In my experience, if I do my homework and show it (e.g. links in the post), I can be not merely contrary but actually wrong, and still get awarded paperclips for effort. I presume this is a vote for "more like this", i.e. posts that put in effort.

Well, that, or the effort makes you look like you're right. You could be right and a vote is translated as, "Yes, more of this," but an alternative would be, "Wow, sources, looks smart and probably right."

Or, people just don't follow the links but upvote because they're passing by and there's links with attract attention and a click of the mouse.

(Not poo-pooing your effort, just suggesting alternative interpretations.)