I’d usually start with easily digestible content like YouTube videos or ChatGPT. At this point, I’m not too concerned about the correctness of the information. It mainly gives me vocabulary that I can then look up for further reading along with the perspective of one or two individuals. That might be all I care about, and if so, I’d stop there and go on with my day. If I want to dive deeper, I’ll look up textbooks and papers on the topic, or any other relevant primary sources. Basically do a light literature review.
My first stop is always Wikipedia. The rest of the internet is a minefield.
That’s what a forum is for.
sci-hub and annas-archive
I want to be less reliant on Wikipedia and Google Scholar, but in truth I still use them a lot
So you directly read papers on those topics? I tried doing that but I feel it requires a huge amount of background
I am not the person you are replying to.
I read a lot of papers and it is hard if you don’t have background knowledge of the subject. If it’s something I am really interested in, then I will dive deep, if it’s not I will probably let it go when I get to the point where I no longer grasp what’s being said.
Why do you want to be less reliant on Wikipedia?
Curious about this one too
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Centralize anything and it will be ruined bubthe regime
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Wiki is already under a lot of pressure as is due to be as central as it is. There were rumors of them being under US Security service supervision so how good can it really be and where is it going to go now
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Wikipedia editors are petty and incredibly biased. Start reading the talk pages, especially on controversial articles, and your opinion on Wikipedia’s objectivity will rapidly plummet.
Also, it’s a bit like reddit: you find yourself learning so much about new topics, until you start reading about things you have actual expertise on, and you realize the people writing this shit are uninformed idiots, and, when you try to fix the information, the petty nerds who control it revert your changes and ban you.
The same way as topics in my field of expertise, of course.
YouTube.
Follow up question: how do you find actual good and trustable channels on a specific topic?
Not the other guy but I learn a lot of high quality information of YouTube. The golden rule for me is longer-form video is generally higher quality. People that know what they’re talking about typically aren’t going to explain complex things in 30 seconds, or at least not to the depth you should understand it.
Aside from that, I look for people with actual qualifications first. Example, I love psychology so I will look for psychologists, licensed professional counselors, and so on. I’ll even listen to life coaches, but more selectively.
The lower on the “chain” they are, the more I will do “spot checks” on information and see if they know what they’re talking about (ESPECIALLY if they’re making big or new claims about something). For that I’ll look into peer-reviewed studies and such for that.
Once you get a small knowledge base it’s a little easier to continue. Talk something you have a clue about, and watch a video with that topic from another content creator.
Do all of this for a while and you’ll find what you need to.
Youtube comments can be strangely helpful here, sometimes. If there’s a lot of “akshually” comments on every video, it may be a sign the youtuber is full of it. Not always true, but anything helps. Can also look up the youtuber’s credentials as well.
You know that channels can curate which comments they have visible on their videos? Mostly this is used to silence hateful comments, but it’s just as easily abused to remove all differing points of view.
If all the comments agree, you’re probably in a curated bubble.
I forgot about that. Good catch.
I’m going to think about that and get back to you. I think it’s mostly intuitive, based on many years of experience, but I’m not sure at this point.
I also have to mention that I was half joking. I don’t use YT all that much for my profession. I would, but it’s just not entirely relevant.
Three used to be these buildings full of books that I could just borrow for free.
Love books and huge fan of libraries but how do you find the right book in the ocean of books?
“Don’t you know the Dewey decimal system?”
Sorry, stupid reference. In seriousness though, type in a topic into your library’s search and start browsing, check out a few that seem useful.
I’m an academic and I find my University’s library useful for finding knowledge on a new topic. If an introductory textbook exists on the subject, can be a good starting point.
For Most hobbies though, youtube is a great resource. I’ve gotten into woodworking and fishing, and youtube is a superb resource for information.
I was taught in school how to use the library catalog. It was considered essential, for success in life, at the time.
I actually do know how to use Dewey Decimal, if I haven’t forgotten.
In these modern times, there’s generally a PC near the information desk, with the browser home page set to a library catalog search tool, specific to that library.
And as someone else mentioned, we can ask the librarian for help, when we don’t find what we need. I actually shortcut the process and ask for a quick lesson in how to use the search, if I’m feeling uncertain.
Just sit at the library for a while, sit near the shelf that has the topic you’re interested in and grab a few books at a time and go through them to see if any seem like the right book
Ask the librarian nicely and they’ll probably be able to point you in the right direction. Cataloguing information is kind of their thing, and helping people get access to that information is why many of them join the profession.
Ask a librarian.
Instructions unclear, dick stuck in card catalog. Send help, preferably a hot librarian.
Franz is here to help you, little man. Bend over and breath deeply. It will all be over in fifteen to twenty minutes.
Well you see I’m a major GEN er alllllllllllll
But seriously Wikipedia, YouTube guides, enthusiast forums. Usually try to read from multiple sources
With lyrics.
Watch and read as much youtube and article as possible, and try to join a discussion with open mind.
I’d caveat that with watch reliable well researched channels and not pop-sci or even god forbid pseudoscientific, or pseudo-intellectual channels that seem helpful but are actually BS wrapped in foil.
Any of the PBS science channels are typically good for science.
How money works, Wendover, are great for Economics stuff.
The engineering mindset, practical engineering are great for engineering related stuff.
What would you say of History of the Universe and History of the Earth?
History of the Universe,
There’s probably good stuff on SEA, Astrum, PBS Spacetime? even Cool Worlds. To a lesser extent perhaps even John Michael Godier or Isaac Arthur have lots of good information because even though they are Sci-fi channels, they do hard sci-fi, so all based on established science and astronomy.
History of the earth(geological),
PBS Eons, Sci Show, History of the Earth,
History of the earth, (anthropological) North 02
I post my ignorant opinions somewhere. There’s always someone who will correct me with correct information.
The life of the shitpoaster.
But for real comment section can be very useful to learn if you are willing to do it.
There is generally somebody knkw who’s what they are talking about. Just got to figure out who.
Reddit had so much fluff and moderation as if they didn’t want you to find good info.
Ah yes, Moore’s Law
It’s Poe’s law
I think you mean Cole’s Law
Would you say Poe is cunning, and likes ham?
I post my ignorant opinions somewhere. There’s always someone who will correct me with correct information.
Not always.
(see what I did there)
My flat earther forums have a stickied Q&A where you can find the real truth on any topic. Did you know that dolphins are aliens sent to spy on us?
No, that’s mice.
Dolphins are native but capable of space travel as they are far more intelligent than us. It’s an understandable mistake to make.
So long and thanks for all the fish!
Oh boy
Reading papers and contacting people in that field. I’ve found that university professors can especially direct you to materials in their field, and even like to chat about it sometimes. Half of my book collection was found this way.
A review paper from a reputable journal. The Annual Reviews series was great for this. Some of the Nature journals also used to run mini-reviews associated with research papers in the issue.
For lesser known subjects, a literature review in a dissertation works. It at least gives you a list of papers to review.
I skim the Wikipedia page on whatever topic is being discussed and pretend to be an expert.
Wikipedia link hopping. Other sources may not be reliable at all.
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