Research you can trust
Intermediate 3 · 1 minute 55 seconds · Free to learn · Words printed on screen · Watch above, then try the exercise below.
What you'll learn
- Memory answers vs researched answers — and when each is fine
- Why answers with sources beat answers without
- The trust test — agreement, benefit, freshness
- Asking for the disagreement when sources fight
Key points
The boiler example: a fifteen-year-old boiler, repair or replace — asked properly, with the boiler's age, the home's size, and the town, so the prices are local and current, not general.
When sources fight, ask for the range and the reasons behind it — a range with reasons beats a false exact number.
A citation proves the answer was copied from somewhere — it does not prove the claim is true; the three steps still apply to every source. Camp rule: Never trust an answer you can't trace.
Try it
- Pick one question with money attached.
- Research it with a source-showing tool.
- Run the three steps before you believe a number.
The words in this video
Prefer to read, or want to follow along while you watch? Here is everything the narrator says in this lesson, word for word.
Welcome back. I am Maggie. Today — research. Not finding an answer. Knowing whether the answer deserves your trust. Plain chat AI answers from memory, and its memory has a cut-off date and a confident streak. For facts that matter, that is not enough. So we use a research tool — one that searches the web as it answers, and shows its sources under every claim. Perplexity is the one from our chooser page.
My real question. My boiler is fifteen years old. Is it worth repairing, or replacing — and what do replacements actually cost this year. I ask it properly, with my picture — the boiler's age, my home's size, my town. Prices near me beat prices in general. The answer arrives wearing its evidence. Every claim has a little source under it. I can open the source and read the original myself.
Now the trust test, step one. Do two sources agree. If the manufacturer and an installer both give the same figure, it firms up. Step two — who benefits. A page selling boilers will find reasons to replace. A consumer group's page has less skin in the game. Step three — how fresh. Prices from three winters ago are history, not data. Check the date on anything money-shaped.
When sources fight, I ask the tool to show me the disagreement itself — the range, and why it exists. A range with reasons beats a false exact number. For a big question, I ask for the deep treatment — a full researched report, several minutes in the making, sources throughout. Worth it before big money moves. The caution. A cited source can still be a bad source — the citation proves it was copied, not that it is true. Your three steps still apply.
Try it. Take one question with money attached, research it with sources showing, and run the three steps — agree, benefit, freshness. Camp rule — never trust an answer you cannot trace. Next time, bigger writing projects. See you there.