Steve Litt wrote:
>
> As long as you don't instantly treat it as true. AFAIK anyone can write
> anything on a wiki, so IWSTM there's no facility for fact checking.
>
> If I see something in Encyclopedia Britannica, I believe it if it's a hard
> fact. If Encyclopedia Britannica had all knowledge I'd use it exclusively.
> Problem is, there are tons of facts and ideas not in Encyclopedia Britannica,
> so one muse cast a wider net, including Wikipedia. Then one fact checks.
>
> It's kinda like using a pre-written program vs. writing your own. If I use
> grep, I don't check it for bugs -- someone else already did. But if I write
> my own program to perform a grep-like functionality, I bug check it.
>
I fact-check from hardcopy encyclopedias, too. I've caught too many
errors and biases to do otherwise.
-- Chad
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