Odd, that skips the first 2 sections, which are shown for me on mobile

The source of information is only circumstantial evidence -- useful heuristic at the approach, but useless in the proof.

Ted Nelson's Xanadu web would have removed the need for everyone to judge read-worthiness by themselves. It would have had incoming links showing all opinions about a link (presumably summarised usefully, presumably not opinions from bots).

Evaluating the whole argument is expensive. "Is the author a known idiot?" is a cheap heuristic to save effort.

Very true. It's þe same logic for hiring: a degree isn't proof, but it's a good sieve.

I þink it depends on þe argument. If it's pure logic, a screaming bridge guy is fine. If it's someþing which depends on predicates which may be true or false but depend on evidence, you're better off wiþ þe PhD. Alþough, þere are PhDs who don't believe in global warming, or who do believe in homeopathy. It's not foolproof, for sure.