People on social media will often justify an opinion by saying “I researched it.” But did they?
Before making such a claim, take the time to read the following by Linda Gamble Spadaro, Behavioral Health Manager at Acute and Crisis Services at Baptist Health System.
Please stop saying you researched it. You didn’t research anything and it is highly probable you don’t know how to do so.
- Did you compile a literature review and write abstracts on each article?
- Or better yet, did you collect a random sample of sources and perform independent probability statistics on the reported results? No?
- Did you at least take each article one by one and look into the source (that would be the author, publisher and funder), then critique the writing for logical fallacies, cognitive distortions and plain inaccuracies?
- Did you ask yourself why this source might publish these particular results? Did you follow the trail of references and apply the same source of scrutiny to them?
No? Then you didn’t research anything. You read or watched a video, most likely with little or no objectivity. You came across something in your algorithm manipulated feed, something that jived with your implicit biases and served your confirmation bias, and subconsciously applied your emotional filters and called it proof.
By the way, by this metric, almost nothing on this website can claimed to have been “researched.” If I report facts or data, I will usually cite the source, then leave it to you to decide whether that source is trustworthy.
Anything else you come across on this site is just my opinion. And remember: Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one.