By Daniel M. Kotin
In October 2005, Stephen Colbert essentially invented the word truthiness on his TV show. Since then, his made-up word has earned an official place in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
truth-i-ness (noun): A truthful or seemingly truthful quality that is claimed for something not because of supporting facts or evidence but because of the feeling that it is true or the desire for it to be true.
Also, in the 18 years since that satirical Colbert Report aired, several studies and articles in peer-reviewed journals have drilled down on this concept and identified a phenomenon known as the "truthiness effect." Research shows that if any claim is accompanied by a neutral, generic photograph of the subject of that claim, most unknowing people will be biased into believing that claim is true. This is a bit scary.
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