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You know what I've never seen? An article that teaches how to do effective research like you suggest. Maybe that's what people who want a more reasoned and informed discussion should be pushing, the very resources that would help others become reasoned and informed.

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isn't this what you're supposed to be taught in high school or even elementary when writing essays?

In high school I was told to make up statistics as needed when writing essays. Anecdotal evidence of course but I suspect that many schools do a bad job at this.

But I suspect the bigger problem is that the amount of research needed to hold an informed opinion is growing exponentially in many fields.

> But I suspect the bigger problem is that the amount of research needed to hold an informed opinion is growing exponentially in many fields.

Which is why trust becomes more important than ever.

Sure, but that doesn't mean plenty of adults couldn't use a well designed refresher. After all, studies have shown[1] that many adults struggle with arithmetic of a level also taught in school.

[1] This article summarizes some of the findings of one such study and links to further resources https://qz.com/638845/americans-are-spectacularly-bad-at-ans...

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