The backbone of democracy is a well-informed populace. The philosophy of freedom of speech emerged around 400 years ago from the study of millennia of political thought as a way to combat the long standing problem of an under-abundance of information. For most of human history, censoring media could destroy entire schools of thought. In the 21st century, however, we have for the first time in human history an overabundance of information. This means we don’t have the wisdom of the past to guide us in our efforts to keep the population informed.

Given our technological progress in the past century, we are realizing that many of humanity’s oldest and most essential problems now lie in the realm of communication. Whether that be war, resources, or energy, all are shaped by the information sphere just as much as the physical realm. Alethos cannot solve war, resource conflict or energy problems itself; it can address the information environment in which they unfold; it’s just too much for one organization to handle, but we can do our part to make sure that we are fighting for the truth.

Everyone has their bias, so we don’t try to eliminate it. We focus our efforts on “teaching creators to fish” by speaking about research and misinformation as a process. As political issues are breaking down the current international order, it’s more important now we stay neutral so we can serve everyone. We need this program now more than ever.