| ▲ | ryandrake 17 hours ago |
| Are there actual good examples showing errors of fact on Wikipedia that are verifiably incorrect, that demonstrate how it is "captured"? |
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| ▲ | calqacon 12 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| How about Gabrowski et al.: "Wikipedia’s Intentional Distortion of the History of the Holocaust", about the outsize influence of certain coordinated Polish editors on the Wikipedia articles about Poland and the Holocaust? https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/25785648.2023.2... Quote from the conclusion: > This essay has shown that in the last decade, a handful of editors have been steering Wikipedia’s narrative on Holocaust history away from sound, evidence-driven research, toward a skewed version of events touted by right-wing Polish groups. Wikipedia’s articles on Jewish topics, especially on Polish–Jewish history before, during, and after World War II, contain and bolster harmful stereotypes and fallacies. Our study provides numerous examples, but many more exist. We have shown how the distortionist editors add false content and use unreliable sources or misrepresent legitimate ones. For a more recent paper, "Disinformation as a tool for digital political activism: Croatian Wikipedia and the case for critical information literacy" by Car et al. says that: > The Hr.WP [Croatian Wikipedia] case exemplifies disinformation not only as content manipulation, but also as process manipulation weaponising neutrality and verifiability policies to suppress dissent and enforce a single ideological position. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-01-2025-0020 |
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| ▲ | servo_sausage 15 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I find it more surprising that the common understanding has shifted away from "wikis are crap for anything new or political". As soon as there is a plausible agenda for selecting a narrative the way Wikipedia works we should be sceptical. For recent examples, everything to do with Biden and family, and Gamergate. These pages are still full of discussion; and what's written is more ideological than factual. You can follow these pages to see how an in-group selects a narrative. And these topics are not nearly as controversial as race, feminism, or transgender topics. |
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| ▲ | ryandrake 14 hours ago | parent [-] | | OK, is there a specific example on either the Biden or Gamergate page that is factually incorrect? Or are you saying the entire pages are false? | | |
| ▲ | servo_sausage 12 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | My point is more that the history of those pages is a good example of how Wikipedia works for controversial topics; it's not really a process of becoming more correct as better sources are found and argued about like it is on more neutral pages, instead it's an in group deciding what to represent, collecting their preferred opinion pieces. And this changes over time, getting no closer to neutrality within the same articles history. You can write an equivalent article starting with "Gamergate was a movement reacting to the improper collusion between game developers and journalists" and find just as many sources, but the current article wants to promote the idea that it was a harrassment campaign first. | | |
| ▲ | datsci_est_2015 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | It was also pretty credibly a psyop orchestrated by Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein, but that’s probably better served in history books and biographies rather than an encyclopedia. |
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| ▲ | scarmig 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Wiki's Gamergate opening paragraph: > Gamergate or GamerGate (GG) was a loosely organized misogynistic online harassment campaign motivated by a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. It was conducted using the hashtag "#Gamergate" primarily in 2014 and 2015. Gamergate targeted women in the video game industry, most notably feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian and video game developers Zoë Quinn and Brianna Wu. Grokipedia's: > Gamergate was a grassroots online movement that emerged in August 2014, primarily focused on exposing conflicts of interest and lack of transparency in video game journalism, initiated by a blog post detailing the romantic involvement of indie developer Zoë Quinn with journalists who covered her work without disclosure. The controversy began when Eron Gjoni, Quinn's ex-boyfriend, published "The Zoe Post," accusing her of infidelity with multiple individuals, including Kotaku journalist Nathan Grayson, whose article on Quinn's game Depression Quest omitted any mention of their prior personal contact. This revelation highlighted broader patterns of undisclosed relationships and coordinated industry practices, such as private mailing lists among journalists, fueling demands for ethical reforms like mandatory disclosure policies. I don't care about "Gamergate" and never use Grokipedia, but Wiki definitely has a stronger slant: it's as if an article about Black Lives Matter started with a statement that it was a campaign meant to scam people to pay for mansions for leadership. | | |
| ▲ | yongjik 12 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Well, I'm naively assuming Grokipedia is being sympathetic to the cause(?) of Gamergate, but if the best thing they could lead the article was essentially "It all started when someone got mad at his ex-girlfriend and her many other boyfriends and wrote something that went viral" ... ... it does sound like an online harassment campaign. | | |
| ▲ | baublet 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | It was. In hindsight it signaled the beginning of the mass weaponization of the internet via social media. It also was NOT grassroots lol. It was very specifically and intentionally enflamed and groomed and funded by people like Steve Bannon and his good buddy Jeffrey Epstein. It wouldn’t have such a big Wikipedia article without them. |
