britwriter1111
Posts: 5
Joined: 3/3/2013 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JeffBC Is wikipedia lying to me? OP - sorry, a little off-topic, but then again, where information comes from matters and JeffBC asked... In America, higher education institutions do not accept wikipedia as a reliable, or valid, source of information. It is considered to be a tool, of sorts, in that something may be posted there that can used as a springboard for ideas and concepts to research via credentialed sources of information. The debate goes like this... Wikipedia entries may be added to, changed or proven false: at any time and by any one, regardless of veracity. Some say this means that more people are participating in creating the information base, so errors are caught and more points of view are presented. Also, because contributors live anywhere in the world, the biases of nationalism, financial gain and governmental propaganda are minimized greatly. Therefore, some think that wikipedia is a more truthful source of information than can be found elsewhere. The other side of the debate is that control of information is power. Credentialed information includes things like academic journals, encyclopedias, and some reference books. To be considered valid, these research sources have been studied, tested and organized. Wikipedia allows anyone to present their opinion as fact. Some people have an agenda. Some are of limited intelligence and/or of limited education (remember Sarah Palin thought that Africa was a country?). In short, those who "rule the world," do not accept wikipedia as anything more than intellectual fun. They'd say, "Consider the source." when it comes to reading wikipedia.
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