There are worse mottos than “nullius in verba” - roughly, “take nobody’s word for it”.

You should feel a bit of discomfort - sheepishness? - when you defer, just like you might when you have to ask a stranger for directions. Sometimes asking a stranger for directions is absolutely the right move! And also, if you have the time, you should figure out your way around the city your damn self!

But if you need to get to the emergency room in a strange city and your phone is dead, that sheepishness should melt away by comparison to the gratitude you feel to somebody who knows this place and tells you how to get there.