IAS Aroid Quasi Forum

About Aroid-L
 This is a continuously updated archive of the Aroid-L mailing list in a forum format - not an actual Forum. If you want to post, you will still need to register for the Aroid-L mailing list and send your postings by e-mail for moderation in the normal way.

  Re: [Aroid-l] Wikipedia`s falsehoods
From: <ju-bo at msn.com> on 2009.02.01 at 16:19:05
If you Google most species or ''things'' you may need information on=2C a list of possibilites comes up=2C choose the best ones you can=2C avoiding Wikipedia.
Another way to go (on Aroids=2C anyhow)=2C is ask Steve Lucas for the legit. botanical sites where good (but not always perfect!) info is posted by recognized institutions such as Kew gardens and MOBOT.

Julius


Date: Sat=2C 31 Jan 2009 23:37:45 -0800
From: ironious2@yahoo.com
To: aroid-l@gizmoworks.com
Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Wikipedia`s falsehoods

any idea's on where to find an unbiased source?

--- On Sat=2C 1/31/09=2C ju-bo@msn.com <=3Bju-bo@msn.com>=3B wrote:
From: ju-bo@msn.com <=3Bju-bo@msn.com>=3B
Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Wikipedia`s falsehoods
To: aroid-l@gizmoworks.com
Date: Saturday=2C January 31=2C 2009=2C 5:39 AM

Dear Ted and all Aroid Friends=2C

Thanks=2C Ted!
By now it SHOULD be obvious that Wikipedia is a VERY unreliable source of information on aroids or ANY material. =3B
I would NOT be surprised if it has become a ''tool'' of persons who are using it to push THEIR agenda.  =3B "They" can post ''their'' agendas (which may be VERY inaccurate=2C as we have seen in this examples quoted here by Ted=2C plus others quoted previously)=2C and ''they'' can keep editing any correction to THEIR false entry back to ''their'' original inaccurate posting=2C so that ''their'' misinformation is spread as being factual. =3B This by Wikipedia=2C =3B a source=2C which to most of the general public=2C is an aparently ''reliable'' source''. =3B Not so!!!
Enough said. =3B =3B ''There are none so blind as those who WILL not see''.

Julius


Date: Tue=2C 27 Jan 2009 11:42:01 -0500
From: oppenhauser2001@gmail.com
To: aroid-l@gizmoworks.com
Subject: [Aroid-l] Wikipedia


Julius and Steve=2C and others interested in Truth and Honesty=2C
 =3B
Let me tell you a story about Wikipedia.
 =3B
A couple of weeks ago I came across a book in my "weirdness" section called "You and Your Palm"=2C by a guy named "Cheiro" (pronounced like the two Greek letters Chi and Rho). It turns out he was a late 1920s and early 30s sort of palm reader to the stars. The book contains palm prints and diagnoses of a number of famous movie stars of the day. I don't know how you feel about palm reading and these related skills=2C but I am not a fan except in the sense of mockery and derision.
 =3B
Well=2C I looked up the good doctor on Wikipedia and found a very flattering account of his life. Among the testimonials to his greatness as a seer was what was purported to be an excerpt from a guest book he kept. The entry was from Mark Twain and indicated how pleased Twain was with the results of his sessions with the master.
 =3B
As it happens I know some things about Mark Twain. Among them is that Mark Twain was a huge skeptic. In fact=2C there is a whole section in his autobiography (Chapter 13) in which he discusses some controlled experiments he had done with both palm readers and phrenologists of his day. Interestingly=2C they all concluded that one thing his personality lacked was a sense of humor (!). These were done by Mark Twain (and his agent) without revealing his identity. Curiously=2C when he presented himself to a couple of the same jokers as his real self=2C they managed to conjure up that he had a strong sense of humor. So much for the veracity of the occult sciences.
 =3B
Anyway=2C I thought I'd add an item to Wikipedia relating to this and suggested that the views quoted there might be compared with Mark Twain's own testimony with its not-so-veiled skepticism about same. I was diplomatic. I merely pointed readers to something that might shed more light on the subject.
 =3B
This morning I checked the Wikipedia site and=2C sure enough=2C my comment had been deleted and the entry about Mark Twain's endorsement of Cheiro's abilities remained unaltered. In the past two weeks I suppose some partisan of palmistry had reversed my efforts.
 =3B
I was immediately doubtful when I first learned of Wikipedia. I have stronger doubts about it now=2C after my experience. Better=2C I think=2C is to rely on peer-reviewed matter=2C such as Aroideana=2C for one's information about scientific topics. For non-scientific topics we are at the mercy of our own judgment=2C I suppose.
 =3B
Ted.
_______________________________________________
Aroid-L mailing list
Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com
http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

--_535a5971-dc9a-48b5-82d1-7630b27b47a3_----===============5012705760842558967==
Note: this is a very old post, so no reply function is available.