Wikipedia The Clue Machine

When Wikipedia first came out and someone used that as a reference to being correct in an argument, it would not convince everyone.  If you do reference it, it is usually followed by “at least that is what Wikipedia says.”  Talk show hosts like Jay Leno would do a joke based on Wikipedia info and then use his classic bit where he says “and you know it is true because they check and recheck their facts”.  (and then the camera would cut to Kevin Eubanks laughing)  And teachers would always remind students that Wikipedia is not a valid source.

While the same may hold true today, and Wikipedia may be viewed as not really a valid source, it is still taken as gospel by many internet users.  I think the site is good for a quick meaningless fact check like if you wanted to look up “Where did Bob Barker go to college.”  The answer is something that meets your curiosity for one second, and you immediately forget about it so it doesn’t even matter if it is true.  (so odd, maybe psychology can deal with that).

Actually checking this, it says he went to Drury College on a basketball scholarship.  Should I believe that.  Was Bob Barker a Baller?  The Jaleel White page says that Steve Urkell was the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog?  Is that true?

Typically I won’t believe Wiki if I don’t belive the answer can be true.  Often times it turns out to be true, but I still don’t trust it always.  I usually use google to find other sources to confirm wikipedia, and more often than not the stories are confirmed.

So while Wikipedia is meant to be an encyclopedia, the fact that anyone can edit or add to an article makes it less of one.  The way they remove and add info, and require sources, and put warning on pages that everything may not be fact checked helps the validity, but isn’t fool proof.

Therefore I think we should call Wikipedia a Clue Machine, giving you clues to find the information.  Sometimes the clue is a red herring (don’t even wiki that, it is long and boring), but often time it gets you in the right direction towards finding a valid answer.

In conclusion, if wiki did not let everyone edit and fight each other (for a good example look at the edit history of “Rooster” kind of NSFW) then many of these good clues would not be easily accessible, and you would have to somehow survive like people did in the ancient times of 1995 and hope that one day you would come across the chosen one who can answer your question of “What planet was Alf from” 

• According to Drury.edu Bob Barker did play ball on scholarship
• According to IMDB.com Jaleel White was the voice of Sonic in multiple TV series
• According to my awesome TV knowledge, Alf is from Melmac DUH!