Unfortunately there is certainly no magical source of information.
Really, IMHO, it boils down to, a priori, and, a posteriori, knowledge or in simpler terms deductive and inductive logic.
Some people just cannot seem to get their heads around, on occasion, either concept. To give you an example;
I point to a clock on the wall and ask you is that a clock.
You look at it and see that it has hands and twelve numbers and therefore fits what you understand to be a clock. You say it is a clock simply
through deductive reasoning and you would be correct.
I say the time is two o’clock.
You look at the clock and you see the small hand pointing at 2 and the big hand pointing at 12. This fits to what you believe to be 2 o’clock. You
say that it is certainly 2 o’clock and you would be wrong. In this instance you would need to apply inductive reasoning by collecting data from
other clocks to ensure that it was in fact 2 o’clock.
The data you collect allows you to analyse the possibility as to whether it is two o’clock or not. You will get varying results, however you will
be able to collect enough data to state to a level of certainty the probability that it is in fact 2 o’clock.
It is the lack of understanding or appreciation that most things should be considered in terms or probability that I find frustrating. There are
quite a number of forums here where the lack of this type of understanding is prevalent, particularly those dealing with UFOs and religious/atheist
discussions.
In the end people seek the truth because they are curious, they appear to not want to hear it because they don’t understand it.
Cheers
edit on 11-8-2011 by myselfaswell because: typo