Doing Your Own Research and the Illusion of Independence

Abstract The phrase ‘do your own research,’ popular among fringe theorists, has been criticized for encouraging audiences not to defer to the experts. However, it also encourages the listener not to defer to the speaker either. Why do fringe theorists make confident assertions and then tell their audience not to take their word for it? I argue that telling your audience to do their own research can serve several functions for speakers with low credibility. First, it can function as an epistemic virtue signal, raising the speaker’s credibility with the audience. Second, if the fringe theorist can direct their audience’s research so they appear to independently find evidence that confirms the fringe view, that evidence will have greater probative force than it would if the fringe theorist provided it directly. Fringe theorists may tell their audience to do their own research to foster the illusion of independence while, in fact, the fringe theorist has intentionally or unintentionally directed the audience’s inquiry to confirm the fringe view.