I don’t think Wikipedia is to blame here. I doubt people go on there about complicated topics and come out thinking they are experts.
Youtube absolutely is to blame, but even they are miles behind the runaway leader for this: Facebook.
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This is really surprising to me. What kind of arguments?
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I will walk that back slightly and say it’s mostly youtube cites. But it will typically be a, "From wikipedia: " (some quote that barely backs up their argument). Bonus points when the quote says “citation needed.”
Mostly just factual stuff though, like flu deaths/year or the GDP of california. But sometimes when you dig into the source on wikipedia footnotes you’ll find that it is really a joke of a source. I can’t think of a specific example right now but I’ve definitely had to go into the sources several times.
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I think it also has something to do with how easy it is to mistake familiarity for expertise. It is very easy to become familiar enough on a topic to have light conversation. This catapults you into self-perceived expertise if you mostly know people who don’t have any familiarity with what you now can at least superficially discuss.
From there, we also easily mistake group consensus as scientific consensus. We can discuss a topic amid light conversation with other intellectual hobbyists, and now because we are surrounded by community that espouses similar conclusions, we are primed to latch on to any seemingly official source that confirms our views.
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How often do they show their research when asked?
The next time will be the first time
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The basic problem is that you have to be smart to realize that even really smart, highly educated people are not experts on much.
The audacity of dumb people astounds me on basically a daily basis. Your average Q / 5G conspiracy theorist can’t do algebra. Never do they think “I barely got through High School, maybe I should listen to actual experts.” Daily they think “yeah this stranger on Facebook with bad tattoos and an inability to spell at a 5th grade level has it all figured out.” (Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: The EXplosive Trooth BilL GaTES doesnT ant YOU to KNOW!")
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Basically a variation of the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
One thing I drew from my Master’s degree program was how much it takes to really be an expert in something. The vast majority of people are not experts in anything. Even if they’ve been doing a job for decades, they are unlikely to have knowledge high enough to be considered an expert.
Really good at something? Sure. But being an expert is a way higher level than just being good. There are specialists who have spent literally decades on a very small part of the field I’m in. Those people are experts. Some guy watching YouTube videos whether they’re bullshit propaganda or breadtube material knows nowhere near enough to be an expert.
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My brother has a PhD in astrophysics. He’ll be the first one to tell you he’s not smart. It’s hilarious how many people will ask him questions about science that has nothing to do with space and my brother will just say “I don’t know.” They assume he knows everything about science.
lmao at his extremely edited “i sincerely care about this issue and here is why” bullshit post. probably listened to “god bless america” while writing this and cried as he hit send.
both sides and do your own research guy watches 4 hours a day of conspiracy youtubes and duck duck go’s “al gore global warming hoax”
Here is the extended exchange between pink OP and red lunatic if you’re on the fence about gouging your eyes out with an ice pick and need some motivation
Summary
Red: You have to look at why they r for something. Their agenda is not about the concerns for the environment, it’s about control, money and power. The global warming forum is primarily a power grab and little to do w addressing the environment. I’ve done countless research on this whole global warming crap!!! And they use selective science that meets their narrative (usually the ones who receive grants and play along) and anyone who refutes it w ‘science’, they cancel them, attack them, pull their funding if they r getting government or other funding. The so called ‘models’ they use, has been proven to b skewed. Just do a Google check. There r tons of scientific evidence from people in those corresponding fields that states climate change is basically a hoax…at least what the governments and others promote. Climate is always changing, that’s a matter of
fact, but we r not even close to destroying the world. I agree that we should have alternative sources along w current sources and let the markets decide. But unfortunately we don’t have a free-market based system…we have a controlled market system when it comes to energy (both dems and reps r to blame for this).
Pink: okay, thank you for sharing your views. I would like to know where you got this information from. Please send links that prove global warming is a hoax and that we have endless resources. I would like to know your sources so that I may check them. Thank you.
Red: lol. There is a thing called google where u can find tons of info. U may learn a lot doing ur own research. Time and time again I’ve included tons of factual and reliable links/info just for it to b ignored and not make any difference bcuz they r not interested in facts. Just google and youtube global warming hoax and u will find tons of info from reliable and well-known scientists/climatologists.
Pink: not sure what u mean by endless resources cuz i’ve never mentioned that. But I will say we will not be running out of sources anytime soon. And I also said it would be good to have alternative energy in conjunction w current energy sources.
Pink: I do do my own research, and my resources (college professors, scientists with PhDs, the entire country of Portugal that runs off clean energy, you know, all those dumb dumbz) and that’s why I’m asking where you get your information from and to site YOUR sources. I bet if I type into google “proof that global warming is a hoax” I’ll find some pretty supporting articles and YouTube videos. And also, just out of curiosity, what shape do you believe the earth is? Again, I just ask that you please site your sources so I can check them out myself. I don’t want to just believe what all those liberal scientists say, I want to hear from the scientists that don’t believe in global warming.
Red: need to broaden ur research. U r seriously comparing Portugal’s energy needs to ours? Portugal has a tad over 10 million people and we have over 320 million. Plus we r a highly industrialized nation.
Pink: omg yes I know I need to broaden my research, that’s why I’m asking you where I can find this info. I want to make sure I’m reading the right thing, and since you have done your research, you are as close to an expert as I’m going to get, so I’d like to know what sources I should check because you’re saying my sources are wrong.
Red: as for our earth’s shape? We r not going to die off because of the said doom and gloom climate change (at least not for many generations if it did happen and has nothing to do w us…unless we die off from nuclear war, we plunge into the sun or a black hole, get bombarded by a huge asteroid or something). Climate is always changing. We have earth’s rotation around the sun which causes seasons. But our galaxy also rotates, and the universe is constantly rotating, etc. This is why we never have the exact same weather patterns throughout time. Ozone layer doomsayers cried we would be burnt to a crisp and b bombarded by gamma, cosmic and other rays but the hole in the ozone a decade or so ago has been repairing itself. First earth was going to be destroyed by global cooling, then global warming, now climate change. Give me a frickin break!
Pink: again, just looking for some proof of what you’re arguing.
Red: while I’m looking (not home right now), google some of it. Will be good to practice ur critical thinking skills.
Pink: okay, what should I type in to google? “The truth about global warming?” I know I could use my critical thinking skills, but I just want to make sure I’m looking up the correct material- there’s a lot of fake news out there, I don’t want to get them mixed up.
Red: Global warming hoax
Global warming model
Globalists and global warming
Climate change facts
Anti-climate change scientists get funding pulled
Al gore global warming hoax
Tons of info just searching Al gore and global warming or climate change hoaxes
Red: Forgot to mention, since google has been restricting many sites that go against the establishment (has been gradually going on for awhile but really has been an issue this year), use duckduckgo.com or any other search engine. I’ve been doing SEO for 20 years so i know how google works.
Stopped reading at “I’ve done countless research” lol. jfc I used to think I was stupid until the trump brought out all the real morons. Thanks trump.
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wat
pretty sick and tired of the “im not on either side, i look at both sides, i vote both sides” shit as they spew tons of right wing propaganda.
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He’s not completely wrong. I believe Google has been directing traffic away from certain forms of conspiracy content and shutting down youtube videos, in addition to blocking ads that support conspiracies such as qanon.
in my opinion it just feeds the conspiracy nut’s belief even more.
Heritagenothate firmly believes that google/youtube either remove the damning facts or bury them 30 pages deep in the search results.