Wikipedia Edits

Last month I made an edit to the Wikipedia article on The Matterhorn (that iconic Alp).  It was surprisingly easy to do!  But someone deleted my sentence.  So I put it back.  They re-deleted it the next day. 

What information was I trying to add to the Matterhorn page? I was adding a sentence about Creationism, to fight against Creationism claims about the Alps.

My addendum intended to highlight the numerous Creationist-idiocy pages where some barely literate author announces that fossils aren’t really laid down in any systematic stratigraphy.  They often go on to cite Matterhorn layering as a clear refutation of the entire index fossil system.  When I saw this on a so-called "Creationism Geology" page I was like "wha?"

So I clicked over to the Reality-Based community and looked for some criticism of this Matterhorn-Disproves-Evolution nonsense.  Nothing.  Nothing anywhere.  As usual, the scientists were silent, and maybe ignorant of what the Bible thumpers were putting up on widely spread websites and Bible store paperbacks.

This Internet omission by the true scientists calls to mind John Kerry’s silence while being swiftboated.  Scurrilous ridiculous critics need to be called out as such.  If the Creationists say the Alps prove a young Earth, we need to address that.  So I stuck a pointer into the Wikipedia article, raising the question of “What’s up with Matterhorn geology; why are the Creationists claiming that it supports a 6000 year old Earth?”  And twice my edit was deleted.

I went and looked up who deleted it.  They offered the remark “Deleted anti-scientific bullsh*t”.  I wrote to Wikipedia deleter and explained why I put the little two sentence link in.  And that hopefully some geologist would see my link and drop some science on their Creationist foolishness.  The Wikipedia deleter wrote back saying it didn’t matter, we shouldn’t let any Creationist mention enter into Wikipedia.  So I added my link again and she deleted it a second time.

I looked up who she was and she seemed to be a hardcore fan of guns (Uzi’s!) and also Klingons.

Whatever.  I let it go.  But, for fun, I now look at the histories of Wiki pages.   It’s one of those little secret sides of the web that makes it more fun.  You can do it too: every Wikipedia article has a blue tab marked “History” at the top which you can easily click and peruse.

The Wiki pages of Chinese Olympic gymnasts supposedly showed extensive editing in the age and dates sections, according to the NY Times.

I offer the following as just one typically funny edit, this one from the Stephen Hawking Page on Wikipedia.  Someone is obviously trying to vandalize his biography:

(cur) (last) 06:25, 29 September 2008 70.112.87.218 (Talk) (179 bytes) (←Replaced content with 'STEPHEN HAWKING, ALSO KNOWN AS THE ROBOT MAN, WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO BE HALF HUMAN. HE IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON A PROJECT TO SUCK THE WORLD IN A GIANT BLACK HO...') (undo)

(And if for some reason you feel the need for some Matterhorn Creationism Geology foolishness, try here.)

Comments

[Denise]

Your wish is my command Evan- The blog has been written.

[Amy]

There's a fault with the reasoning of your Wikipedia co-reader, and that's that there exists a "flood geology" page on Wikipedia.

This idea that fossils show creationisn really underscores the necessity of blind studies!!! We see what we already believe is true. This is the true meaning, IMNSHO, of "Seek and yee shall find": When you are looking for something, you are more likely to see it. And if you're not keeping your eyes open for something, you may very well not see it.

[Liposuction]

SPAM IS A DELICIOUS TREAT MADE FROM PIG PARTS, SUGAR, AND A LOGO.

[Fred Kaehler]

Evan - Great posting about your Wikipidia posting adventure. I have never made a Wikipidia entry - I have however, been to the Matterhorn exactly twice - well not the peak, but the ski area. As I recall, it was most excellent skiing, both trips. The entire Alps, to my recollection, appear much older than 6,000 years. Admittedly, I was not there to date rocks, but it is a first hand observation, so count it. And thus evidence.
After the skiing, we returned by train to where we left the car. After a long day of skiing, nobody felt like driving. We pitched the tent and overnighted at the base of a mountain. The next day, to get cleaned up, we stood under an extremely tall waterfall - freezing cold meltwater splashing down from on high. We didn't bathe long as there was some concern of small rocks or pebbles joining the waterfall and striking us dead. And also it was freezing cold. Had a rock hit me, though, I'm certain it would have been much older than 6,000 years, were it to be analyzed.