Went into Target this weekend and saw that they had begun to build their "back-to-school" displays. Given that it was the last day of my own week off, the signs really spoke to me . . . ouch.
In the spirit of the moment, Steven Johnson offers an excellent metaphor - and piece of advice - that teachers at all levels ought to drum into their students heads from the first crisp fall day through the muggy days of June.
" We're wrong to think of Google as a pure reference source. It's closer to a collectively authored op-ed page—filled with bias, polemics, and a skewed sense of proportion—than an encyclopedia. "
He blames bloggers. Ha!
. . .
UPDATE: Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber wanders off from the Slate article and wonders why poli-sci doesn't have an online clearing house for papers and works in progress. The links and comments continue to mine this vein in several interesting directions.
Posted by Martial