The Rabid Grammarian

Question of the Week: Is Wikipedia bad for education?

Well, yes and no. Wikipedia can be a good jumping off point for educational endeavors and general knowledge, but it isn't a reliable resource for any kind of scholarly work. Thankfully, most of the teachers I've encountered specifically state in lesson plans that Wikipedia is not an acceptable resource for papers.
There are some who would argue that Wikipedia is fine. I'm not one of them. I don't feel that Wikipedia is reliable, and I certainly don't think it's always correct in its information.
For one, Wikipedia allows anyone to create and update entries. This can lead to some interesting updates, as we saw in 2011, when fans of Sarah Palin changed the Wikipedia entry for Paul Revere to reflect her incredibly erroneous recollection of history. Thankfully, the entry was corrected, but it begs the question about all the entries on Wikipedia that no one is policing. There is, in effect, no quality assurance on Wikipedia.

Also, I have a healthy education bias (shocking, I know) and I prefer to get my information from trusted and reputable sources. Experts in the field, as it were. As James Lowen taught me, always look at the source of the information. I would trust Wikipedia far more if Neil DeGrasse Tyson were updating writing entries rather than Joe Average with a laptop.

Wikipedia can be a good starting point for anyone doing research who doesn't know where to start. In fact, I feel the one of the only useful sections of any Wikipedia article is at the bottom of the entry-the sources. This is where the real information is contained. Reading the original source provides the most accurate (and hopefully objective) information.

Another useful section is the revision history. The revision history coincides with the sources and will help you determine if you're looking at the most up to date information (although, with historical entries like the one about Paul Revere above, most recent isn't necessarily most accurate.)

The main point to take away is that Wikipedia is a resource, but one that requires your critical thinking and deductive skills. Using Wikipedia is akin to being a detective. You cannot take it at face value, you must do your own research. Anything worth knowing is worth researching. And as always: Question Everything!

I've come to realize that there is a lot about me that leads to social isolation. I am a dreaded morning person, I don't drink (I find nothing wrong with it, it just isn't for me) and people apparently don't like their grammar being corrected. Having a child is equally isolating. When most of your stories revolve around bodily fluids you don't get invited to many parties.
In fact, almost all major life changes come with a subsequent social isolation, even if only temporary. Beginning or graduating school, getting married, getting divorced, having a baby, moving, starting (or ending) a  job. It's no wonder these events are considered some of the most stressful ones a person can experience. In each case we effectively lose a part of our social support system in addition to the major life change.

I recently received my acceptance letter to graduate school. I am positively over the moon that I'm finally, after nearly a decade, able to pursue my goal of going to graduate school. I'd always planned on going back but life got in the way. What started as two years to recover from educational burnout stretched out so long that it felt that I was dreaming the impossible dream. Maybe I still am, for now I have to negotiate graduate classes and a toddler. And I am scared shitless I won't be able to do it.
In all honesty, it wasn't truly "life" that got in the way. It was fear. In general I've been a "don't rock the boat, especially if you're in it" type person. Security is nice. You know where you stand, it's comfortable. True change never comes from being comfortable. You have to leave your comfort zone. It's scary. It's really easy to make excuses. And then all of a sudden nearly a decade has passed and whatever it was you wanted to do seems to be completely unattainable.

Lives lived in fear are never exceptional. I'm not talking about exceptional in the curing cancer or achieving peace in the Middle East sense. I'm talking about life being worth living. I know if I never got my Master's degree (at least) I would always feel regret and disappointment. I grew up with a mother who was terminally disappointed. Somewhere along the way she gave up. I spent most of my life trying to be perfect to make her happy, never realizing that it wasn't my fault or my responsibility. I don't want to make the same mistake with my children. It may be difficult, it may be scary, but at least my kids won't spend their lives thinking they were the source of my disappointment.

When you grow up that way, you try to fill the void. No one seems to fill the void with happy happy joy joy. You fill it with sex, with food, with money, with drugs, etc. But you're forever incomplete until you fill it with what you really need. For me, that's education. In addition to stopping the cycle of disappointed mothers in my family, making this change will set a huge example to my children. I will be demonstrating that education is a value, that it's never too late to pursue education and it will make it more likely that my children will pursue education themselves. These are the values that keep me on track when the negative self talk (and judgement from others about going back to school when I have a baby) starts up. Sure, it's uncomfortable, but that's the cost of change.

Question of The Week: Why Are Liberals So Preachy?

I'm a liberal. I'm a super "make Dennis Kucinich feel uncomfortable" lefty. More accurately, I am a Democratic Socialist, but for the benefit of our right-wing friends (some of whom have actually told me that voting for Obama was a form of child abuse) that don't understand, I'm a lefty. Something I've noticed since becoming more politically active and aware is that I've become quite preachy about liberalism and politics in general.

This is not to say that there isn't preachiness on the conservative right (Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter-anyone?) but I've noticed that the left has become quite vocal of late.

