>>11899279Yeah, you generally need some background knowledge on the topic you are reading about. Still, you can usually tell when an author is absolutely full of shit. Staying away from partisan sites (particularly when it comes to scientific fields, but it applies to all fields, really) is a must.
For instance, you shouldn't learn about religion from an atheist or from a religious fundie. In that case an expert in theology or a philosopher (but one that isn't too partisan about it) would be a better source. And I say this as an atheist.
If you are researching, say, climate change, a climatologist with 30 years working in the field would be a better source than a left wing or right wing activist. (Still you should check his arguments, sources and who he is)
For astronomy, an actual astronomer would be better than a theoretical physicist, which in turn would be better than a journalist. But maybe the theoretical physicist knows a shitload, and the astronomer is a hack. Hence you check who they are, their sources, and what they are actually saying compared to what most of his field says.
These are general rules of thumb obviously and your mileage may vary.
