My Dear Students,
If you will click on the title of this blog entry, you will be taken to a news article I found today - about Wikipedia. For those of you who have had Fallacy Detective, I'm sure you'll recognize the "faulty appeal to the masses" that's going on. Apparently, persons in the legal profession, from lawyers to judges and more, are relying on Wiki as a PRIMARY AND RELIABLE SOURCE. As you can see, this has led to legal appeals and marks a disturbing trend.
Now, I know that we all discussed using Wiki as a 'good place to start'. It is a good place to start. It gives great summary, usually. In addition, it often has direct links to genuine primary information. Using it for that is all good.
I just hope you will be struck with the sad humor of this situation. The internet is a tool, not an authority...LOL.
(This reminds me of when my neice went to see a new neurologist to confirm a condition called Neurofibromatosis. The doctor was not familiar with it -how did he pass medical school?- and went and looked it up on the internet. My niece is now looking for a second opinion from a doctor who would know enough to even have an opinion....GOLLY!)
Please post responses, I'd like to get an idea of how everyone's thought processes work. Consider the posted responses as like a message board. BUT, remember, it IS the internet, so..use your netiquette. :-)
Mrs. Gayer
2 comments:
Ooooooooooooookay, what was going through that guy's mind when he declared Wiki as a primary source????? (rolls eyes at how Stupid people in power can be)
This is Lillianne and Miriam posting.....
It's interesting--- why would the person ruling a case decide *Ooh, hey, let's look at this website that ANYONE can look at, ANYONE can create, and ANYONE can edit! Even Mrs. Gayer's class could write their own Wiki article. Even the defense attorney could fit it to suit their means. But since it's there, it must be correct.*
I think Glenn Beck could have a field day with this article.. I wonder what he would say about it?
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