As far as I can tell many highly educated Wikipedia authors tend to write
articles outside their field of formally established expertise.
That is part of the fun of being a wikipedian, being able to show that
you're not a one-dimensional person.
I might be inclined to trust an article about pharao Ramses II slightly more
when it was written by a professor in chemistry rather than by a 13 year old
schoolboy, just because the chemist has learned some general methodological
skills, one would hope, during his/hers university years, that extend beyond
the particular subspecialism of chemistry for which the degree was awarded.
He or she might have picked up some general notions, like trying to
establish the authority of a source, comparing sources in the first place
instead of relying solely on third hand quotes, knowing the difference
between a hypothesis and a scientific prove.
Then again there are very bright and knowledgeable 13 year olds, and many
mediocre people with a university degree whose general knowledge and outlook
on the world outside their profession is shamefully inadequate (of course as
an adult they learned to hide these weak spots and became adept in changing
the subject of a conversation). So being awarded a university degree does
not tell me much. In fact I'm often quite irritated when professor so and so
is invited at a news show to comment on recent developments and only
paraphrases yesterdays newspaper articles, often which authoritative
phrasology and intonation that conceals this fact that he or she has not
much to contribute really.
I don't think many mediocre people with a barely justified college degree
will be attracted to Wikipedia. They probably are not inquisitive and
curious enough to even bother. Neither do I distrust experts in general. I
do distrust official diploms as sole evidence of someones credibility,
beyond the very small subfield of todays overspecialized institutions for
higher learning for which the certificate was issued. Universities produce
admirably knowledgeable and accomplished experts, but not only those.
Erik Zachte
