Any of you use obsidian to process current affairs? What is your workflow in researching the topic and what do you with multiple sources saying different things. What are your tips and tricks to make sure you are not falling into confirmation bias
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Last year I was studying for TNPSC (partly for UPSC). I have gathered notes (NCERTS and TN books) and current affairs (THe hindu and dinamani) in obsidian (initially in Notion). Open to discuss
If you’re looking to do informed analysis about the journalism you consume, the process would be similar to any other research: Break down individual articles/videos/podcasts into atomic units, and then link cross-discussions of similar subjects together.
For example, say you want to become informed about Covid. An in-depth article in Magazine A might discuss whether mask mandates are effective, whether vaccines are effective, and the civil liberties implications of each. Later, you might see another article in a news site on the opposite end of the political spectrum, discussing the same topics.
So you create a MOC on COVID, which links to another MOC on mask mandates, and yet another on civil liberties during the pandemic, with atomic notes on each subject.
How do you avoid confirmation bias? You can minimize it by consuming a variety of sources, from a variety of points on the political spectrum. Think about everything you read, being aware of your own biases. Do your best to be skeptical about all of it—your opponents and allies both. And also avoid the trap of believing that the moderate view is the best one. (If a politician is accused of taking a $1 million bribe, and he and his defenders say he didn’t do it, that does NOT mean he took a $500K bribe!)