• I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    4 days ago

    To play devil’s advocate, an issue arises when there AREN’T more verifiable sources. If someone makes an outlandish claim like “Billy Joel used to wash his ass with crisco” and cites a dubious interview, it’s hard to find a source that definitively states Billy Joel DIDN’T wash his ass with crisco. Even worse, is if there was an actual, verified instance of one time where Billy Joel washed his ass with crisco. That may have been the only time he ever did it, and it may have been done as a joke or something like that, but now we have an interview saying he did it regularly, and an example of when he did. Now it’s a lot harder to disprove.

    I feel gross defending Republican talking points, now I need to go take a shower. Maybe wash my ass with crisco.

    • tabular@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      4 days ago

      That sounds like a generic issue one should expect. I wouldn’t consider this a specific party’s talking point until they suggest a solution that isn’t just better reasoning, better logic, better evidence.

    • Sckharshantallas@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      3 days ago

      There’s no problem in citing in that an interview cited fact X. Then if the issue is discussed, some other reputable news sources might say it’s likely not true and you can source them too.

      When you present the facts as they are instead of trying to portray them as absolute truths, you’re doing the right work for Wikipedia.

      Even scientific facts aren’t “the truth”, but our current understanding of things. Wikipedia isn’t about what’s the ultimate truth, it’s about documenting and organizing information so that people can get a grasp on subjects.

    • jali67@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      4 days ago

      Republicans call anything that does not align with their billionaire funded think tanks and knockoff media sources fake or lying. I mean they literally replaced AP with some knockoff bullshit media source for the White House. You think this is about verifiable sources?