Growing pains for Wikipedia

TalkBack 47 of 110:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

way off

The problem I see with your arguement is that you are putting too much faith in the source, rather using your own brain to make decisions. Nobody is stopping you, but it will be a dangerous move on your part to believe the message interpreted by you, when you, for some reason, trust the source.

If you just blindly follow messages that you have interpreted from various sources of information, as you have described here, how do you ensure any coherence in your thinking?

Information does not, in any way, potray the truth. Information is a reflection of different peoples opinions, nothing more. All information is highly valuable in helping one develop his own theories, which he can use to make predictions about his environment, but any good theory spans many subjects and many sources. That is how one can ensure a quality theory. If you simply rely on one source and one subject, it is easy to be mislead, because there is no sure way of determining whether any source is reputable.

Take your examples:

"Consider the former Iraqi Defense Minister"

If he blames his sources, then what good is he? As good as his sources? This shows he can't think for himself.

"health book that advises you to stop taking your insulin"

You would ignore this approach, just because your doctor (reputable source) tells you to? Maybe there are cures for diabetes that require for you to cut back on your insulation and follow a certain regeme. It might work. If you had diabetes, you would be wise to not be so ignorant as to turn your nose up at a possible cure for your illness, just because your doctor tells you to. Again, quite relying on people to tell you what to do. Think for yourself. That's what your brain is for.

"a guy with a tin foil beanie telling you the world is going to end in a hailstorm of gerbils"

This also, could be quite valuable. It is never an advantage to ignore. I wouldn't mind getting to know such a guy, as he either has a good sense of humor, or he has a deeply unique perspective of the world. I could probably learn a lot by getting to know such a fellow.

Posted by: timeofmind   Posted on: 12/06/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• Busting the myths about QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions and IBM Smart Business IBM So you already know there aren't actually any alligators in the New York ... Download Now
• Three Steps You Need to Know to Stop Data Loss Varonis Sensitive data exposed to misuse or loss... it is the stuff of nightmares ... Download Now
• Why Isn't Server Virtualization Saving Us More? A Few Small Changes May Dramatically Increase Your Efficiency VMware Companies have rapidly adopted server virtualization over the past few ... Download Now