On 10/23/2011 1:08 AM, Warp wrote:
>    When you encounter an extraordinary claim, investigate. And when
> investigating, avoid bias. Do not "investigate" only material that
> supports the claim. Also investigate serious material that discredits
> the claim. Search for debunking websites and consider what they are
> saying and why.
>
I will go one step beyond this and say, "If something seems to support 
the claim, but there is no link, article/page numbers, or other 
information that can be used to find the original source, which they 
claim supports them, find it anyway." Odds are, all too often, the 
original source either doesn't say what they claim, says something 
similar, but which does not come even close to supporting their 
contentions, or even completely, flat out, contradicts them. People who 
badly want something to be true, will grasp at any straw they can, and 
you can usually tell they are grasping straws, or either intentionally, 
or unintentionally, misrepresenting something, by, not merely failing 
to, refusing to link to the original source.

Then, of course, there are the delusional, who link to the source, fully 
certain that either you won't bother checking it, or that, when you do, 
you will agree with them (even when the article in question directly 
addresses claims like their own, and refutes them). In any case, never 
take the word of someone claiming things that don't fit the common view 
at face value. They might have a great idea, but they might also be a 
long standing nutcase, who mangles every paper they get their hands on, 
in an attempt to use even the words of people that undermine every claim 
they are making, in the very article being referenced. You can't be 
sure, unless you compare what is claimed *about* the article, with what 
it *actually* says. At least, not with any level of trust, especially 
when the claim is something that falls in the "fringe" zone, of theory, 
and gives skeptics a case of hives. lol

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