Ask Lemmy

I'm very critical on what kind of information I even need on daily basis. If my only reason for getting information on something is To Be Right On The Internet, I don't bother. I don't need to know shit about how a particle accelerator actually works and it has no bearing on my personal life. If I want to satisfy an intellectual curiosity about something, I can get some pop-science about it from a source that seems credible enough after a cursory glance (they need to cite studies/statistics at the very least, and I take a look at the studies too depending a bit on the gravity of the matter. I'm not going to scrutinize a cooking video about a historical dish too deeply, I'll assume the general idea is close enough - but I will be very critical of anything talking about politically divisive topics, especially ones where there are people who have a very strong idea of what the "correct" opinion is), but I keep the awareness that it does NOT make me an expert and I should NOT inject myself into conversations about the matter (except to ask questions). And if some smalltalk touches on the topic, I can frame my comments appropriately like "I'm not familiar with the topic but my understanding was...". Though even then I'd consider the critical thinking capabilities of the person I'm talking to. If I think they're dumb enough to take what I say as a fact despite the framing, I'll not say anything.

As for actually important information: local news, universities of good reputation, science organizations of good reputation. All the while keeping in mind that they're not infallible. There's just a greater probability that the information there is accurate and unbiased. In general I've taught myself to think of the world in terms of probabilities, not in binary "true/false" statements.