August 12, 2006 [LINK]

Wikipedia: true or false?

I grudgingly admit to being a regular user of Wikipedia to get fast information, but I've learned to take its content with a grain of salt. No doubt, it is usually correct (like the New York Times! ) and it is probably getting better with time, but I still refuse to consider it a valid source for scholarly work. Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert recently abused the free-wheeling editing functions of that "open-source" quasi-encyclopedia, just for kicks. He coined the term "Wikiality" -- if you claim something to be true and enough people agree with you, it becomes true." See Washington Post. Well, in this post-modern era, the very meaning of the word truth is pretty much up for grabs, a mere "social construction." Everything is subjective. It's no wonder kids don't believe what they're taught, or don't care about the factual basis of arguments. "Whatever!"