Meta-Fact

A fact about facts. It's information regarding the provenance, reliability, or context of a factual claim, rather than the claim itself. Examples include: "This fact comes from a peer-reviewed journal," "This statistic is from a pre-2020 dataset," or "The source for this fact has a known political bias." Meta-facts are the nutritional label on the package of information, telling you about its ingredients and shelf life. In the information age, meta-facts are often more important than facts themselves, because they tell you which facts to trust.

*Example: "She didn't just state the unemployment number; she led with the meta-fact: 'According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' last monthly survey, which has a margin of error of +/- 0.2%...' She was arming you with the fact's pedigree before delivering the fact itself."*

Meta-Fact by Dumu The Void January 30, 2026