the laziest response

[m_d_h]

The laziest response in an Internet argument is skeptically asking for a citation in support of what I've written.  If you disagree with what I've said, and want to show me some facts in response, do so, but asking me to show my work when you have not done so yet ... lame!  It's the same as guys on the hookup apps who ask for a pic when they haven't shown one yet.  If you want to get into a battle of citations, great, you go first.

It is also somewhat offensive in that your first move is to not trust me, your first move is to accuse me of making shit up.  Why should I play along with that line of attack?

And then if I do show my work, the most likely response will be silence, they've already moved on, they didn't want a real debate, or they would've countered with an actual argument.  The second most likely response is a conclusory claim that my source isn't reputable.  Again, without anything specific in rebuttal.  If I were to show my work, which derives from a database maintained by the Federal Reserve, they'd just say the Federal Reserve can't be trusted #EndTheFed LOL.

So, my best advice is to avoid arguing with strangers on the Internet.

Comments

[matrixmann]

Now that you mention something like that... I remember such a situation too.
And in the end, all you could listen to is talk like "I expected you to lay down no actual proof" - and that after I searched a dozen links on Wikipedia at least to quote to supply them.
You know, that's not even cheeky, it's even impudent. Because, if I let it show very obviously that I'm a foreigner, I fucking have to take into account "shit, I've got to pick out "proofs" which are authored in a language my opponent understands!", then calling me like "you didn't lay down any proof" at all, that's... Put someone's head into the fan. Seriously.
I could show up with even other resources, but in the end it's of no use in a discussion if only I understand them lnguistically.
And then, it's already a struggle to even select any public resource at all because everyone has its little tiptoeing that they don't like source X because of whatever reason that made it "not serious" to them.

(Really, that's a struggle that I regularly have to face because my linguistic abilities give me access to way more resources than people whose native is only English and who never got into connection with another language. - Most people are even too lazy to just use Google Translate to acquire more info than just what they know from their established media.)

[m_d_h]

yeah, it's not like producing a citation will win anybody over, it's just a cheap shot to ask for one while providing no argument or information of your own

I'm happy to have debates and discussions with people from other countries who speak other languages, I've learned a lot from them, it is one of the best things about the Internet -- but if you've got a closed mind then people from other countries will only irritate you

[matrixmann]

I kind of wonder what people take along with them who just read or check out those linked resources as innocent bystanders... If they think and act the same like somebody who challenged you to a duel? (At least I feel like, if I start to go searching, I deliver more than enough to check out and to maybe get sceptical over in regard to what most people publicly know about something - without sailing in the seas of fakenews and spreading bullshit on the niveau of ridiculous conspiracy theories.)

[ahunter3]

Depends... if you're asserting something factual, as opposed to opinion or perspective, and it isn't generally accepted (e.g. the sun rises in the east), it isn't unreasonable to ask for a cite. Opinions and viewpoints don't need to be backed up by a cite, as the author is entitled to one on their own power.

[m_d_h]

Well, I don't think I was asserting something factual that isn't generally accepted -- anybody who looked up the information would find what I was asserting. And all the person said was "Citation?". So lazy! If instead they wrote, "I've studied this issue also, and I found the exact opposite, which dataset did you consult?" then I would've felt like a true debate was at hand.