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Atheist Forums › Science › Technology & Computing v
Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?

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Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?
The Valkyrie Offline
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#11
RE: Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?
August 27, 2023 at 4:21 pm
I blame the Scots!

Playing Cluedo with my mum while I was at Uni:

"You did WHAT?  With WHO?  WHERE???"
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BrianSoddingBoru4 Offline
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#12
RE: Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?
August 27, 2023 at 4:37 pm
(August 27, 2023 at 4:05 pm)FlatAssembler Wrote:
(August 27, 2023 at 1:55 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: See?

Boru
See what?

See how well your reply supports my previous points.

Boru
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arewethereyet Offline
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#13
RE: Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?
August 27, 2023 at 4:51 pm
How can you use Wikipedia but can't use Google?
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Ravenshire Offline Donators
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#14
RE: Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?
August 27, 2023 at 5:28 pm
(August 27, 2023 at 11:41 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: Anyone who takes Wiki as a solid source is being mentally lazy. You have to take each article on its merits regarding accuracy and detail.

Thant is the common view of Wiki, and there is some truth to it.

But...
The Sydney Morning Herald Wrote:...a review of 110 studies published in 2014 concluded “Wikipedia is generally a reliable source of information” across almost all domains studied.
Source

From what I've read on the subject, Wiki's main failings are in areas of esoterica, subjects that few people concern themselves with, providing few editors, and pop culture, where "accurate information" is constantly changing and editor opinions drive more edits (and edit wars) than actual facts. In general, if you go looking for astronomical data on nearby stars, flight characteristics of a boing 767, or the nutritional information of the top five crops produced in India, you'll get information at least as good as Britannica. But, if you go looking for the mating rituals of Klingons (or the Kardashians, equally alien and repulsive) or information about semi-professional bowlers in Bend, Oregon, your results are gonna be much more suspect.
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FlatAssembler Offline
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#15
RE: Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?
August 27, 2023 at 5:40 pm
(August 27, 2023 at 4:37 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:
(August 27, 2023 at 4:05 pm)FlatAssembler Wrote: See what?

See how well your reply supports my previous points.

Boru

No, I don't see it. Do you agree with me that somebody who says "Fuck off with those p-values, go to Alternativa with them!" both has a mistaken picture of how modern science works and is being a jerk? If not, have you watched the Veritasium's video about why most published research is wrong (explaining how modern science revolves around p-values and what are the upsides and downsides of that)?
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GrandizerII Offline
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#16
RE: Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?
August 27, 2023 at 6:31 pm
(August 27, 2023 at 2:24 pm)no one Wrote: Good thing about the sciences, it doesn't give a single flying fuck whether or not some, or all the dingleberries ideas about it are wrong. It's going to work regardless.

You make it sound like science is like its own entity or something that operates independently of human beings.
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GrandizerII Offline
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#17
RE: Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?
August 27, 2023 at 6:33 pm
(August 27, 2023 at 5:40 pm)FlatAssembler Wrote:
(August 27, 2023 at 4:37 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: See how well your reply supports my previous points.

Boru

No, I don't see it. Do you agree with me that somebody who says "Fuck off with those p-values, go to Alternativa with them!" both has a mistaken picture of how modern science works and is being a jerk? If not, have you watched the Veritasium's video about why most published research is wrong (explaining how modern science revolves around p-values and what are the upsides and downsides of that)?

What's the context? I feel like there was a lot of things going on in the exchange between you and them that eventually led to this kind of response.
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Thumpalumpacus Offline
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#18
RE: Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?
August 27, 2023 at 7:02 pm
(August 27, 2023 at 5:28 pm)Ravenshire Wrote:
(August 27, 2023 at 11:41 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: Anyone who takes Wiki as a solid source is being mentally lazy. You have to take each article on its merits regarding accuracy and detail.

Thant is the common view of Wiki, and there is some truth to it.

But...
The Sydney Morning Herald Wrote:...a review of 110 studies published in 2014 concluded “Wikipedia is generally a reliable source of information” across almost all domains studied.
Source

From what I've read on the subject, Wiki's main failings are in areas of esoterica, subjects that few people concern themselves with, providing few editors, and pop culture, where "accurate information" is constantly changing and editor opinions drive more edits (and edit wars) than actual facts. In general, if you go looking for astronomical data on nearby stars, flight characteristics of a boing 767, or the nutritional information of the top five crops produced in India, you'll get information at least as good as Britannica. But, if you go looking for the mating rituals of Klingons (or the Kardashians, equally alien and repulsive) or information about semi-professional bowlers in Bend, Oregon, your results are gonna be much more suspect.

Yeah, in the fields I know in-depth, it's a questionable source. Like GS said upthread, look at the sources. They can -- repeat, can -- be good sources.

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BrianSoddingBoru4 Offline
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#19
RE: Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?
August 27, 2023 at 7:05 pm
(August 27, 2023 at 5:40 pm)FlatAssembler Wrote:
(August 27, 2023 at 4:37 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: See how well your reply supports my previous points.

Boru

No, I don't see it. Do you agree with me that somebody who says "Fuck off with those p-values, go to Alternativa with them!" both has a mistaken picture of how modern science works and is being a jerk? If not, have you watched the Veritasium's video about why most published research is wrong (explaining how modern science revolves around p-values and what are the upsides and downsides of that)?

My point isn’t with other people saying it, but with your reaction.

Boru
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The Grand Nudger Offline
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#20
RE: Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?
August 28, 2023 at 5:38 am
Boring. Fuck your p values, I wanna hear some more war crime denials.
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Atheist Forums › Science › Technology & Computing v
Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?

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