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Apologies, I didn't see your comment in the below thread until now. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42379970#42385296## https://news.ycombinator.com/item?i

Apologies, I didn't see your comment in the below thread until now. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42379970#42385296## https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42379970#42385296## That thread is now closed to replies, so hope you don't mind me replying to your question here. > Do you have any nice, foolproof ways to reliably source new info online? I don't think there is one, and I think anybody who tells you otherwise is lying. If you apply critical thinking and analysis to every new piece of info that you get, you can get close to the truth, but you may not necessarily arrive at it. No source is 100% accurate 100% of the time. Not even the most prestigious scientific journals. Knowing this helps keep me grounded so that I hold on to my opinions lightly instead of grasping them. It's a wonderful thing to be able to change your mind in light of new information.

1dom 2y ago
I didn't realise HN locked posts - I have a few posts I keep meaning to respond to that I'm terrified I've missed the opportunity now! Thanks for the reply though, I really appreciate it! I was worried you might say something like that. I want to be like that, and I generally respect people who say what you're saying (basically, have informed views, weakly held). But we've gone full circle: the problem was the flood of disinformation making it hard to find reliable new sources of info. Your proposed solution of "think critically" and "be prepared to change your mind in light of new information" is the essence of most philosophy of thought or knowledge since Socrates and that lot. I think a lot of modern stress comes from the idea that our brains can't apply this approach any more to the scale of society and information we have to cope with today. I think I could even go as far as suggesting modern disinformation tactics actively exploit this approach to knowledge by overloading us with so much confusing information that we don't feel we find enough legitimate information to feel like we really know anything. And sure, there are benefits in saying "I don't know" - science needs that sometimes - but if we know nothing, that means we have no knowledge to build on, which generally slows progress.

1dom 2y ago

I didn't realise HN locked posts - I have a few posts I keep meaning to respond to that I'm terrified I've missed the opportunity now! Thanks for the reply though, I really appreciate it! I was worried you might say something like that. I want to be like that, and I generally respect people who say what you're saying (basically, have informed views, weakly held). But we've gone full circle: the problem was the flood of disinformation making it hard to find reliable new sources of info. Your proposed solution of "think critically" and "be prepared to change your mind in light of new information" is the essence of most philosophy of thought or knowledge since Socrates and that lot. I think a lot of modern stress comes from the idea that our brains can't apply this approach any more to the scale of society and information we have to cope with today. I think I could even go as far as suggesting modern disinformation tactics actively exploit this approach to knowledge by overloading us with so much confusing information that we don't feel we find enough legitimate information to feel like we really know anything. And sure, there are benefits in saying "I don't know" - science needs that sometimes - but if we know nothing, that means we have no knowledge to build on, which generally slows progress.