The idea of “doing our own research” has exploded in recent years, as I shared in this post in 2023. It had grown tremendously at that point, and has only continued to rise.
What does it really mean, though?
Ryan Holiday does a great job of unpacking it in his new book “Wisdom Takes Work“, where he says:
We should absolutely “do our research”—to borrow the term popular with conspiracy theorists—but by that, we mean actually do the research. Like, read real and credible authors on a topic, lots of them. Do actual thinking, not what feels like thinking. Ask real questions, instead of “just asking questions.” Listen to the answers. Allow ourselves to be proven wrong. Allow ourselves to learn new things. A podcast is not a sufficient briefing on a topic!
Doing your own research is a good thing, but it needs to be real research. Find real sources, and find information from both sides of the issue. Be willing to be proven wrong.
As Holiday says, “a podcast is not a sufficient briefing on a topic” and neither is a blog like this one. Social media is even worse. Podcasts and blogs can be good starting points, but you should go far beyond these briefings to see what the real truth is on any subject.