In truth, we're not preachy, it just sounds and feels that way. There comes a point in every debate where one side feels unheard and misinterpreted and, armed with a plethora of facts, starts getting more vocal. Sometimes in the cacophony of idealogues that voice starts to sound (and feel) pleading and preachy. I don't know how often I've screamed at the telly (or Facebook) at some right winger in the bubble spouting demonstrably untrue diatribes. (Bill O'Reilly makes my baby cry.)

I think part of our (me and my liberal brethren) problem is that we abhor the lies and deceit. I think we are amazed and saddened at how many people are staunch in their hatred for the President that they are willing to believe any swill slung on Fox "News" as canon. For me personally, I know that I feel like sobbing that people choose to believe the lies, no matter how outlandish, without a scintilla of critical thinking or research. The voluntary ignorance in this country is astounding and depressing. Moreover, I am even more saddened, and frightened, when I see people when faced with actual facts, claim conspiracy and cover-up. We used to send those people to hospitals for treatment, now we give them cable news shows.

Every liberal I know seems to have that Uncle Joe (or in my case, half a family of them) that no matter what you say, no matter how many facts you can present still thinks that President Obama is a socialist Muslim born in Kenya who is coming to take his guns and put him on a death panel. And unfortunately for us libs, we can't help but feed the trolls. We know facts (and reality) is on our side. So we keep at it, trying to chip away at the demagoguery and with each failure we get more excited and louder like that kid in class with his hand up "Ooh ooh, Pick me! Pick me! I know the answer!"

Liberals have become that annoying kid everyone hates because they seem to know it all. People hate a know-it-all, and they especially hate a know-it-all who can't shut up about all they know. Not that anyone is really listening. We're either preaching to the converted or trying to sell to those who think we're peddling snake oil. In being preachy, we lose the capital and authority that we wish to gain with all our facts and reality.

So what's a liberal to do? First, pick your battles. I personally have the most difficult time with this because when I see stupid, I feel the need to fix it. I'm a helper, and I'm a teacher at heart so at my core I have a need to correct people in general. But I need to realize far sooner than I do when the battle is lost. This is another issue for liberals. Because we have those facts, because we know we are right, we can't let go even when the argument is pointless.  To quote Kenny Rogers "Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, and know when to run." In poker and politics, this rings true; but that doesn't mean you can't play.

Second, spouting facts and figures and saying "you're wrong" etc will get you nowhere but shut down. No one likes being told they are wrong, or stupid, or both. Unfortunately, most liberals I know do this, myself included. Those facts and figures and reality make us feel superior and we abuse them. Rather than bombarding someone with the information, try to get them to think critically about the situation.
For example, I have family that insists President Obama is a Muslim Kenyan who is not eligible for the presidency. I've asked them "So, which do you think it is then-that there is a vast governmental conspiracy in the FBI to cover up President Obama's heritage, that the President Bush-appointed FBI is patently inept in their ability to vet a Presidential candidate's eligibility, or that President Obama is a Christian man (not that his religion has anything to do with the office of President or any other public office) who was born in Hawai'i?"  I haven't actually changed anyone's mind doing this (although many of my family seem to love the conspiracy and inept angles,) but I certainly feel less defeated when I use this approach and the person comes to their same conclusion (especially when you bring in the argument that supposes that President Obama can time-travel and control the weather.) At that point you just walk away knowing you can't sway a true-believer.

Ultimately, if liberals are to be taken seriously and less preachy, we need to start a grass-roots movement to educate the populace. I'm not talking politically, I'm talking about basic education. We are at this impasse politically and socially because our education system is frankly, shit. Our children are not taught how to think critically, they are not taught to question authority and think for themselves. They are taught to learm the facts for the test: swallow what we tell you is the truth, but take no time or energy to digest that information, just move to the next spoon-feeding of facts.
When the populace is uneducated they are easily governed by fear and lies. It's time we start educating our populace, and by extension, our electorate. What we need is comprehensive education funding and reform.

On the world stage, in terms of education, the United States is failing. Our literacy rate is abysmal. Costa Rica has a 99% literacy rate. Shouldn't this be a goal for us?  The U.S. is ranked 17th in the world in overall education. We're not even in the top 10. In 2010, we ranked 25th of 34 in math, and we haven't done much better in the past 2 years. Why? Over the past at least 30 years, we have seen education systematically defunded, to say nothing of the glorious failure that is "No Child Left Behind." Why is it that our country feels the best way to educate its populace is to give education less resources?

So, liberals unite. If you want to be seen as less preachy, if you want people to value facts over opinions, if you want an informed electorate, we need to educate the electorate. All other issues will fall into place once the people are educated and able to think critically.

“Information is the currency of democracy.” 
― Thomas Jefferson

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people...they are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” 
― Thomas Jefferson

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” 
― Thomas Jefferson

“No matter how big the lie, repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as the truth.” 
― John F. Kennedy

“It is always a much easier task to educate uneducated people than to re-educate the mis-educated.” 
― Herbert M. Shelton