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ArchivesRe: Reliable Sources
in reply to a message by Rene
Faced with the same dilemma, most of us look for a few clues:
1) Look for signs of careful curation in the information: usually care for quality of information and its presentation go together.
2) Look for presence of details: on most topics, details cannot be eliminated completely still staying correct, and details are difficult to fake convincingly without a lot of effort.
3) Look for sign of healthy debate and dissent about the information: in most cases, some details will be controversial or known only to a few participants, but others will have the means to agree or disagree.
4) Look for absence of shrill partisan voices and suppression controversies: if participants regularly get emotional about a topic, they are probably not the best judge of the quality of information; and if they believe in a paranoid fashion that they don't get to air their views, the validity of their views will need a lot of effort to establish.
5) Look for absence of unhealthy debate where the same views are repeatedly expressed without making progress: most people who deal with quality information know how to avoid such useless expense of resources.
Epistemology!
1) Look for signs of careful curation in the information: usually care for quality of information and its presentation go together.
2) Look for presence of details: on most topics, details cannot be eliminated completely still staying correct, and details are difficult to fake convincingly without a lot of effort.
3) Look for sign of healthy debate and dissent about the information: in most cases, some details will be controversial or known only to a few participants, but others will have the means to agree or disagree.
4) Look for absence of shrill partisan voices and suppression controversies: if participants regularly get emotional about a topic, they are probably not the best judge of the quality of information; and if they believe in a paranoid fashion that they don't get to air their views, the validity of their views will need a lot of effort to establish.
5) Look for absence of unhealthy debate where the same views are repeatedly expressed without making progress: most people who deal with quality information know how to avoid such useless expense of resources.
Epistemology!
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