This is something that I've seen a lot, not just here on Xomba but on other websites where more controversial subjects are discussed. Person A posts an article or renders an opinion about something. Person B disagrees with the points made in the article and posts a number of news links or other information to explain why. Person A doesn't even read the information, then goes on to dismiss them out-of-hand for being biased.

What is wrong with this picture? The basic rule-of-thumb for anything you find on the Internet is it should be corroborated by at least two other independent sources before it is accepted as factual. Those two sources should not be part of the story you are fact-checking nor should they be published by the same company or political group that is the source for the original story, which prevents conflict-of-interest in the information.

If the information can be corroborated, it should be accepted.

The trouble is some people debating contentious subject matter have strong opinions and biases, which leads them to lower the criteria for what information is factual for finding things that support their opinions and, conversely, a raising of the criteria for items that contradict or rebuke their opinions. It is basic human nature.

For a personal example, I have been in many debates in the political arena and, since my goal is to out the truth regardless of party affiliation, I've used sources from what some people would consider "left-leaning" or "progressive" websites. The information is corroborated from other independent sources and is intuitively correct. When I've used that information to support my arguments, it has been dismissed out-of-hand by those whose arguments have been demonstrated to be false.

I am not saying that I am always correct with my information. I would go so far as to say that I am asking to be corrected, if I am wrong. But, by extension, I am making the demand that if I am wrong that I be shown with counter-information and corroborated evidence WHY I am wrong. Just claiming that I am wrong because I have a different political view is unacceptable. Furthermore, using blanket ad hominems to attack me when I continue to ask for that corroborated evidence is evidence that what I am asking for doesn't exist.

We're all adults here, so the schoolyard name-calling should have been outgrown years ago. The greatest gift freedom gives us is the freedom to think for ourselves. We should honor that gift by having intelligent, respectful exchanges of information.