ATLAS OF LANGUAGE

Contextual explanation · NAV-G04-039

Source of information

This explanation addresses the term in its originating context. It is not an additional canonical Atlas profile.

Explanation

Source here concerns the origin or transmission route of information. These roles must be separated: someone repeating a claim need not have witnessed the event. Several publications may also depend on one original report and therefore provide no independent confirmations. In testimony and epistemic vigilance, access, expertise, transmission and interests all matter. Credibility is domain-sensitive and graded, not a permanent quality label attached to a person. Source evaluation therefore asks not merely for a name but for a traceable relationship between claim, access and evidence.

Movement of thought

1. Record the specific claim. 2. Separate originator from transmitter. 3. Examine the original access. 4. Trace dependencies among reports. 5. State the justified degree of confidence.

Example

Three websites reproduce one press release. Agreement supplies three locations where the claim appears, not three independent observations.

Counter-test

A familiar name does not guarantee expertise in every field; conversely, anonymity does not establish falsity.

Scientific use case

Information research can model transmission chains and explicitly document dependence.

Effect

Source evaluation makes a claim's route as important as its apparent frequency.

Resonance

A message can speak through many voices while looking at the world through one window.

Distinction

Distinguish source from retrieval location, authority, independent evidence and guaranteed truth.

Sources