Sources and the challenger agent
You check the sources cited and you use a challenge to test a conclusion.
ObjectiveBy the end of this lesson, you will be able to assess a cited source in thirty seconds and use the challenger agent to test a conclusion before you decide.
An answer with sources can be verified. An answer without sources has to be believed or redone. In Learnya, searches on the web and in the academic literature are cited: each important claim links to the page or article it comes from. Verifying starts with opening a few of these sources.
Reading a source in thirty seconds
- Who is speaking: a public authority, a newspaper, a manufacturer, an anonymous blog?
- When: is the publication date compatible with your topic?
- What the passage really says: did the agent summarise it faithfully, or draw more from it than it says?
- Is it a primary source or a restatement of another source?
The agent that challenges
For tasks that matter, Learnya can launch agents in parallel. One checks the sources, the other actively looks for what contradicts the conclusion. This second agent is valuable. It does not tell you everything is fine. It tells you where the reasoning is fragile, which study points the other way, which case was not considered.
Read its objections as you would those of a demanding colleague. Some are minor. Others change the conclusion. Either way, you now know what your decision rests on, and you can explain it.
Confirm that remote work increases productivity.
What do studies say about the effect of remote work on productivity? Present the favourable and unfavourable findings, then have a challenger agent critique your summary.
A leading question invites confirmation. An open question followed by a challenge invites a balanced view.
You do not have to follow the challenge. You only have to have read it before you decide.