My comment doesn’t suggest people have to run their own research study or develop their own treatise on every topic. It suggests people have make a conscious choice, preferably with reasonable judgment, about which sources to trust and to develop a lay understanding of the argument or conclusion they’re repeating. Otherwise you end up with people on the left and right reflexively saying “communism bad” or “capitalism bad” because their social media environment repeats it a lot, but they’d be hard pressed to give even a loosly representative definition of either.

The online comment context and usage of “Why won’t you debate, are you scared” suggests the response is directed at online trolls, people who argue in bad faith, and imperiously demand rigourous debate without offering the same let alone an ounce of intellectual generosity, i.e. sealioning. In contrast, something like a movie review is a structured evaluation is still an opinion, but it doesn’t deride readers for not engaging with it.

The usage of “independent thought” has never been “independent of all outside influence”, it has simply meant going through the process of reasoning–thinking through a chain of logic–instead of accepting and regurgitating the conclusions of others without any of one’s own reasoning. It’s a similar lay meaning as being an independent adult. We all rely on others in some way, but an independent adult can usually accomplish activities of daily living through their own actions.

In 5 years, Americans who fuck up while visiting Europe or Asia and get deported will have a meltdown thinking they’re being sent to Latin America.