Reading Brandon’s blog post, “Wikipedia!!”, made me realize just how much I actually owe to and appreciate Wikipedia. In practice, Wikipedia is our human collective knowledge. Wikipedia is our crowd sourced communal hub for learning. I don’t know, it’s kind of cool to just reflect of that notion.
Anyway, I am glad to see the grade school system didn’t actually brainwash you to destroy your computer at any sight of the forsaken Wikipedia. I always used it behind my teachers’ back, they really can’t expect us not to (I was also way too mischievous for my own good).
Source: Pixabay (Geralt)
In my defense, our generation works cooperatively, we are all inclined to learn through others, and in return, teach others. It just so happens that Wikipedia is the best platform for this. Don’t get me wrong, I knew to never use Wikipedia as a source, but for most research projects, it was (and still kind of is) the place where I start everything. It’s great.
You referenced one reason why I always use it. It provides very good background sources, which are nothing we ever have to really directly source. Last quarter I was given a project on the genocide in Guatemala (I know, I never heard of it either; but if you or anyone gets a chance, check it out. It’s crazy how something can go so unnoticed in modern education and mainstream). Going into the project I knew absolutely nothing about anything. So I typed “Guatemalan Genocide” and clicked the first Wikipedia link. After 15 minutes of reading, I felt like I could easily summarize the basics of what happened. Wikipedia makes me feel like a genius.
Source: Pixabay (Matamoros)
Additionally, Wikipedia almost serves as a directory for other sources. When you read something which catches your eye and you know you would like to do more research on it, you can click the annotated number at the end of the sentence and Wikipedia will tell you where exactly it was sourced from. I want to say, in general, at least 50% of my sources usually came from these directed links on Wikipedia. They range from primary sourced documents, to books, films, interviews, research, and the list goes on and on.
Maybe I am lazy, maybe there is a better and more quality way to do basic research, but from what my experience has shown me, I owe a lot of success to Wikipedia. And I personally think the same can be said for most in our generation. It’s the first and last place we look. I’m glad that we are learning other means of research, but I think we can all agree when I say that we will never leave Wikipedia
Photo Sources:
https://pixabay.com/en/community-friends-globe-continents-909149/
https://pixabay.com/en/monkey-intelligent-glasses-primate-607708/