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How do we know what we know?
Everybody Knows That explores the often invisible “scripts of truth” that shape how we understand the world and ourselves. From widely accepted scientific ideas to everyday assumptions about success, happiness, and the self, many of the things we take to be obvious or natural are, in fact, shaped by cultural narratives that often go unnoticed and therefore rarely come into question.
Drawing on sociology, media analysis, and real-life examples, we’ll examine how these scripts are formed, how they spread, and how we’ve come to take them for granted. We’ll explore the role of science, history, media, and technology—including artificial intelligence—in shaping our notions of truth.
Moving from broader systems of knowledge to the level of personal experience, Everybody Knows That examines how these scripts influence the way we think we should look, act, and feel. It invites us to reconsider familiar beliefs, become more aware of the forces that shape those beliefs, and think more carefully about what we accept as true.
Michelle Shir-Wise, PhD, is a sociologist and author whose work explores the subtle cultural forces that shape how we think, feel, and understand ourselves. Her research focuses on media, consumer culture, time use, and the construction of the self in contemporary society. She is the author of Time, Freedom and the Self and has published academic articles and presented at international conferences. In her writing, she aims to bridge scholarly insight and everyday experience, inviting readers to question what they take for granted and to see familiar ideas in a new light.