The Hype Index
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The index

Hype versus reality, with a number attached

Hype and reality is a useful frame right up until someone asks you to be specific.

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A number forces specificity. The Hype Index runs from zero to one hundred, where higher means more distance between what the evidence supports and how the claim is being used. It is the sum of five components worth twenty points each.

The components are published with every edition. That converts a vague disagreement about whether something is overhyped into a precise one about, say, whether replication deserved four points or twelve.

Precise disagreements get resolved. Vague ones just get repeated.

How every claim is scored

Source quality0 to 20
Peer reviewed, preprint, self-published report, vendor material, or press release.
Sample and method0 to 20
Sample size, how subjects were selected, and whether the underlying data is available.
Independence0 to 20
Does the publisher sell the solution its own finding recommends.
Replication0 to 20
Has anyone independently reproduced it with a comparable method.
Drift0 to 20
How far the popular use of the claim sits from what the source actually says.

Full method at /method/. Every scored claim stays on the record.

Questions

Does a high score mean the claim is false?

No. A claim can rest on solid research and still score high because it is being used far outside its scope. That is the difference between Overstated and Unsupported.

What do the verdicts mean?

Underrated, Holds Up, Half True, Overstated, and Unsupported. Each has a published definition and each maps to a range of the index.

Where is the full record?

Every scored claim stays on the record permanently, alongside the archive of everything published before the Index.

Where this stands today. The scored record currently covers artificial intelligence and cybersecurity claims. This subject is in scope and has not been scored yet. We are telling you that rather than implying a back catalogue that does not exist. The record shows exactly what has been scored.

Also here
Business and moneyThe numbers behind business and money stories, scoredScience and healthScience and health claims, checked against the paperCulture and sportsCulture and sports numbers get the same treatment
Get every verdict

Two editions a week. One scored claim each.

Tuesday and Thursday at 1:00 PM Central. Every call is dated and graded in public, including the ones we get wrong.

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One email, one scored claim, no pitch. We never sell or share your address. Subscriber figure taken live from our mail provider and last checked July 26, 2026; most of it carried over from the two publications that merged into this one.