Yes, I agree! This is worrisome. I try not to let it keep me from sleeping, though.Cynth wrote:See, this is what worries me. We can catch mistakes like this because we have a little knowledge. But what about other things. The other day I cited something that turned out to be wrong---I should have known better and wouldn't have used the source in a paper, but still. Libraries are good because the people deciding what books to buy are trained and have resources to help them make sure the library is spending its money wisely. We can try to assess the reliability of a website, but if one is truly ignorant about a topic then how can you even do that? Okay, sorry to get so serious.Nanohedron wrote:Found this on a website while I was rummaging around for examples of Leonardo da Vinci's mirror writing (don't ask):
"The beginning of the sixteenth century is the most famous period of Italian art. It was the time of Michelangelo, Raphael, Dürer, Holbein, Giorgione, Titan, Correggio and many other famous masters."
And it was such a nice-looking site, too.
It's very difficult to know if what you know is correct or not. Certainly, if you recognize that you don't know much, you can be more suspicious and check a little further than you otherwise would. You wouldn't want to feel that you had to, say, get an advanced degree in the subject before speaking on it, but you might want to check a few different references or websites to see if you found the same things.
It can be very challenging, because a lot of websites copy from each other. Misinformation is everywhere! We do have to be on our guard against it, but beyond applying some critical thinking skills . . . there isn't much you can do.
Now that I'm thinking about this, I realize that I say things all the time that might be wrong. Maybe I should worry about this more. Hmmm.
Oh, yeah. I'm sorry....it won't happen again
