I used to believe the free marketplace of ideas worked this way, then the Trump years and the pandemic happened. It became clear to me that many people cannot and/or do not care to know the difference between evidence-based conclusions & obvious and dangerous lies, provided it supports their preexisting biases. Just look at the hostility many harbor for fact-checking.

“A lie will fly around the whole world while the truth is getting its boots on.”—Mark Twain, (possibly apocryphal quote but still relevant)