Topic: Wikipedia and 1984

[scottws]

If anyone has read the book 1984, they'll remember one piece of the setting is that history is constantly being rewritten.  If I remember correctly, the main character's job was to actually perform these alterations of recorded history.

Anyway, lately every time I go to Wikipedia I think of 1984.  So many people, including myself, use Wikipedia to read up on virtually any subject.  I believe that a large majority of Wikipedia articles are factual, but I can help but wonder if what I am reading is actually true at all.  Just like in 1984, someone - anyone - could alter Wikipedia articles and basically alter human knowledge or change history in a sense.

[PyroMenace]

Hence why I never go there.

[Cobra951]

I think of Wikipedia as the perfect starting place to find out about something.  It has a lot of predigested information on a single page, with enough external links to verify what I'm reading and elaborate on it.  I wouldn't trust it alone.

[Quemaqua]

Heh, Cobra more or less said what I was going to say, which I see now before posting this.  But I'll post it anyway because I'm too lazy to rewrite it:

I go for trivial things no one would have any interest in fucking up.  And if I really need the information, I verify it from a more credible source.  It's a good casual information source, but certainly not an end in itself, especially with stuff that people get opinionated about.

It is creepy when you talk about it like that, though.  I get creeped out about the age we live in on a nearly daily basis now, usually with stuff like you're talking about.  I hadn't given it as much thought with Wikipedia.  I guess they snuck that one in on me.

[ren]

Somewhat relevant

Not the most accurate comic with respect to the books but still kind of interesting.

[Quemaqua]

Quite interesting.  Good link, thanks.

[Xessive]

Haha this reminds me of what Stephen Colbert was doing on Wikipedia, which subsequently led to getting banned, he'd sign on and alter the "bear" entry to say stuff like "Godless killing machines" and stuff.

EDIT:
Here's the exact quote:

Bears are soulless, godless, rampaging killing machines. They are Satan's minions and the TRUE symbol of evil. Once believed to be the work of dragons, Bears (like purple donkeys) enjoy running around the woods molesting and raping innocent people and squids. For years now, ravenous bears have had free reign to use our woods as their personal latrine, protected by their "endangered" status. Now the government is wisely considering ending the grizzlies' special treatment in order to protect our honey jars and Paddington Station. Bears' strong vitality and resilience makes them one of mother nature's nearly unkillable animals. A bear has never been downed by any less than five gunshots. Combinations of high explosives, assault weapons, and trebuchets have been known to only piss the bear off. Why can man-kind put a man on the moon, but not invent a weapon that can take down Big-Yogi over there?

I thought it was amusing

The full Colbert version is on Wikiality, here.

[Cobra951]

Quite interesting.  Good link, thanks.

Very.  But there's a much more sinister government behind A Brave New World than what may have ruined our culture.  I must admit that if I were given the choice between living in Orwell's world or Huxley's, I'd choose Huxley's, as long as I can be at least a beta.  But then again, I'd have less than 5 years left to live.  So I'd have to be young again too.  Not a good choice to make either way.