International Aroid Society

Dear Ted and all Aroid Friends=2C

Thanks=2C Ted!
By now it SHOULD be obvious that Wikipedia is a VERY unreliable source of information on aroids or ANY material. =3B
I would NOT be surprised if it has become a ''tool'' of persons who are using it to push THEIR agenda. =3B "They" can post ''their'' agendas (which may be VERY inaccurate=2C as we have seen in this examples quoted here by Ted=2C plus others quoted previously)=2C and ''they'' can keep editing any correction to THEIR false entry back to ''their'' original inaccurate posting=2C so that ''their'' misinformation is spread as being factual. =3B This by Wikipedia=2C =3B a source=2C which to most of the general public=2C is an aparently ''reliable'' source''. =3B Not so!!!
Enough said. =3B =3B ''There are none so blind as those who WILL not see''.

Julius

Date: Tue=2C 27 Jan 2009 11:42:01 -0500
From: oppenhauser2001@gmail.com
To: aroid-l@gizmoworks.com
Subject: [Aroid-l] Wikipedia

Julius and Steve=2C and others interested in Truth and Honesty=2C

=3B

Let me tell you a story about Wikipedia.

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A couple of weeks ago I came across a book in my "weirdness" section called "You and Your Palm"=2C by a guy named "Cheiro" (pronounced like the two Greek letters Chi and Rho). It turns out he was a late 1920s and early 30s sort of palm reader to the stars. The book contains palm prints and diagnoses of a number of famous movie stars of the day. I don't know how you feel about palm reading and these related skills=2C but I am not a fan except in the sense of mockery and derision.

=3B

Well=2C I looked up the good doctor on Wikipedia and found a very flattering account of his life. Among the testimonials to his greatness as a seer was what was purported to be an excerpt from a guest book he kept. The entry was from Mark Twain and indicated how pleased Twain was with the results of his sessions with the master.

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As it happens I know some things about Mark Twain. Among them is that Mark Twain was a huge skeptic. In fact=2C there is a whole section in his autobiography (Chapter 13) in which he discusses some controlled experiments he had done with both palm readers and phrenologists of his day. Interestingly=2C they all concluded that one thing his personality lacked was a sense of humor (!). These were done by Mark Twain (and his agent) without revealing his identity. Curiously=2C when he presented himself to a couple of the same jokers as his real self=2C they managed to conjure up that he had a strong sense of humor. So much for the veracity of the occult sciences.

=3B

Anyway=2C I thought I'd add an item to Wikipedia relating to this and suggested that the views quoted there might be compared with Mark Twain's own testimony with its not-so-veiled skepticism about same. I was diplomatic. I merely pointed readers to something that might shed more light on the subject.

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This morning I checked the Wikipedia site and=2C sure enough=2C my comment had been deleted and the entry about Mark Twain's endorsement of Cheiro's abilities remained unaltered. In the past two weeks I suppose some partisan of palmistry had reversed my efforts.

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I was immediately doubtful when I first learned of Wikipedia. I have stronger doubts about it now=2C after my experience. Better=2C I think=2C is to rely on peer-reviewed matter=2C such as Aroideana=2C for one's information about scientific topics. For non-scientific topics we are at the mercy of our own judgment=2C I suppose.

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Ted.