From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Sad mouse
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This user can translate American but refuses to use it. |
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This user is not afraid to be wrong, but as a skeptic will require proof. |
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This user is a global citizen, an individual's worth is not measured by their nationality. |
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I am an Australian living in the United States, my formal education is in immunology, biochemistry, genetics and teaching, my informal specialities are politics and history. I am an academic and researcher in the genetics of autoimmune diseases.
Articles I have significantly contributed to
Issues facing Indigenous Australians Today
Central tolerance
Autoimmune Regulator
Corpuscles of Hassall
Thymus
Thymocyte
Parthenogenesis
Komodo dragon
Iraq War Iraqi death toll
Australian legislative election, 2007
Slavery and religion
Personal experiences
I appreciate both the strengths and weakness of wikipedia
Strengths
1. Wikipedia gives quick and easy access to an enormous variety of topics.
2. Wikipedia has some excellent editors who diligently work to give surprisingly accurate information.
3. Wikipedia is often an excellent source of primary references.
Weaknesses
1. Wikipedia can never be as accurate as an encyclopaedia written by scholars specialising on each topic (as the usually partially quoted Nature comparison to Encyclopaedia Britannica showed, it contains a much higher number of factual errors, but a lower number of omissions).
2. Wikipedia's fluidity and open source make it unsuitable as a reference in any scholarly work.
3. Wikipedia has many non-scholarly editors who make articles POV, insert incorrect and misleading information, or who sit on an article and revert everyone else.
4. Wikipedia has an article on Molor, a Klingon who never even appeared in Star Trek, but has next to nothing on important science topics. Consider the entire wikipedia content for
- central tolerance Central tolerance is a condition caused by tumor cells caused by tumor antigens inhibiting the immune system which has no reaction
- thymocyte A thymocyte is a T cell precursor which has migrated from the bone marrow to the thymus. Proliferation of thymocytes and probably also development of thymic T cells is induced by IL-6 (interleukin-6). Their use is significant for immunosuppressive therapy.
Random analysis of wiki content
| Class |
# |
% |
| History |
4 |
5% |
| Politics |
2 |
2.5% |
| Geography |
5 |
6.3% |
| Science |
3 |
3.8% |
| Stub on legitimate topic |
8 |
10% |
| Historical pop culture |
7 |
8.9% |
| Trivial modern culture |
20 |
25% |
| Advertising |
11 |
13.8% |
| List |
2 |
0.3% |
| Minor location |
8 |
10% |
| Total encyclopaedic content |
14/80 |
17.5% |
