jhmcd2 opened this issue on Apr 10, 2008 · 306 posts
Penguinisto posted Mon, 14 April 2008 at 9:23 AM
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Sorry going to college and one of the first things they tell us is dont use wikipedia for any sources.
They tell you that for a reason - College is supposed to be (among other things) about doing the research yourself, not about having it all handed to you on a silver plate. IOW, you're supposed to do the checking and cross-checking, to actually read and study the cites, and to form your own hypotheses based on that information. They want you to know for certain what it is you're talking about, not simply rely on an assembled montage of knowledge and opinion to do it for you. ;)
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Quote - Hey, the professors at Duke seem to think that Second Life is the greatest way on earth to teach classes. What's that tell you? :-)
That transmission/presentation media differs from research discipline? ;)
Some profs would likely be totally cool w/ Wikipedia (Hell, I wouldn't have minded too much) if the main goal isn't research for research's sake. OTOH, I can see profs banning it in subjects such as engineering and chemistry (for safety reasons), or history and PolSci (to make you think for yourself). It all depends on Rigor and how important it is to the process.
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re wikipedia - not all professors are that reliable in thier information either, that seems silly to me that one would completely oust a source of information.
I'd bring up the pervasive textbook scams that a shedload of profs delight in profiting from, but that would be one long, ugly tangent... :)
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Quote - Erotic imagery is only for those people who are enlightened enough to handle it, and the enlightened people are always the ones who occupy the upper tiers of society. Only the educated and privileged classes can be trusted to hold the keys to the doorway of the animal mind, and mere plebes must be prohibited from exposure... for their own good!... otherwise they'd all be raping rabbits in the streets, drinking blood and dancing around in the moonlight rather than working, consuming, paying taxes, watching television and going to church. This attitude is not new; in fact, it's one of the hallmarks of Western civilization. It's stupid, of course, but it isn't going to go away because Poser got invented. Anyone who makes art that speaks too much to the animal mind (not that the original poster was going to) runs the risk of needing to be thoughtfully corrected by those who know better.
Sorta, but not quite. The Vatican (of all places) has the near-absolute largest collection of medieval pr0n to be had anywhere... from a time when books were luxury items that few people could afford. In spite of the hoard, they preached porn to be anathema because of what they perceived to be a main reason for Rome's downfall - lust. It also happens that unbridled lust (esp. for things/reasons that have nothing to do with procreation) is considered a sin by most societies (not religions, societies - the distinction is important).
Quote - However, I also realize that the demand for porn pushes new mediums, always has, always will, and that keeps said mediums affordable and available.
How d'ya think the Internet got so popular in the first place, and BBSes before that? ;)
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