omg, THIS
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omg, THIS
I was bordering on apoplectic when I first heard about K-12 teachers forbidding students from using Wikipedia but then teaching them to use LLMs.
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https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/hi-its-me-wikipedia-and-i-am-ready-for-your-apology -
omg, THIS
I was bordering on apoplectic when I first heard about K-12 teachers forbidding students from using Wikipedia but then teaching them to use LLMs.
🧵
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/hi-its-me-wikipedia-and-i-am-ready-for-your-apologyI recently found myself comparing the articles about the Louisiana Purchase on Britannica (that flag-bearer of acceptability in K-12 education) and Wikipedia (still forbidden in many schools). It was…illuminating.
The Britannica is better written. It flows well. It is approachable. It proceeds from broad overview to coherent detail in a way that helps meet the reader where they’re at. The professional editorial oversight shows.
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I recently found myself comparing the articles about the Louisiana Purchase on Britannica (that flag-bearer of acceptability in K-12 education) and Wikipedia (still forbidden in many schools). It was…illuminating.
The Britannica is better written. It flows well. It is approachable. It proceeds from broad overview to coherent detail in a way that helps meet the reader where they’re at. The professional editorial oversight shows.
1/
The Wikipedia article is pretty good, but it’s overwhelming. It flows poorly. It lurches from big picture to over-specific details in a way that makes it hard to approach the article if you don’t already know the material.
The cacophony of voices behind it, though well-synthesized, still shows.
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The Wikipedia article is pretty good, but it’s overwhelming. It flows poorly. It lurches from big picture to over-specific details in a way that makes it hard to approach the article if you don’t already know the material.
The cacophony of voices behind it, though well-synthesized, still shows.
2/
The Wikipedia article also includes this sentence in its opening paragraph:
❝However, France only controlled a small fraction of this area, most of which was inhabited by Native Americans; effectively, for the majority of the area, the United States bought the preemptive right to obtain Indian lands by treaty or by conquest, to the exclusion of other colonial powers.❞
Britannica has nothing like that. It discusses the Louisiana Purchase without a single mention that the indigenous people of North America even exist.
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