Re: [ARSCLIST] Whacky-Packia outed for what it is -- Amateur Hour in Siberia

[Nigel Barrett <nigelinseychelles@xxxxxxxxx>]

HI TOM
THERE HAS BEEN A WHOLE HISTORY OF IMPOSTERS.
THE CHAP WHO DRESSED UP AS A BRITISH ADMIRAL IN 1914 AND TOOK OVER A
BRITISH WARSHIP IN ZANZIBAR WAS ONE OF THE BEST EXAMPLES.
THERE ARE LOTS OF PEOPLE WITH PSEUDO SUPPOSED QUALIFICATIONS IN THE
MEDICAL PROFESSION WORLDWIDE.
I FIND THE ENCYCLOPEDIA INFO INTERESTING FOR OBSCURE FORGOTTEN STARS
OF THE MUSIC WORLD 80 TO 100 YEARS AGO LIKE BILLY MURRAY SO I LAP UP
THE INFO.
HOWEVER SOMETIMES THEY GIVE OVERKILL AND TOO MUCH TRIVIA SUCH AS THE
ARTICLES ON THE WIZARD OF OZ OR TO AN EXTENT ERNIE KOVAKS !
BEST WISHES
NIGEL IN THE SEYCHELLES.NOW I WONDER IF WE CAN TEST THIS IMPOSTER TO
ASK HIM TO PLACE SEYCHELLES ON A BLANK WORLD MAP !


On 3/21/07, Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> although that might be too much of an insult to Siberian amateurs!
>
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17661199/site/newsweek/
>
> of particular note:
>
> "So imagine Keen's delight in learning about an adjustment to last summer's
> New Yorker article about
> Wikipedia. The article's author prominently cited a person identified as
> "Essjay," described as "a
> tenured professor of religion ... who holds a Phd in theology and a degree
> in canon law." Essjay had
> contributed to more than 16,000 Wikipedia entries, and often invoked his
> credentials to argue for
> changes in various articles. But as The New Yorker abashedly informed its
> readers some months after
> the story appeared, Essjay was not a religion professor but a 24-year-old
> college dropout. What's
> more, Wikipedia's cofounder Jimmy Wales said, "I don't really have a problem
> with it." (Wales
> subsequently recognized that fraudulent misrepresentation is not a great
> idea, and removed Essjay
> from his position of trust at Wikipedia.)"
>
> I thought that New Yorker article was far too sympathetic to the "army of
> typing monkeys".
>
> Hey, call it arrogant or elitist or whatever, but REAL knowledge is not
> something that just flows
> off the top of your head. People who are really expert in any field ARE
> elite and are so because
> they have invested great amounts of time and effort into becoming expert.
> Just because "anyone can
> publish" or "anyone can be a star" in today's idiotic Internet universe
> doesn't mean most of that
> material has any validity or is anything more than media pollution. This
> "everyone should express
> themselves" culture creates a haze of noise that masks real facts and real
> knowledge and is
> destroying the notion of truth in our society. The erosion of civility and
> functionality that
> follows the eroision of truth and facts is obvious and on-going.
>
> One man's opinion, etc. I think Steve Levy's conclusions are too optimistic,
> BTW, and lean more
> toward Keen's thinking. Posted on this forum because I believe one of the
> great services of proper
> archiving is storing and preserving factual knowledge and cultural
> touchstones.
>
> -- Tom Fine