No, this isn’t a case of different people having different opinions about different ways to obtain information during different times. More often than not, I find that the SAME people who act like Wikipedia is the most unreliable thing on Earth unironically trust the FIRST Google Search result they see, as well as everything they’ve ever seen in ChatGPT.

Need I remind you that Google is LITERALLY designed to cater to your biases? And it’s gotten WORSE because the first result you see is NOW AI-Generated. Also, Google is not a source! And AI Chatbots cite THEMSELVES as sources!

Wikipedia on the other hand is curated by REAL VOLUNTEER HUMANS who strive to be accurate as possible. I’m aware that Wikipedia is no stranger to agendas or vandalism, but these editors are quick and dedicated to be as accurate as possible. So much so that whenever a building is on fire, they LITERALLY label it as “Status: Burning”. Not burned… BURNING! Meanwhile, Google tells you to put glue on your pizza…

And yes, I know that Wikipedia is not a source. Like Google, Wikipedia is a GATEWAY to sources, and not a source in and of itself. But at the very least, Wikipedia DOESN’T try to give you what you will like, because you’ll get what is (most likely) the truth instead, backed up by several CREDIBLE sources that are constantly fact-checked by volunteer humans.

So why do people hate Wikipedia so much? And why do these SAME PEOPLE cite Google and ChatGPT as a source?

  • blindbunny@lemmy.mlEnglish
    10·
    15 days ago

    Because AI tells them what they want to hear and Wikipedia tells them the truth.

    I remember telling my Dad he was brainwashed by the state to think he wasn’t sent to Afghanistan to steal oil but to protect “our freedoms” and provided evidence of Halliburton no bid contracts that Dick Cheney used to be a board member of. He just couldn’t accept that the state was lying to him.

    Having people you care about tell you when you are wrong and you adjusting and accepting new information as fact is part of being a better person and its real fucking sad some people just don’t want to do that. They’d rather have a plagiarism machine lie to their faces.