So, you object to people asking for citations because citations suck? The problem then comes back to how to know which to trust, which usually requires a reason

So, you object to people asking for citations because citations suck? The problem then comes back to how to know which to trust, which usually requires a reasonable degree of proficiency in and knowledge of the subject. My point was partially that if I encounter you in another environment, I can quickly and easily assess whether you have the required proficiency, even if I don't possess it. It's much harder to do that online, at least at the moment. I can't always do my own research, as I don't have the time to build a framework of knowledge that would allow me to do it efficiently, much less brute force it. All I can do is ask people I know who are very well educated in a field or read an abstract.