[WikiEN-l] Anti-intellectualism

[Fred Bauder]

> There are conflicting issues here.
>
> On one hand, there is anti-elitism / anti-intellectualism present in
> some corners of Wikipedia.  When found it should be Burned with Fire.
>
> On the other hand, numerous academics have failed miserably to engage
> with Wikipedia on our terms - which is NOR, RS, etc.  "Because I said
> so" is no more valid for a Professor than for Joe 6-pack... The
> professor is more likely to be correct, but he's no more verifyable
> when he says that, and we have no way of knowing if the Professor
> really is who he/she claim they are.
>
> I've had good luck by asking academics to think of this as another
> place they have to provide references and supporting citations, and
> asking them to think of this as a general interest publication rather
> than as a research journal... write survey overviews, etc.
>
> I will happily ask an academic who stubbornly Just Doesn't Get the
> need for references and citations to publish somewhere else.  This
> does not make me anti-intellectual.  It makes me pro-encyclopedic.
> Some academics are not cut out for writing general overview articles /
> textbooks / talking to the public about their work.  They generally
> fail in Wikipedia, too.
>
>
> --
> -george william herbert
> george.herbert at gmail.com

Bald assertions of authority by persons with academic credentials are
unacceptable. They are required to cite reliable sources same as anyone
else and, if they are competent, should know the literature in their
field.

Fred