# Repeated refusals to post a cite to a claim **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 22, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-refusals-to-post-a-cite-to-a-claim/632303 "2012-08-22T19:31:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-refusals-to-post-a-cite-to-a-claim/632303/41 "2012-08-24T18:29:22Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Sometimes the only cite I know of for something is a book a read some time ago, which I no longer have or can’t find or don’t happen to have available near me at the moment. Those are the time when the calls for “cite?” are really frustrating. Then you admit that you are recalling something you have previously read and do not recall where you heard it, and then you be comfortable with the other person not accepting your word and not agreeing with you. > [@adaher](#): > > However, unsupported assertions are made all the time here. Cites are asked for rather selectively, and are usually motivated by a poster not liking the fact in question. Few ask for cites when they like the fact. Providing the cite neither makes them like it any better, nor does it make them accept it. I still try to do it, but it’s pretty annoying. Welcome to human nature. The way our brains function, we are much more likely to accept something we agree with, and to scrutinize something we disagree with. If something conflicts with something we believe, then we often invent reasons to dismiss the counter argument. > [@](#): > > Whether it does or not is up to the individual observer. Who BTW can, with seconds of effort, usually check a fact themselves rather than accosting a poster who might not even be online. When that person is making a strange claim, it is not on me to go find where they heard their strange information, it is on them to show me, to explain what they are thinking. If they are unwilling/unable to show me, it is my perogative to dismiss their statements. I am not compelled to believe them just because they say it. If I am unwilling/unable to provide a cite for you, then I just have to accept that you might not wish to believe me. If it’s important enough for me to feel like I need to argue the point, then it is important enough for me to look for some reference. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-refusals-to-post-a-cite-to-a-claim/632303/42 "2012-08-24T18:48:34Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Then you admit that you are recalling something you have previously read and do not recall where you heard it, and then you be comfortable with the other person not accepting your word and not agreeing with you. I know that wasn’t addressed to me, but I agree with that completely. I accept that not everything I say will be believed if I can’t prove it. > [@](#): > > When that person is making a strange claim, it is not on me to go find where they heard their strange information, it is on them to show me, to explain what they are thinking. If they are unwilling/unable to show me, it is my perogative to dismiss their statements. I am not compelled to believe them just because they say it. I agree, but I can’t assume the poster is still present. Since I actually want to know, I’m more likely to find out if I look it up myself. Obviously, if I don’t really want to know, I can just demand a cite, then say the cite is unacceptable. If a cite is not provided, then I can switch to an ad hominem attack on the poster’s reliability. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-refusals-to-post-a-cite-to-a-claim/632303.md?page=2)