Re: Wikipedia & Music Theory

SleepyHead wrote:
1) Wiki provides me with a free, brief, high-level overview of topic X
with references. This means:

a) I don't have to pay someone besides my ISP to access it;
b) I don't have to read pages and pages of stuff I'm not interested in
order to garner the basic facts;
c) I can look up other sources of information to verify what I'm
reading by using the references, google, and my intelligence (such as
it is);
d) Other people can do the same too.

2) Usenet is somewhere I come to debate topics which interest me with
likeminded people: I don't necessarily come here to collect facts
because usenet is a place where opinion is rife and fact hard to come
by. ...

I would advise anyone who is interested in facts and who sees a link
on usenet to a Wiki article to adopt the scientific method: Keep your
mind open, but cultivate a healthy scepticism towards finality in any
field of investigation.

I think this sums it up good: if one is out for hard facts, the scientific method with skepticism and independent verification should be used.

A Usenet group this is mainly good for discussion and inputs. Then go back and do the usual reference work, if that is what you need.

Hans
.

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