Font of All Knowledge

The ultimate source - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter

There is a highly regarded book of collected wisdom which illuminates our world and helps in our intellectual pursuits. It has the combined wisdom of scribes and prophets throughout the developed world. I speak not of the Bible, but rather Wikipedia. Wikipedia is the free Internet encyclopedia which gives us 4.1 million English language articles and has 100,000 contributors. Wikipedia is also available in @ 284 other languages. It is free to use, and is funded though donations. Article content is unpaid, and delivered primarily as a "labor of love" by interested academicians. Who would give so freely of their time? Unmarried males, age 30-50 with some level of college education are the primary authors – according to statistics. (Why does Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory spring to mind?).

Wikipedia has incurred the wrath of commercial encyclopedias like Britannica – big surprise. It has been variously described as amoral, flawed and irresponsible by various other parties. Usually the critics are people who stand to lose speaking engagements, writing assignments and license fees as the general public flocks to Wikipedia, aka, the Font of All Knowledge.

It is true that Wikipedia has some inaccuracies, bias and inconsistent quality. Nature magazine found that these deficiencies also exist in other "unimpeachable" commercial tomes – and at the same rate of error. I myself found an inaccuracy when researching the RMS Titanic – one article quoted two different death statistics in different paragraphs. I figure there were different authors at work and they didn’t qualify their numbers unambiguously. But overall, I find the Wikipedia articles to be accurate and credible. If I were going to bet the farm or do delicate surgery based on research results, I’d probably look more deeply into expert testimony. If I’m shooting the breeze and want to know the date of Lincoln’s passing, Wikipedia fills the bill.

Now, Wikipedia serves up some more offerings that Compton’s and Encyclopedia utterly fail to deliver.. it has articles about commercial products (e.g., iPod Touch, Shelby Mustang) as well as topics that would be considered "improper" or "inane" like belly button lint. Wikipedia has a main page which beckons you with new and various topics of the day – a "nerdvana" for aspiring Jeopardy contestants. Wikipedia drives home a couple of very important ideas:

* Learning is a happy excursion, not a dull assignment.
* Academic topics can cross all boundaries and need not pass a censor’s standard for appropriateness.

Whatever silly thought or mind blip enters your head – it is likely to have a Wikipedia entry. Someone has subjected your silly notion to a thoughtful and intellectual, albeit nerdy, expansion of details, history and related links. So Wikipedia is sublime and sometimes ridiculous – it is a learning expedition for the likes of you, me and anyone else who loves to indulge in thought. We indulge not necessarily because a term paper is due or a job requires it. We indulge because we have active, curious minds and we care about knowledge in general.    

Addendum -- 3/8/2013

I was going to leave a comment but as the blog author, thought it would be better to just add to the text.  Traditional, published encyclopedias have been known for center-right political orientation and total avoidance of controversial or difficult topics.  Wikipedia recognizes that the world of knowledge doesn't fit readily into a rectangular shirt box -- some topics very worthy of discussion give off the angry hum of opposing viewpoints.  Such things as abortion, pornography and animal rights (and many, many other topics) fall into this category.  Wikipedia encourages these debates with discussion areas.  It also mitigates the overstep of opinionated authors by allowing dissent.  Such articles will say "The neutrality of this section is disputed" and members will arbitrate how to present the material.   

Wikipedia isn't exactly the firebrand, left-wing tool that some have suggested.  Wikipedia is more center-center than center-left.. it is much more informative than provocative. Wikipedia is also not a "slam book" -- it avoids gossip and unsubstantiated smears against individuals.  On the whole, Wikipedia is a reasonable source of data and a great induction into the thought world -- a place that can be untidy, scary and invigorating all at the same time.      

© 2013 blogSpotter

Das Ende

The final days  - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter

In 1970,  a crew of Soviet KGB workers unearthed the remains of several charred bodies in Magdeberg, East Germany.   The bodies were those of Adolph Hitler, his wife Eva Braun, and the entire family of Joseph Goebbels.  The KGB incinerated the bodies and scattered the ashes in the Elbe River.   The corpses were a grim memento from the maniacal dictator’s last stand in the “Fuhrerbunker” some 25 years earlier.   Hitler was worried that his body would be desecrated like Mussolini and bade his henchmen to dispose of the bodies quietly.   Hitler and Braun had planned their suicides a month prior (his with a gun, hers via cyanide).

Such a sad demise in a dark, secluded bunker … what were the events that led up to this act of dismal self-dispatch on April 30, 1945?   The seeds of defeat were planted four years earlier, according to many historians.   It seems Hitler, who already had his hands full with Eastern Europe, decided to launch a full-scale attack on Russia – disregarding the Hitler-Stalin Non-Aggression Act of 1939.  Hitler diverted troops from the Moscow Initiative over to Leningrad and Kiev..against the advice of his generals.  Moscow took full advantage of this ill conceived fan-out and Axis soldiers took major casualties as a result.

Of note – Germany's prowess was already starting to be compromised before the USA even entered the war.  Hitler grossly underestimated the power of Russia and it was the beginning of the end.  A “take Russia lightly” turning point came in 1943 when Hitler refused to pull back from Stalingrad.  435,000 German troops were killed or captured.  Again, Hitler had gone against the advice of his top commanders.  He further exhausted Germany’s resources with his horrific Holocaust.  In addition to killing millions of innocents, the death camps tied up rail road lines and resources that were badly needed elsewhere in Germany’s war effort.

Rather than learn from his mistakes or eat humble pie, Hitler became more paranoid and deluded. He lashed out at his generals and had nay-sayers (what few there were) shot.  His vile behavior is in fact the very basis for over-the-top James Bond villains and even the tongue-in-cheek Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers franchise.    It’s suspected that Hitler suffered from untreated Parkinson’s disease which may have impaired him physically and mentally.  Not everyone in German society was a “willing executioner”.  A few conscionable men knew that he was deranged and Hell-bound.  Several assassination attempts were made (e.g., Operation Valkyrie)  but nothing succeeded and people involved were summarily executed.

Das Ende

By April 1945, the gig was pretty well up.   Hitler ordered Albert Speers to destroy German factories as part of a scorched earth plan.. Speers quietly ignored the order.  Hitler ordered General Steiner to lead a “northern flank” attack – this at a point when Russia was already surrounding Berlin.  Steiner refused.  Goring perceived that Hitler was dead or out-of-pocket and declared himself the Fuhrer.  This enraged Hitler but he was helpless to exact much revenge.  All was for naught – the Russians were closing in.  At a point when the Russians were a block away from Hitler’s bunker, Hitler and Eva committed suicide.  They had already made detailed plans for how and when it would be done. 

POST MORTEM

Hitler was (in previous lives) a watercolorist, a homeless shelter habitué and an enlisted man.  He was a man steeped in extreme prejudice and chauvinism.   Why did Germany, a European country with such a noble history of philosophy and art, put its faith in such an unaccomplished, racist person?  Germans might have likened his humble beginnings to those of America’s Abraham Lincoln, but Lincoln was noble and emancipating – he sought to share the power not take it away. It gives us reason to wonder – could Hitler happen again or happen here?   We have to hope that we have safeguards in America that would keep it from ever happening.  Reviewing the last days of the Fuhrerbunker we see a gray, gritty picture of what happens when reality intrudes on a nation’s psychotic fever dream, when a nation puts all of its hopes in one very deluded, diminished man.

© 2013 blogSpotter