09-29-2009, 05:40 PM
Hi,
I think your professor was being a bit lazy. Any source, especially an unrefereed source on the internet, must be evaluated on its merits. And the amount of digging should depend more on the importance of the information (in this case quite trivial) than on the source used. A well developed, perhaps even hyper-developed, BS detector can often be a useful tool in getting to the 'truth'. However, in the final analysis, any digging leads to a regression to something claimed by others as either an idea or an observation. At some point, we need to accept something on faith or we'll never progress past that first question.
(Aside to eppie): The OED is a scholarly production that is the result of ongoing research by a number of experts in the English language. Its credibility is much greater than that of Wikipedia. A reference in Wikipedia to the OED is a strong indicator of truth.
--Pete
Quote:You quote Wikipedia as a reliable source, which is always a bad idea. I had a professor back in university who would tear any essay apart when it cited wikipedia as a source. :lol: He's right though, Wikipedia isn't reliable.I think *always* is a bit off. Wikipedia is a good source on many subjects. Much like open source software, Wikipedia articles are constantly under scrutiny. The particular article I referenced had a number of indicators that supported its credibility. For one thing, it gave multiple possible sources for the term, admitting that there was no definitive evidence for any of them. An admission of ignorance is often an indicator of truth. For another, the article had a number of references to other sources, some of which are the 'gold standard' in their field (in particular, the OED).
I think your professor was being a bit lazy. Any source, especially an unrefereed source on the internet, must be evaluated on its merits. And the amount of digging should depend more on the importance of the information (in this case quite trivial) than on the source used. A well developed, perhaps even hyper-developed, BS detector can often be a useful tool in getting to the 'truth'. However, in the final analysis, any digging leads to a regression to something claimed by others as either an idea or an observation. At some point, we need to accept something on faith or we'll never progress past that first question.
(Aside to eppie): The OED is a scholarly production that is the result of ongoing research by a number of experts in the English language. Its credibility is much greater than that of Wikipedia. A reference in Wikipedia to the OED is a strong indicator of truth.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?