# A serious question for Sam Stone on Factual Errors

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-question-for-sam-stone-on-factual-errors/955881>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [December 11, 2021, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-question-for-sam-stone-on-factual-errors/955881 "2021-12-11T12:32:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 1196

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**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-question-for-sam-stone-on-factual-errors/955881/1196 "2023-11-14T03:25:33Z")

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> [@Sam\_Stone](#):
>
> To the extent that I have made any errors in citing (the Musk joke got me, for example), It’s because I get bombarded with demands for cites for everything, and occasiinally when I am rushed and trying to get through them all I might make a mistake.

Well, y’know, you could try not posting so many off-the-cuff claims and hyperbolic statements whose factual veracity you don’t really know. Then you wouldn’t have to go digging around haphazardly to try to support them when you get challenged on them.

This is the behavior pattern now enshrined in my consciousness as [“the Pareto’s peas thing”.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-examples-of-authentic-bell-curves/991098/41) Is there a lot of dumb crap floating around on the internet that can look superficially plausible to a casual reader, even a smart one? Sure there is. Do you have to credulously regurgitate dumb crap in a notoriously nitpicky internet forum without subjecting it to closer scrutiny or even seriously thinking about its credibility? No, you don’t.

Ultimately, Sam, it’s not “leftist” malice that gets you into hot water with your cites: it’s your own perennial gullibility about dumb internet crap.

> [@Sam\_Stone](#):
>
> Here’s a hint: If you are looking for an admission or apology from someone, try not interlacing your requests with smears, snark and outright character attacks.

Pffft, now that’s just childish. Grownups don’t refuse to acknowledge or apologize for an error they made merely because the people complaining about the error aren’t being nice enough to them about it. The basic honesty and integrity involved in admitting a mistake should not be treated as conditional on other people’s behavior.

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