It’s easy to tilt at windmills online. You think you are debating or considering a school of thought or theory, but really you’re dealing with a version that’s been through a game of telephone and retains only shadows of the source.
Hayek talked about the rare intellectuals who conceive original ideas, then the bulk of intellectuals who write books and papers based on these ideas, whom he called, “Second-hand dealers in ideas”.
Today, the most likely way you will encounter ideas is through social media posts made by people who listened to a podcast host who interviewed a guy who read a book written by a second-hand dealer.
In other words, you’re encountering the ideas fifth-hand.
This is neither good nor bad. Summaries and Cliff’s Notes and layman’s takes on ideas are useful. They have pros and cons.
But it is important to be aware of the distance between the theory and the version with which you are dealing. If you’re going to form a serious opinion or devote serious mental or reputational energy on the idea, go to the source, or at least the second-hand dealer first.
If not, carry on.