How could I tell people about wikipedia without sounding like a nerd? I'm trying to replace people's Warcraft addictions with Wikipeida (after all, which one is worse?) but everyone says, "That's so stupid! How are you addicted to an encyclopedia? You're a nerd!". What do I do? Is it wrong to try to get someone addicted to something?
-LittleDan
_________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
ROFL! That youre interested in more mature things does not make you a nerd, Littledan, and if it did, so what? What does nerd mean? The important thing is to do what interests you. Being interested in something is a 'God-given' gift, as some say -- So many people try to make themselves interested in something they are in fact not, and this is pointless, and nothing comes of it. So, just "Follow your bliss", or "do what comes naturally" ... And of course, 'hold onto your friends.'
How could I tell people about wikipedia without sounding like a nerd? I'm trying to replace people's Warcraft addictions with Wikipeida (after all, which one is worse?) but everyone says, "That's so stupid! How are you addicted to an encyclopedia? You're a nerd!". What do I do? Is it wrong to try to get someone addicted to something?
-LittleDan
Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@wikipedia.org http://www.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
Daniel Ehrenberg wrote:
How could I tell people about wikipedia without sounding like a nerd? I'm trying to replace people's Warcraft addictions with Wikipeida (after all, which one is worse?) but everyone says, "That's so stupid! How are you addicted to an encyclopedia? You're a nerd!". What do I do? Is it wrong to try to get someone addicted to something?
Leaving aside issues related to the War on Drugs, being addicted to something can be a positive characteristic for some people; for most others, unfortunately, it bears the hallmarks of escapism or even obsessive-compulsive disorder. Really great accomplishments in this world are often the product of a passion, but so too is the devastation of some of history's greatest arch-villains, and so too are the ravings of lunatics. Those who lack the passions are too fearful of the risks posed by the villains and lunatics to encourage new creativity.
Epithets like "nerd" are too easily taken as insults when they really shouldn't be. Sometimes, when you consider the person who is trying to insult you with it, you can even see it as praise. It's understandable that you would want to share your joys with your friends, but the risk is that of sounding like a fundamentalist preacher who has Wikipedia in his hand instead of the Bible. Replacing someone else's addictions can have unforseen consequences, since an addiction sometimes fulfills certain psychological needs. It requires understanding the other person's addiction, and where they're coming from, or perhaps letting them know when material has been posted to Wikipedia that would give them an advantage in their Warcraft play. But that requires at least enough understanding of the game to be able to recognize such "quality" information, or even drawing upon other material about this that is already on the net. You may even find that as a non-addict your game-play standards may be much higher than that of many of the addicts -- that could make you an excellent advisor.
Eclecticology
How could I tell people about wikipedia without sounding like a nerd? I'm trying to replace people's Warcraft addictions with Wikipeida (after all, which one is worse?) but everyone says, "That's so stupid! How are you addicted to an encyclopedia? You're a nerd!". What do I do? Is it wrong to try to get someone addicted to something?
Well, the question is, could they be useful contributors? I believe some of them probably could, but you would have to know what their fields of expertise are. If they care a lot about gaming, print out some of our computer game related articles (we have quite a few) and tell them if they would like to add something to that, they can do so easily.
But with anything you do, you will have to search out one-on-one conversations. Trying to convince a group where peer pressure, alpha male behavior etc. are involved is much harder than convincing a single individual.
I think you will also have to learn to accept the fact that many of your peers have been dulled by television, games and parental neglect and will not be open towards intellectual pursuits. They have been trained for instant gratification, and school is a perfect institution to dissuade people from learning. That is not to say that you should not socialize with these kids -- by all means do, but don't expect everyone to become a Wikipedia editor.
Regards,
Erik