Editing 903: Extended Mind
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
β | This comic refers to the fact that the narrator has become so dependent on Wikipedia as a source of information that although it gives him the great advantage that he appears learned on any topic with a remarkable degree of specificity, the downside is that whenever Wikipedia goes offline, the limitations of his actual knowledge are revealed | + | This comic refers to the fact that the narrator has become so dependent on Wikipedia as a source of information that although it gives him the great advantage that he appears learned on any topic with a remarkable degree of specificity, the downside is that whenever Wikipedia goes offline, the limitations of his actual knowledge are revealed. |
β | The title, | + | The title, "Extended Mind", refers to a theory proposed by philosophers Andy Clark and David Chalmers, which postulates that the mind not only includes what can be found in the skull, but also incorporates external things, like Wikipedia. |
β | The title text refers to an observed phenomenon that many of Wikipedia's page links eventually lead to the {{w|Philosophy}} page | + | The title text refers to an observed phenomenon that many of Wikipedia's page links eventually lead to the {{w|Philosophy}} page. This may be due to the fact that the first few links in any article tend to reference more general or abstract ideas, which eventually gravitate towards philosophy. This is not actually true, though. It works for the spark plug page and countless others but not for all. The comment section below has some examples, but many of them are not working anymore, because Wikipedia references change in time, as just about anyone can just log in and add/remove links, or just adjust their position in an article. Most instances of this not working are because of endless loops (page A to page B back to page A, or anything like that). |
More info on this bizarre characteristic of the encyclopedia can be found {{w|Wikipedia:Getting to Philosophy|on their page about it}} or on [http://matpalm.com/blog/2011/08/13/wikipedia-philosophy/ this blog]. | More info on this bizarre characteristic of the encyclopedia can be found {{w|Wikipedia:Getting to Philosophy|on their page about it}} or on [http://matpalm.com/blog/2011/08/13/wikipedia-philosophy/ this blog]. |