[SharedKnowing] Episteme issue about Wikipedia appears

[Fred Bauder]

> There's a new issue of the social epistemology journal Episteme that I
> helped to put together, about Wikipedia.  Here is a blog post about it:
>
> http://blog.citizendium.org/2009/02/16/episteme-issue-about-wikipedia-appear
> s/
>
> I wrote an article for the issue called "The Fate of Expertise after
> Wikipedia."
>
> --Larry

I had some time and read the whole article. Here's one thing illustrating
Wikipedia's attitude:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Expert-subject

Another thing I would like to point out is that the universe of people
who adequately understand a topic is much larger than those who are noted
experts in the field. Indeed, it is hard to imagine effective editing
from those who do not understand the basic principles of a subject.
Although occasionally, one might add something. I remember once finding a
rather easy to understand definition of a mathematical set in a textbook
which addressed teaching elementary teachers how to teach about sets. The
exact language is gone now, but stayed in the article for a while,
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Set_(mathematics)&diff=3738688&oldid=3738517
It is now replaced with perhaps better examples
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_(mathematics)#Describing_sets I know
little or nothing about sets, but as I learned a little bit, added it to
the article. Of course, the real expert, is someone who can explain
something both adequately and simply. That would be an expert editor, not
necessarily an expert mathematician.

Fred