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| ▲ | brendoelfrendo 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Wikipedia's assessment is more accurate. Wikipedia does go on in its second paragraph to explain the context of the start of the campaign, including "The Zoe Post" and the accusations of conflict of interest. But the broader impact of Gamergate was as a misogynistic online harassment campaign, and Wikipedia is correct to make that the central part of its summary. Just because Grokipedia is more reluctant to state a conclusion does not make it less biased. |
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| ▲ | andoando 14 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Which facts are represented is equally important as being factual though. Brian hit Jim can be a fact. But if you emit "Jim murdered Brians whole family", its a disortation of truth | | |
| ▲ | bdangubic 14 hours ago | parent [-] | | specific examples other than ficticious Jim&Brian? | | |
| ▲ | andoando 13 hours ago | parent [-] | | I haven't read wikipedia in a long time so I can't answer your question, I am just pointing out that just saying "the facts are correct" is not enough to say there is no bias on wikipedia |
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| ▲ | AuryGlenz 17 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
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| ▲ | JumpCrisscross 16 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | The Minnesota Transracial Adoption Study was methodologically flawed. “Children with two black parents were significantly older at adoption, had been in the adoptive home a shorter time, and had experienced a greater number of preadoption placements.” Reframed, the study seemed to find (a) black kids are adopted less readily and (b) the longer a kid spends in the foster system, the lower their IQ at 17. (There is also limited controlling for epigenetic factors because we didn’t understand those well in the 1970s and 80s.) Based on how new human cognition is, and genetically similar human races are, it would be somewhat groundbreaking to find an emergent complex trait like IQ to map to social constructs like race, particularly ones as broad as American white and black. (There is more genetic diversity in single African tribes than in some small European countries. And American whites and blacks are all complex hybridized social categories.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Transracial_Adoption... | | |
| ▲ | AuryGlenz 11 hours ago | parent [-] | | [flagged] | | |
| ▲ | tptacek 11 hours ago | parent [-] | | What? No you can't. And: it remains perfectly OK to study racial differences in IQ. It's an actively studied topic. In fact, it's studied by at least three major scientific fields (quantitative psychology, behavioral genetics, and molecular genetics). The idea that you can't is a cringe online racist canard borne out of the fact that the studies aren't coming out the way they want them to. | | |
| ▲ | AuryGlenz 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | Does it now? Noah Carl would disagree. He was a researcher at Cambridge University that was dismissed after an open letter signed by over 1,400 academics and students accusing him of "racist pseudoscience" for merely arguing that race-IQ research should not be off-limits. James Flynn (of the Flynn effect) has also publicly stated that grants for research clarifying genetic vs. environmental causes of IQ gaps weren't approved because of university fears of public furor. | | |
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| ▲ | AlotOfReading 16 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | It seems like the root of your statement is with the existence of "race" as a purely biological classification. Wikipedia correctly notes the consensus position that race is a social construct [0] that's difficult to use accurately when discussing IQ. Grok makes the implicit and incorrect assumption that genetic factors = race, among other issues. [0] https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Race | | |
| ▲ | darkwater 15 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I wonder how much longer that link will stay up with the current administration... | |
| ▲ | AuryGlenz 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Ok, change it to "what we call race as a proxy for general geographic locations that people's ancestors come from." Which is what we all mean by race, anyways. | | |
| ▲ | AlotOfReading 10 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | That's not what your previous post was talking about. But if you insist, at least make your point clear. "African Americans" and "Africans" are wildly different genetic populations that get subsumed under the same "Black" racial category in the US. Which one were you talking about? The latter is more genetically diverse than any other human population by an incredible margin. Making generalized statements about them is impossible (including this one). As for African American populations, ancestry estimates of how closely related they are to African populations vary massively for each individual. Many people are much closer to "white" populations than any African population, due to the history of African Americans in North America. If you really mean race as a geographic proxy, the "black" label is simply confusing what you actually mean. | | |
| ▲ | AuryGlenz 8 hours ago | parent [-] | | I understand your point (although I find the babybathwater-ing to be tiring), and I didn't mean to be drawn into a debate about this. But that was entirely the point - that there's a debate. Wikipedia would have you believe that there isn't. For what it's worth, I'm mixed as hell. European, Asian, Jewish, north african, and native american. I look white, though - and I am, in fact, majority European ancestry. Therefore in most studies (of anything race related), I would presumably be lumped in with white people. It's not a perfect "measure," but it's still the easiest proxy for geographic location of our ancestors that we have and on a population level it works just fine for studies. |
