I'm not sure many or even a handful of people really research. I feel the many go to youtube to be told by their favorite talking head how to feel or rationaliz

I'm not sure many or even a handful of people really research. I feel the many go to youtube to be told by their favorite talking head how to feel or rationalize a subject. That is not "research". I did not make a decision about masking or not because I conducted primary research, nor did I read dense medical papers from peer reviewed journals using terminology I don't understand. I followed the advice of sources I trust. That is not research in any sense of the word. If my source has chosen to deceive me for whatever reason then my echo chamber is never going to allow me an escape. In fact, I'll most likely dismiss any counter evidence as propaganda even knowing full well that is what my echo chamber is feeding me. People used to trust subject matter experts and now they trust personalities in stead. It is a natural evolution of newscaster to entertainer and reliable source to propagandist. I think the largest disservices were done by unethical scientists such as tobacco "researchers" and military sponsored clandestine medical experimenters. Now we would sooner trust a reality TV personality than a phd subject matter expert. We reap what we sow.