Things one should know
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On Wikipedia
Truth to tell, much of Wikipedia is simply amazing in its detail, currency, and accuracy. Denying this is tantamount to taking ourselves out of the new digital reality. But we need to help our students see that Wikipedia is also an environment for shallow thinking, debates over interpretation, and the settling of scores. Wikipedia itself advises that its users consult other sources to verify the information they are finding. If a key element in information literacy is the ability to evaluate information, what better place to start than with Wikipedia? We can help students to distinguish the trite from the brilliant and encourage them to check their Wikipedia information against other sources.
- — William Badke of Trinity Western University, excerpted from Badke, William. "What to Do With Wikipedia". Trinity Western University, 2008; q.v. for full text. Retrieved 2008-03-14. (Info smuggled from here.)
On Words
To imagine a language means to imagine a form of life". That’s Wittgenstein again. So, go ahead: imagine a form of life. Imagine your life. Think about what you say and ask yourself if you want to be the kind of person who says those kinds of things. Change your language and you change your thoughts. Change your thoughts and you change yourself. Imagine your possible selves and decide which ones you want to inhabit.
- — Richard Siken of Arizona, excerpted from Siken, Richard. "Journal, Day Five". The Poetry Foundation, 2006; q.v. for full text. Retrieved 2015-10-10.
This is good, too.