The internet is a big place with a lot of people who claim to know things. Myself included. I've narrowed down what to look for using these 5 factors to determine whether or not someone is a good source of information. This is by no means all inclusive but these are rules I try to follow for myself as well as what I look for in who I deem good enough to learn from.
The list is simply
1 - The source knows their subject matter
2 - The source shows where their knowledge came from
3 - The source says "I don't know"
4 - The source uses non absolute language - "always" and "never" become "usually," "generally," etc
5 - The source is open to changing their minds
The first is by far the simplest at a glance. If somebody has a PHD in astrophysics and is teaching me about how to tell the chemical composition of a planet's atmosphere in a different galaxy I would trust them. However, if I were getting that same lesson from a used car salesman who's desk has 3 second place trophies from when he was in high school 40 years ago I would be much more doubtful. That's not to say the salesman is wrong. In fact, he could be more correct and a better teacher than the PHD. So how do we navigate this gray area? What if this salesman aced physics in high school, loved it with a passion that would put the PHD to shame and has been scraping by since using his fun money to take classes online? The myriad of possible reasons the person without credentials could be more competent are astronomical. So what do we do? How is this handled? The first step is to do some searching yourself by vetting the information. This leads to the second point of finding where the knowledge came from.
So for something like an astrophysics PHD thats pretty simple - they have a PHD and are instantly credible. That makes them much easier to trust quickly. Then we have the salesman above who is surprising us with unexpected knowledge. It sounds good. They're explaining it well. But - they are a salesman so being well spoken and convincing is part of the job. It then takes time to show whether they are credible or not. To put it frankly - that's not something always done with the quick attention spans of a solid portion of internet information perusers. Credentials such as degrees and certifications being listed as well as their experiences are encouraging but sometimes its worth digging a little deeper. For this conversation with the salesman there would need to be questions like "where did you learn this?" and questions that require them to expand on that knowledge. Ideally they'll respond with the answers and be happy someone is showing genuine interest. What if they don't though? Lets say the salesman doesn't. Lets say they respond with "I don't know." Does that mean they're a bad source?
To put it bluntly - no. That is a great sign that they are a credible source. It shows awareness of the limitations in their knowledge. It means they're not going to make up an answer. It adds to your ability to trust what they do say because it shows they're not comfortable making something up to look like they know more than they do. What they may do is make an educated guess and explain the reasoning behind. However, they make this clear. Lets say this salesman responds to a question with "I don't know for sure but I can guess that because of..." The language used is very clear in what is known, what is unknown, and what is possibly known. The choice of words is vital and that language choice shows consideration.
The language spoken about is filled with the possibility of what more information may reveal. The use of "always" and "never" is not a common thing. The claim that something is true 100% of the time is rare. We can compare how this hypothetical salesman would talk about selling a car compared to a more dishonest coworker of his. Our science minded salesman may say "This is a 6 year old car with 50,000 miles on it. The previous owner was not the best with maintenance and though the transmission is doing well the brakes and the fuel injectors will need to be replaced soon. Its a reliable model though and once those are replaced it should run smoothly for a few years yet." Lets compare that to the dishonest coworker. "This car has barely run 50,000 miles and its still going really strong. It has no issues and you're in luck since we just got it in 2 days ago so if you walk away with it today you're getting the best deal of your life." Can you picture the second salesman answering "I don't know" to a single question? People like that are more likely to come up with an answer for everything. Makes you wonder if they were shown evidence they were wrong would they double down or actually admit to the error?
The ability to change your mind in the face of enough evidence is a hard way to earn trust. Its easy to fall in the trap of "if I admit i'm wrong then I lose trust since they may think i'm wrong later" but thats not the case. At least, it shouldn't be the case. Some people would though. Thats just the sad truth. Perhaps thats why the fitness scammers like V Shred have so much success. They speak in absolutes that they have the one and only correct answer for everybody. Never face the evidence they're wrong. Never change their mind. Never have the courage to say they don't know the answer to every question.
Its hard to find good sources for information. Its hard to avoid the sensational big answer claims but the weird truth is to look for those with credibility who change their minds and don't know everything about their subject. It sounds counter to what an expert should be. Being aware of this though may change your viewpoints on who deserves popularity and who has it. Perhaps I should also put in a section about being willing to seek help from others or admit that other (better yet specific) people know more than they do on a particular subject but this is long enough. For now, scrutinize who is worthy to be a source of information as that is a lot of trust especially on a subject like your health.
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