Another sort of test.
It's a bit of a tautology. Because we encounter information within the pages of
an established and respectable encyclopedia we're inclined to view that information
as accurate and reliable. There's hardly any need to devote much effort to actually
examining that information. Thus if we're really interested in examining to what
degree the Wikipedia is trustworthy, another sort of test seems to be called for.
In this test we would perform a few switches, offering texts from the Wikipedia
as texts from a recognized encyclopedia, and texts from, let's say, the Britannica
as texts from the Wikipedia. Now, if we request that our testees judge what they
think is the more accurate or reliable information we'll perhaps be able to establish
the degree to which the packaging and the title, rather than the content itself,
influence our judgment.
Go to: Too Common Knowledge.