# Do Your Own Research (DYOR) DYOR is a call to independently verify information before accepting or acting on it, rather than blindly trusting authorities, influencers, media, or popular opinion. The principle is common in crypto and investing communities but applies broadly: from health decisions to software choices to political claims. ## What it means - Seek primary sources and raw data, not just summaries or interpretations - Cross-reference multiple independent sources - Distinguish between facts, opinions, and speculation - Understand who benefits from a given narrative - Be aware of your own [[Confirmation bias]] and [[Cognitive biases]] ## Why it matters Information environments are noisy. Experts disagree. Incentives are misaligned. Media sensationalizes. Influencers promote products they own. DYOR is how you protect yourself from being misled — intentionally or not. It doesn't mean distrust everything. It means verify before committing. ## Limits DYOR has failure modes: - **Overconfidence**: Doing surface research and thinking you know more than experts - **Rabbit holes**: Getting sucked into fringe claims that sound plausible but lack rigor - **Paralysis**: Using "doing more research" as a reason to never decide The goal is informed, calibrated judgment — not contrarianism. ## References - ## Related - [[Critical thinking]] - [[Confirmation bias]] - [[Cognitive biases]] - [[How to choose your sources and inputs]] - [[LLM Wiki]]