Enough Already

I'm starting to get quite sick of certain repeat elements in my education. Currently, the dominant frustrations are: the concept of "unlearning", Wikihatred, and wise master Yoda.

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Unlearning

I have been in so many classes now where they tell us that the time has come to "Unlearn what we have learned". It sounds dramatic, of course, and it strikes fear into the hearts of many, which I suppose is the intent. I groan. If I was really going to be unlearning everything I learned in the prerequisites, they wouldn't be prerequisites, would they?

Why would I go to school for 18 years (K-Undergrad Super Senior) if I'm spending half of each year unlearning the year before? Stupidity.

English is the worst about this, because in English, it's true to a certain extent. First they tell you to start being creative and coming up with other words for 'said', then they tell you that's foolish, don't try to make your work any more flowery than comes naturally. And I can sort of see where they're coming from. But from the sound of things, they want to completely rewrite your knowledge of the English language every year. And that's just not what happens.

On the other hand, I wonder if they don't sometimes mean that, rather than deleting our previous knowledge, we are merely augmenting it, rewriting it in such a level of increased detail that some people feel as though it's a different set of knowledge whatsoever. In which case we need a technology update - we are no longer handwriting or even handtyping things, where we need to redo a page to add a detail. We work on computers - we can just click between the lines and resume where we left off.

I don't know about you, but I flatter myself by considering my brain more like a computer than a rudimentary writing tablet.
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Wikihatred

Otherwise respectable teachers start looking like baptist preachers when they get in on this subject. Yes, certainly there are some students who use Wikipedia very irresponsibly, but I feel like there is a lot of ignorance on the part of teachers about this subject as well.

They tell you that their six year old nephew can edit Wikipedia. I've heard this statement from enough people, in enough contexts, that I don't think they even have a six year old nephew, and I really don't think he edits Wikipedia. I think instead it's a statement made in fear and misunderstanding, a hyperbole.

The truth is that Wikipedia is rather strict. Sure, if there's a long list of names of people who invented Photoshop on one page, you might get away with slipping your name in. But when is it really going to matter?

It depends on why you're using Wikipedia.

I would not use it to fact check an individual or to write a report on a political candidate - basically, in any way that A.) Someone would have a motive to put false information on Wikipedia and B.) I would suffer negative consequences from using this false information. Which is a lot of ways.

But if I am sitting around wondering about, for example, the History of Time Zones, or Wasabi, I will check Wikipedia. And Lo! The information is correct. It's not an excuse for a textbook, of course, but if I am a bit curious about a given topic, it's a fine source for me to indulge my curiosity.

Another way I frequently use Wikipedia is to get an idea of the broader context that a given thing fits within. In my opinion, Wikipedia's hyperlinks are invaluable. I can spend half a day going from one page to another, and another. Everything in our world is interconnected, and Wikipedia does remarkably well at illustrating those connections.

Wikipedia has features that would never be found in a more serious reference book. For example, on most pages, it also lists references to popular culture that mentions a specific topic. If I was looking for that information for, say, a school report, I would fact check it elsewhere, of course. Still, where else am I going to go for that feature? It is entirely a product of the Wiki system.

And Wikipedia is NOT as easy to edit as everyone says. Going back to the Photoshop Staff reference - yes, such a thing is possible. But I have tried to update Wikipedia five or six times. I've only had two edits go through. One was about my dorm on campus, a subject of little importance and one I had a good deal of knowledge on. Plus I cited newspaper and magazine articles. The other was to fix a typo.

All of my other updates have been thrown out - not even because they were silly or rediculous, but often because the information was deemed 'not crucial', or my references were not considered academic enough.

Just try it sometime. See how long your edit lasts before it is rejected.

Better yet, instead of trying to break the system, look at the discussion page for any article, and watch others go back and forth, debating the content, trying to bring it to a level of maximum accuracy.

I wish even one teacher would try to take a balanced look at Wikipedia instead of declaring it the next great Satan.

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Wise Master Yoda

This last peeve of mine differs from the others in that it is less of an attack on a worrisome trend in modern education and more of a personal irony. Horrible writing, I know, to end this post with the weakest of the three grievances, but there you are.

I've never seen Star Wars. Oh, go ahead and freak out, I know that it's weird that I haven't seen it, seeing as I'm not only a human being but also well known to be a consumer of alternative culture. But seriously, I haven't seen Star Wars, except for, arguably, Episode One and Three, on separate occasions, when the movies were on in the background and received a whole 5% of my attention.

And except for Yoda. You know, the space ship is sinking and Luke (?) makes it come out of the mud and Yoda says all those things you see on shirts all the time. "Impossible is Nothing.... Do or do not, there is no try... That is why you fail..."

Yeah. I knew from the moment the screen looked like a misty swamp and I heard robot beeps that I was in for my third, special, in class viewing of this scene, and this scene alone. The first time was in sixth grade, eight years ago. Enough already.