Aren't the lunatics in this context the ones who refuse to get a vaccine because they "did their own research"?
The problem isn’t doing your own research. It’s failing to understand or discern and falling for sensationalism.
You have to either know enough to understand the primary material or know enough about the nature of expertise to discern who likely knows what they are talking about.
If you can’t do one of those things then you’re better off not trying to do your own research.