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> The tendency of a lot of the population to prioritise quick and vapid answers over researching and thinking for themselves isn't helping either. This makes n

> The tendency of a lot of the population to prioritise quick and vapid answers over researching and thinking for themselves isn't helping either. This makes no sense... how do they "research researching and thinking for themselves" without the internet? Encyclopædia Britannica stopped publishing in 2010.

pasquinelli 3y ago
just don't stop at the very first answer you get. dig a little.
- kr0bat 3y ago
  When do you stop digging? When you reach a primary source? If I can't get a cheap, reliable answer to a simple question without looking into a potentially dense primary source, then online search becomes about as useful as a library card. Besides, not every domain is expected to include primary sources. Did the author of this recipe really think that a wok is better than a skillet for fried rice, or is this the written delusion of a gemerative AI? Do I instead only look for answers found in reputable sites? Aggressive SEO has made badly formatted sites indistinguishable from GPT sludge. Personally, I don't trust answers from sites I haven't heard of before my search.
  - tchalla 3y ago
    You can’t outsource intuition - you have to build it yourself. You need to be willing to look like a fool and be wrong. It’s less a question of when to stop digging and more a question of self awareness and ability to keep an open mind.
    - pixl97 3y ago
      >You can’t outsource intuition Isn't that the entire purpose of the scientific method? Intuition doesn't scale. The behavior of radioactive materials is not intuitive. If I attempt pure intuition alone, I'm going to die of butt cancer or turning into a zombie or some crap. Bullshit Asymmetry becomes a huge problem here. If I have to worry that every single thing is a lie or is otherwise going to kill me, I, and society at large goes on the defensive. This allows things like fascist leaders to get elected under the guise of protecting me from the 'big bad world'. We are in for a lot of bad shit, and we can already see this unfolding in politics.
  - xmprt 3y ago
    Why can't it be both? You can get a cheap, reliable answer to a simple question if the search engine directs you to the exact, relevant paragraph of a primary source. Unfortunately that's not the direction search engines are going in.
  - nuancebydefault 3y ago
    Maybe knowing or finding (primary/ultimate) truth is overrated. We search for, and find an answer. If we apply the answer and it doesn't work out well, we dig a litle deeper. We learn the fall and get up way. It might be a primitive way of learning, but a proven one. Ultimately... the ultimate truth does not exist, let alone it could be known or found. Every answer is wrong, some statements are less wrong than others.
- s3p 3y ago
  I'm glad you know the solution, but non-HN people are going to just accept whatever Google shows in big text.
chankstein38 3y ago
I think the problem is that they do use the internet so they think they're doing the right thing but most of the time get bored after reading the 2-3 sentence Google snippet about it. "Ok, yeah you can melt an egg! See?! Google says!"
AlanYx 3y ago
For what it's worth, World Book still publishes the print version of their encyclopedia.
- saagarjha 3y ago
  They look great on a shelf.
yoyohello13 3y ago
My strategy is to find at least 3 unrelated sources that agree before I start believing. Although it seems like that strategy may also be insufficient soon.
epups 3y ago
"The internet" is a vast place. If you believe the first answer on Google, or something you received on social media, then you are not thinking for yourself. If you bother to read the source or multiple sources and decide that the evidence is solid, you are researching and thinking for yourself.

pasquinelli 3y ago

just don't stop at the very first answer you get. dig a little.

kr0bat 3y ago
When do you stop digging? When you reach a primary source? If I can't get a cheap, reliable answer to a simple question without looking into a potentially dense primary source, then online search becomes about as useful as a library card. Besides, not every domain is expected to include primary sources. Did the author of this recipe really think that a wok is better than a skillet for fried rice, or is this the written delusion of a gemerative AI? Do I instead only look for answers found in reputable sites? Aggressive SEO has made badly formatted sites indistinguishable from GPT sludge. Personally, I don't trust answers from sites I haven't heard of before my search.
- tchalla 3y ago
  You can’t outsource intuition - you have to build it yourself. You need to be willing to look like a fool and be wrong. It’s less a question of when to stop digging and more a question of self awareness and ability to keep an open mind.
  - pixl97 3y ago
    >You can’t outsource intuition Isn't that the entire purpose of the scientific method? Intuition doesn't scale. The behavior of radioactive materials is not intuitive. If I attempt pure intuition alone, I'm going to die of butt cancer or turning into a zombie or some crap. Bullshit Asymmetry becomes a huge problem here. If I have to worry that every single thing is a lie or is otherwise going to kill me, I, and society at large goes on the defensive. This allows things like fascist leaders to get elected under the guise of protecting me from the 'big bad world'. We are in for a lot of bad shit, and we can already see this unfolding in politics.
- xmprt 3y ago
  Why can't it be both? You can get a cheap, reliable answer to a simple question if the search engine directs you to the exact, relevant paragraph of a primary source. Unfortunately that's not the direction search engines are going in.
- nuancebydefault 3y ago
  Maybe knowing or finding (primary/ultimate) truth is overrated. We search for, and find an answer. If we apply the answer and it doesn't work out well, we dig a litle deeper. We learn the fall and get up way. It might be a primitive way of learning, but a proven one. Ultimately... the ultimate truth does not exist, let alone it could be known or found. Every answer is wrong, some statements are less wrong than others.
s3p 3y ago
I'm glad you know the solution, but non-HN people are going to just accept whatever Google shows in big text.

chankstein38 3y ago

I think the problem is that they do use the internet so they think they're doing the right thing but most of the time get bored after reading the 2-3 sentence Google snippet about it. "Ok, yeah you can melt an egg! See?! Google says!"

AlanYx 3y ago

For what it's worth, World Book still publishes the print version of their encyclopedia.

saagarjha 3y ago
They look great on a shelf.

yoyohello13 3y ago

My strategy is to find at least 3 unrelated sources that agree before I start believing. Although it seems like that strategy may also be insufficient soon.

epups 3y ago

"The internet" is a vast place. If you believe the first answer on Google, or something you received on social media, then you are not thinking for yourself. If you bother to read the source or multiple sources and decide that the evidence is solid, you are researching and thinking for yourself.