• TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    I think part of that has been actual elevated standards on Wikipedia with a more robust culture for things like citations, but probably more importantly, it’s readers already being expected to understand that Wikipedia isn’t an inherently credible source and needs checking if you actually care.

    Of course part of it now too, as you imply, is generative AI making it look more rigorous by comparison and lowering people’s standards.

    • FudgyMcTubbs@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      I’m lazy and have started treating wikipedia as a primary source. But if I’m quoting it to somebody else, I tend to look at the cited references to make sure I trust those.

      • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        🤓 Point of clarification: primary, secondary, and tertiary sources refer to the proximity to the original information, not to their reliability.

        • A primary source would be something like a study on a drug.
        • A secondary source would be something like a news article discussing the study or a meta-analysis collating a bunch of studies on that drug.
        • A tertiary source would be something like a Wikipedia article or a section of a textbook discussing the drug as a whole.

        Secondary and tertiary sources often comprise both the most reliable and unreliable sources. 🤓

        (Ik what you meant by “primary” lol)

        • FudgyMcTubbs@lemmy.world
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          3 hours ago

          I meant it exactly as your definitions. Academically. My fuck up was saying “as” instead of “equal to” or “like.” Hence me admitting how utterly lazy that is. I should also add irresponsible.