyre’s experience at a Flat Earth Society conference, including the beach ball water experiment.
32:28 Pragmatism and Regress — David explains why the pragmatic and coherence theories of truth ultimately collapse back into the correspondence theory.
35:01 Liars Paradox Teaser — Joe introduces the Liar’s Paradox and the crew tumbles into the logical abyss of self-referential statements.
35:34 Paradox Shirt Truth — David reveals his t-shirt that said “this shirt contains three errors” with only two typos, and the paradox it created.
36:20 MK Ultra and Truth Serum — Nick brings up MK Ultra and the crew explores what truth serums actually do versus what we imagine they do.
37:03 Wonder Woman Lasso Tricks — Joe explains the Bogus Pipeline and how the lasso might work more as a psychological trick than a magical compulsion.
38:21 Lie Detectors and FMRI — The crew breaks down how polygraphs and functional MRI actually work and why both are deeply unreliable.
40:39 AI Hallucinations Deepfakes — Georgia draws the connection between the left-brain interpreter and AI hallucinations, and the crew discusses deepfakes as truth’s newest threat.
43:35 Teaching Critical Thinking — David reflects on his medium level success in the classroom and the surprising gap between understanding a concept and applying it.
46:41 Objective Truth and Memory — Mary brings up Mortimer Adler and the crew debates objective truth, malleable memory, and the unreliable narrator.
50:10 Science Process and Media — David and Joe discuss how journalism misrepresents science by treating single studies as conclusions rather than steps in a process.
52:26 Taken Out of Context — Mary raises the “taken out of context” defense and David breaks down what context actually means and when the phrase is just an excuse.
54:22 Truth Devices Ethics Law — The crew debates the legal and ethical implications of a real truth device, from the Fifth Amendment to Senate confirmation hearings.
57:43 Misinformation Kids Books — Mary recommends Killer Underwear Invasion and Georgia connects children’s picture books to early critical thinking development.
01:02:29 Teaching Myth Confrontation — David shares his scariest classroom moment when a student insisted Einstein said we only use 10% of our brains.
01:03:38 Plugs and Final Advice — David plugs his books and article, and leaves listeners with advice to verify sources, question everything, and stay curious.
“Stay curious, stay safe… Love Y’all!”
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