Topic awaiting preservation: Wiki info (Page 1 of 1)

Am I correct the the Wikipedia is like other wikis in that anyone can add or edit articles in it?

yes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk

It amazes me then that I've seen so many people quote things from the Wikipedia as authoritative. Who knows how much the contributor actually knows about the subject he or she is contributing?

Please tell me I didn't reply to a post originating from someone losing an argument because of Wikipedia.

nope, just wondering

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Who knows how much the contributor actually knows about the subject he or she is contributing?

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Being that it is an open community, and what one writes is open to the scrutiny of many if wrong, the checks and balances system seems to work well. The topics which are disputed have a little stopsign icon at the top to let you know, but for the most part, a lot of the information I have gathered on Wikipedia is accurate...or at least checks out with other sources.

I've had no complaints, and it is usually my first stop for reasearch nowadays.

Ramasax
www.AmericanSerf.us

I have never had anyone use info from the Wikipedia to refute any of my arguments.
But I have seen people on the Asylum use information from there as part of their arguments in certain threads.
In my mind, that is not valid, as we do not know the credentials of the person posting the info on Wikipedia. It may just be someone posting biased info based on facts mixed with their own beliefs, which just happen to correspond with the beliefs of the person posting on the Asylum (or anywhere else for that matter).

I do use the wikipedia, but as Ramasax hinted at, it's best use is as a starting point, not as the final word.

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briggl said:

It may just be someone posting biased info based on facts mixed with their own beliefs

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Which is, quite frankly, true of any information source on the internet, credentials or no. Impartiality is a myth.


Justice 4 Pat Richard