> Do you ensure that every bit of material that you read isn't written by someone who also has some really stupid and harmful beliefs about some other topic?
Everyone makes mistakes, and I've been known to rescind my references and recommendations upon making such discoveries.
In this case all it takes is simply loading the referenced page, the hogwash is front and center. Give me a break.
> ... and I've been known to rescind my references and recommendations upon making such discoveries.
Why?
If person A makes some claim about subject X at some point in time, and you find it true and worth sharing, what then makes their claims invalid if you discover later that person A believes something you find distasteful? If their statement about X was true at the point in time it was made, is it any less true if you discover you can't stand the person?
What if you read a book by someone who makes well written arguments and an enjoyable read, and then attend a book signing years later and realize that they have rancid BO or something, and are oddly vocal about [insert some fetish you find exceedingly disgusting here]? Does the character of the author you discover later impact the arguments in the previous book?
It's a really odd and, IMO, exceedingly broken filter for what sources of information you're willing to consider. It makes it really easy to never go outside your own head, because anyone who believes all the same things you do can't have anything terribly interesting to teach you, and anyone who believes different things can be spun as somehow abominable.
I'm not nearly so arrogant as to think I know everything. I'm certain there are things I'm wrong about, though I've no idea what they are at the moment. I'm equally certain that I have rather different opinions about subjects than many of the people I interact with, either in person or online. Some of them make for interesting conversations (I prefer a fire pit, pipe or cigars, and a bit of whiskey to make things civil), some of them we simply agree not to discuss, and that's fine.
> I've been known to rescind my references and recommendations upon making such discoveries
You understand that most everybody who was born in the first part of the 20th century or earlier believed quite a few things that we now consider pretty abhorrent.
Everyone makes mistakes, and I've been known to rescind my references and recommendations upon making such discoveries.
In this case all it takes is simply loading the referenced page, the hogwash is front and center. Give me a break.