“Numbers don’t lie but people do” — Wall Street Journal front-page story.

As you know, I’ve been writing short vignettes and snippets of ideas about TRUST. Here’s the latest from my Tuesday Tips.

Today (September 25, 2023), on my weekly hunt for stories and events about TRUST, sure enough, both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal had articles/columns about lies and even fabrications that may rise to the level of fraud.

“Numbers don’t lie but people do” writes the WSJ reporter in today’s front-page story about sleuths who are uncovering fraud and other irregularities in science research. The title of the story is “Debunkers Bust Bad Scientists.”

These debunkers are examining the underlying data and conclusions in published studies and unfortunately, they uncover instances of fraud in science research. Through their work around the world, more fraud has been uncovered recently. “At least 5500 faulty papers were retracted in 2022 versus 119 in 2002.”

Those numbers grabbed my attention. And yours?

Yikes. If we can’t TRUST science research, what can we TRUST?

And then, there’s a short advice column in the NYT. What should people do if their colleague lies about an important issue (sales reports) and they can’t TRUST that colleague?

If we can’t trust our colleagues, whom can we TRUST?

Good questions both.