In the Age of Information, misinformation abounds

It probably wouldn’t be much of a warning to tell you to not believe everything you read on the Internet—after all, everyone knows that, right?

But there are some sites that are trusted more than others. If you Google a topic, you can be reasonably sure you will actually turn up some Web sites that will give you the information you need, even if it is up to you to determine which of those sites are reliable and offer accurate information.

Another site many people have come to trust is Wikipedia, which bills itself as an encyclopedia. While it doesn’t have the reputation of, say, Encyclopedia Britannica, countless people use it everyday to find out more about topics of interest.

But the big difference between Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia is the source of the listed information. While Britannica utilizes paid researchers and fact-checkers, Wikipedia is completely driven by contributions—submissions and editing done by its readers, with relatively few moderators.

That in and of itself is not a bad thing, provided care is taken. Wikipedia is free, which is a big plus, or should be, to those seeking knowledge on the cheap.

But often you get what you pay for, and while Wikipedia does monitor its listings and require citations, it really doesn’t do the job that a well-researched encyclopedia does.

The problem is that many things can “slip” through, and Wikipedia is actually susceptible to having misinformation posted.
Most particularly worrisome is its policy on biographies of living people. Despite the vulnerability of factual errors, Wikipedia does not allow the subjects of its bios to correct mistakes.

While I can see there may be some wisdom in prohibiting people from posting their own biographies on the site, it just seems plain stupid to not allow corrections by the people who probably know the subject—themselves—best of all.

While I have caught some Wikipedia mistakes myself, the problem was brought to my attention recently on Dean Radin’s blog. I’m not a big fan of most blogs, but Radin’s research into the possible relationship between psi phenomena and quantum physics is fascinating—and controversial.

It is the controversial nature of his work that has made him the target of true-believer skeptics (those that believe fervently psi does not exist), as well as a target of some religious communities.

But Radin is a serious scientist, utilizing recognized methodology and statistical analysis to examine one of the more mysterious aspects of human potential. To knowingly leave factual errors about his life’s work is to knowingly perpetuate misinformation, and for an “encyclopedia” to do that, it loses all credibility, as Radin accurately points out on his blog.

“I discovered this when attempting to correct factual errors in the entry page on my name, and for the Institute of Noetic Sciences. I’ve been asked not to edit these pages, even though I am arguably the expert on me, and an expert on (the Institute of Noetic Sciences), because it violates Wikipedia's guidelines… Wikipedia’s absurd guidelines means that for topics of interest to many people, namely controversies, the articles are guaranteed to be of poor quality. What a ridiculous state of affairs this good idea has come to, one that very effectively does one thing well—it perpetuates stupidity,” Radin wrote.

I can’t agree more, and upon closer inspection, it would seem that the more controversial the subject the less likely it is a balanced perspective is be presented. Because Wikipedia’s authors are anonymous, there is no one specifically to address about accuracy, and since Wikipedia is a decentralized group of volunteers, there is no one who is responsible.

Wikipedia may have started out a good idea, but a reference resource is only as trustworthy as it attempts to be—and Wikipedia isn’t trying very hard at all, unless it is to, as Dr. Radin so aptly stated, perpetuate stupidity, only in the false guise of wisdom.

For more on Dean Radin’s work, go to www.ions.org, www.deanradin.com or http://deanradin.blogspot.com.

(Originally published in The Easton News, April 12, 2007)