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| ▲ | lobf 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | But then what are you arguing? Geographic location determines IQ? (An inherently flawed measurement itself) | | |
| ▲ | AuryGlenz 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | I'm not arguing anything other than the fact that Wikipedia is biased. Though I will say it's beyond argument that geographic ancestry has an effect on IQ on a statistical group level (the reasons for this are what's debated), and that IQ is the best measurement of G that we have. | | |
| ▲ | lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 5 minutes ago | parent | next [-] | | > I'm not arguing anything other than the fact that Wikipedia is biased. It "is biased" to document human knowledge as accurately as possible. Is there something wrong with that? | |
| ▲ | lobf 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Okay but you need to… actually present these arguments. Right now you’re stating your position and then affirming it as fact and expecting everyone to trust you. | | |
| ▲ | AuryGlenz 7 hours ago | parent [-] | | I already gave you two large meta-analyses and more on the first point along with a and as far as the second goes in the field of psychology that's as established as 2+2=4 is in the math world. If you really want to research that yourself go ahead; I don't feel like I should need to waste my time. |
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| ▲ | epgui 17 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Have you considered the possibility that your opinion is just not representative of the scientific consensus? | | |
| ▲ | AuryGlenz 11 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I asked ChatGPT on whether or not it was the "scientific consensus." "Anonymous surveys of intelligence experts reveal division: a 2016 survey found that about 49% attributed 50% or more of the Black-White gap to genetics, while over 80% attributed at least 20%; an earlier 1980s survey showed similar splits. These views are more common in private or anonymous contexts, contrasting with public statements from bodies like the APA that find no support for genetic explanations." Hm, sure seems like Wikipedia should probably have a more balanced, nuanced discussion considering the experts are split at least 50/50. | |
| ▲ | charcircuit 16 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Wikipedia does not care about scientific consensus. It just summarizes "reliable" secondary sources. | | |
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| ▲ | lobf 16 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | >As you can see, Wikipedia is very dismissive to the point of effectively lying. Did I miss where you presented evidence that wikipedia is wrong? You seem to be taking an assumption you carry (race is related to IQ) and assuming everyone believes it's true as well, thus wikipedia is lying. | | |
| ▲ | AuryGlenz 11 hours ago | parent [-] | | There have been many, many studies that show that "race" is related to IQ. A true, unbiased article would show that as well as any well-founded criticisms of it. | | |
| ▲ | lobf 11 hours ago | parent [-] | | Can you cite them then? | | |
| ▲ | AuryGlenz 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | Roth, P. L., Bevier, C. A., Bobko, P., Switzer, F. S., & Tyler, P. (2001). Ethnic group differences in cognitive ability in employment and educational settings: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 54(2), 297–330. Rushton, J. P., & Jensen, A. R. (2005). Thirty years of research on race differences in cognitive ability. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 11(2), 235–294. Neisser, U., et al. (1996). Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns. (APA Task Force report). American Psychologist, 51(2), 77–101. |
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| ▲ | erxam 16 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | [flagged] |
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| ▲ | gowld 17 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| It's not errors of fact, it's errors of omitted facts. |
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| ▲ | ibero 16 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Are there actual good examples showing errors of omitted facts on Wikipedia that are verifiably correct, that demonstrate how it is "captured"? | |
| ▲ | decimalenough 16 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | [flagged] |
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| ▲ | arjie 13 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| I’d say Wikipedia definitely has a strong “woke” bent to it. Either in the language or the choice of what facts to show. Here’s an example I deleted that had been there for quite a while https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Salvadoran_gang_c... I really like Wikipedia, though, and I think over time we will get around to fixing it up. |
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| ▲ | klausa 12 hours ago | parent [-] | | Why did you feel this passage was worth deleting? | | |
| ▲ | arjie 12 hours ago | parent [-] | | Anyone familiar with Wikipedia etiquette knows how to find the answer to this question. Rather than getting into an argument here about a subject there, I'd prefer you familiarize yourself with the norms of that community, and if you already have or are experienced with them, then you know where to discuss the subject guided by those norms. | | |
| ▲ | scared_together 4 hours ago | parent [-] | | But you’re responding to a comment here, not there. So why not abide by the norms that prevail here? |
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