Dr. Steven Novella

Not an advocacy group, but scientific.

Their advocacy is science and critical thinking or whatever, not a conclusion, right?

Like, as we say, if your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, right?

So you don't want to ask that person.

You want to, like, I would say, don't go to a surgeon to find out if you need surgery first.

You want to go to the non-surgeon first, and then they'll refer you to the surgeon if they think that they need a surgical opinion.

But anyway, so that's what for a non-expert, which is everybody for almost everything, right?

Maybe you're an expert in one thing.

Maybe you're not an expert in anything.

Most people, even if you're an expert in one thing, you're a non-expert for everything else.

So for most things, you're finding out what the experts say.

If you have enough knowledge that you can go to the primary literature, let's just say that level, because expertise is a gradient as well.

It's not a black or white thing.

If you think you can read and understand the primary literature, then that's where you have to go.

You shouldn't rely on secondary sources like what people are saying about it.

You want to go back to the primary source.

And then, you know, it's about, you know, finding reliable sources, evaluating what is it actually saying, how reliable is it, and what does everyone else say?

Like, what are both sides saying and how do they respond?

Until you've sort of found your way to the end of the argument.

And then when you come to a conclusion, and then you still ask, and what do the experts say about it?