Why do so many people neglect to cite reliable references when they answer question?

As a vegan, looking to help other vegans, I'm always surprised when people (both omnivores and vegetarians/vegans) neglect to cite references when they answer questions.

Nutrition and health are serious topics, people. If you carelessly give people bad information, you are not helping them!

2013-09-03T21:35:19Z

Here's the issue:

I see crap answers being offered, by both vegans and omnivores. I see answers that are glaringly wrong. By doing some research, and showing your citations, we can minimize these crap answers.

The problem with crap answers is that it forces people to wade through piles of misinformation in order to find good information.

2013-09-03T21:35:20Z

Here's the issue:

I see crap answers being offered, by both vegans and omnivores. I see answers that are glaringly wrong. By doing some research, and showing your citations, we can minimize these crap answers.

The problem with crap answers is that it forces people to wade through piles of misinformation in order to find good information.

?2013-09-04T01:28:12Z

Favorite Answer

Actually, you've got a fair point. I know that I've spend hours looking for a particular CNN report that is constantly cited by someone and have never found it. So I've gone through my previous couple of days worth of answers and left links where possible. But sometimes I use personal experience to illustrate my answers, sometimes, as other have stated, using common sense and there's no links for those. Sometimes tho, it's a question that may have been asked before and, although you know the answer because you looked it up before, you just can't find or remember where you got your answer from.

too.muchtv2013-09-04T18:49:19Z

1. Laziness. I'm here to kill time/procrastinate, really.
2. Many answers are common sense (where do I get protein?)
3. People don't ask for them. If someone asks, I'll go through the trouble of citing it. But when I did that before, someone didn't want to believe me, even though I gave direct FDA codification.
4. The references they give may be biased, e.g. China Study vs the rawfoodsos on whether or not being vegetarian is healthy. I guess that goes for reliability, which you want.
5. No references, just my experience. For example, I'll always state that lentils are the king of protein, because I always felt like crap when I don't have lentils. I may not be a RD, but my mom saw one. She received terrible advice (eat more cheese, less beans, get more protein!). I did that in college, and felt like crap. When she decided to stick to our traditional Indian food, she felt good and lost weight. I have very little confidence in just any ol' dietician. I think in some cases, anecdotal evidence is really superior to what someone learns in school, especially when that person has little experience in dealing with our population.

Red2013-09-04T17:11:52Z

I usually answer questions that can't have sources. For example, Trying to prove that something is a health hazard. I believe that everything within reason is healthy until proven otherwise. GMO crops have never been proven dangerous, for example, except for some studies that I don't agree with due to the methods in which they were conducting. For example, I saw a study that claimed that GMO corn caused stomach inflammation in pigs, even though the control group had similar inflammation. If I can't find a source showing that something is bad, then that in itself is a source.

Sawyer2013-09-04T12:19:35Z

Probably because it doesn't matter. People seem to believe what they want to believe and generally, the more factual your answer, the more people thumbs it down because it doesn't play in to what they want to believe...likely leaving the questioner to think the good answer is the crap answer because so many people disagreed with it. Furthermore, there is a site that can be referenced for almost any opinion out there.

As another answer said...Yahoo Opinions would be a better name for the site.

Anonymous2013-09-04T02:07:50Z

To be honest David that is the nature of the internet! I sometimes write from my own experience, in which case I don't back it up, it is my opinion and I make that clear. Other times when I'm making a point I will back it up with a link to make my argument. It doesn't change the fact that I can pretty much argue what I want, I could probably find something to back it up somewhere. For example I can find pages which state that cholesterol is both good and bad for you http://naturalrevolution.org/new-study-cholesterol-is-healthy-inflammation-is-the-real-enemy/ http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/conditions/high-cholesterol.aspx. I can find pages which state that veganism is good for you: http://www.timetogoveggie.com/ttgv/health.html and pages which state that its not : http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/food-news/9119808/Five-reasons-vegan-diets-are-terrible http://www.poliquingroup.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/844/Vegetarians_Beware_Nutrient_Deficiencies.aspx

So in answer to your question, as far as nutrition is concerned, most answers are bad answers. Adding bad links doesn't help the answer be less bad. The person asking the question should always do their own research and find out the truth.

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