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| title = Citogenesis | | title = Citogenesis | ||
| image = citogenesis.png | | image = citogenesis.png | ||
− | | titletext = I just read a pop-science book by a respected author. One chapter, and much of the thesis, was based around wildly inaccurate data which traced back to... Wikipedia. To encourage people to be on their toes, I'm not going to say what book or author. | + | | titletext = I just read a pop-science book by a respected author. One chapter, and much of the thesis, was based around wildly inaccurate data which traced back to ... Wikipedia. To encourage people to be on their toes, I'm not going to say what book or author. |
}} | }} | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | This comic is calling into question the {{w| | + | This comic is calling into question the {{w|Wikipedia#Accuracy of content|accuracy}} of {{w|Wikipedia}}. This is a favorite past-time of librarians and professional researchers, and not usually one of [[Randall]]'s. But, to take it seriously for a moment: People, Wikipedia is editable by anyone. If you are doing serious work, follow through the citations, and decide which are from upstanding sources, and which are just people writing on their blog, and which are people writing on their blog who know what they are talking about. |
− | The title of the comic is | + | The title of the comic is a play on the word [http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/cytogenesis cytogenesis]. Cytogenesis is the formation of cells and their development. Citogenesis, on the other hand is a [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/portmanteau portmanteau] of 'Citation' and 'Genesis'. [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/citation Citation] meaning quoting a source. [http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genesis?show=1&t=1346949206 Genesis] being the origin of something. So, citogenesis would be the creation of a quote that can be used to back-up a fact or statement. |
− | + | The comic is discussing citogenesis occurring on Wikipedia. {{w|Wikipedia}} is a free and freely editable encyclopedia that aims to become the most complete and correct knowledge base available, in all languages, to all people. Wikipedia is managed by the {{w|Wikimedia Foundation}} who publish {{w|MediaWiki}}, a web-based {{w|wiki}} engine written in {{w|PHP}}. The explain xkcd wiki is run on a MediaWiki server. | |
− | + | Following this comic, the actual {{w|Scroll lock}} and {{w|Steven Chu}} articles {{w|Talk:Scroll_lock#Thanks_Randall|were both}} {{w|Talk:Steven_Chu#Scroll_lock_key|wiki-bombed}} by "helpful" editors trying to enforce Randall's reality on the Internets. | |
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− | Following this comic, the actual {{w|Scroll | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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:Citogenesis Step #1 | :Citogenesis Step #1 | ||
:Through a convoluted process, a user's brain generates facts. These are typed into Wikipedia. | :Through a convoluted process, a user's brain generates facts. These are typed into Wikipedia. | ||
− | :[ | + | :[A guy with short hair sits at a desk, typing on a laptop.] |
− | : | + | :Guy: (typing) The "scroll lock" key was designed by future Energy Secretary Steven Chu in a college project. |
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:A rushed writer checks Wikipedia for a summary of their subject. | :A rushed writer checks Wikipedia for a summary of their subject. | ||
:[Ponytail sits at a desk, typing on a desktop.] | :[Ponytail sits at a desk, typing on a desktop.] | ||
:Ponytail: (typing) US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, (Nobel Prizewinner and creator of the ubiquitous "scroll lock" key) testified before Congress today... | :Ponytail: (typing) US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, (Nobel Prizewinner and creator of the ubiquitous "scroll lock" key) testified before Congress today... | ||
+ | :Step #2 | ||
+ | :Surprised readers check Wikipedia, see the claim, and flag it for review. A passing editor finds the piece and adds it as a citation. | ||
+ | :[Cueball sits on a couch with a laptop in his lap, typing.] | ||
+ | :Cueball: Google is your friend, people. (typing) <ref>{{cite web|url= | ||
:Step #3 | :Step #3 | ||
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:Step #4 | :Step #4 | ||
:Now that other writers have a real source, they repeat the fact. | :Now that other writers have a real source, they repeat the fact. | ||
:[A flow chart, with "Wikipedia citation" in the center. The word "Wikipedia" is in black, the word "citations" is white with a red background. | :[A flow chart, with "Wikipedia citation" in the center. The word "Wikipedia" is in black, the word "citations" is white with a red background. | ||
− | : | + | :A black arrow leads from "brain" to "Wikipedia." |
− | : | + | :A black arrow labeled "words" leads from "Wikipedia" to "careless writers," and a red arrow labeled "citations" leads back to "Wikipedia citations." |
− | : | + | :A black & red arrow leads from "Wikipedia" to "cited facts" which leads to "slightly more careful writers," which leads to "more citations," which leads back to :"Wikipedia" (all black & red arrows).] |
:References proliferate, completing the citogenesis process. | :References proliferate, completing the citogenesis process. | ||
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
− | The | + | *We probably never will know the book or author Randall mentions in the title text, but there is a nice similar story about the former German minister {{w|Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg}}. His complete name contains fifteen! names/words and reads: '''Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg'''. An anonymous user did add one more ('''Wilhelm''') to the German Wikipedia, just in the evening before Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg was presented as the new Federal Minister of Economics and Technology on February 10, 2009. The next day many major German newspapers did publish this wrong name ([http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bildblog.de%2F5704%2Fwie-ich-freiherr-von-guttenberg-zu-wilhelm-machte%2F translation of bildblog.de]). But the joke doesn't stop here, because that minister was taken guilty on plagiarism, getting revoked his doctoral status, and finally it has led to his resignation as Minister of Defence on March 1, 2011. |
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | ||
− | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Charts]] |
[[Category:Wikipedia]] | [[Category:Wikipedia]] | ||
[[Category:Comics with color]] | [[Category:Comics with color]] |