# Status and Citations By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2022-10-13 Quotes and references to other materials are commonplace in many situations. Academic articles, business presentations, and newspapers are full of quotes and references to other people's work. We have an obsession with attribution. We don't want to be seen as stealing someone else's work or taking undeserved credit. But it also signals the author's status and legitimacy. Requiring references is at least one way of detecting lies. However, there are problems with using references and quotes as the standard of honesty and attribution. When I started graduate school, I asked one of my advisors how far back I should go in the literature for my research. In particular, should I eventually be referencing the likes of Socrates and the Bible as some of the earliest written ideas? You'll reach a point where attribution no longer exists, and you question the origin of ideas and the meaning of life. Hence, the emergence of philosophy and theology. In the end, you'll realize that your life and ideas are the product of every encounter and experience. It is impossible to reference everything that has made you who you are and what you think. The overheard conversation to the taste of the morning coffee; everything is a reference point. The core question to my advisor was when will a person trust me as a legitimate researcher and thinker? His answer was, "you'll just know." Unsatisfied with that answer, and to be safe, I ended up citing nearly double the number of sources than was necessary and meaningful. After all, this is part of the game of gaining trust. Going through the motions and overdoing it can provide signals of credibility. However, it also highlighted my insecurities and lack of status. Insecurity is an individual problem that each person must resolve. Status is an organizational and cultural problem we choose to engage with as it suits us. Today, my perspective is you can choose to listen to me or not. I'll sometimes include references that are the most meaningful to me as part of my journey. Other times I'll make a statement because it is interesting to me at that moment. It is not a sign of disrespect to others but an acknowledgment that our ideas and those that came before us cannot be thoroughly cited without going mad. At a minimum, I avoid using references as a crutch to validate my immature ideas or elevate my status. This is the case more often than many would care to admit. #### Related Items [[References]] [[Thinking]] [[Trust]] [[Philosophy]] [[Theology]] [[Status]]