Over One Wired Campus they quote Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, saying he wants to get the message out to college students that they shouldn’t be using Wikipedia for class projects or serious research.
In an interview, Mr. Wales said that Wikipedia is ideal for many uses. If you are reading a novel that mentions the Battle of the Bulge, for instance, you could use Wikipedia to get a quick basic overview of the historical event to understand the context. But students writing a paper about the battle should hit the history books.
Good enough
Good enough… that statement reflects a change in what we as Americans produce, and truthfully what we accept.
When I had a Chevy it was in the shop three times the first two months I had it for warranty repairs. Since I bought a Honda I’ve never needed a covered service.
When I had dinner Saturday night the waitress told gave us our food and said “There you go.” When I said thank you when she refilled my wine she replied “No problem.” I wasn’t going anywhere when she put my food on the table, and if I thought refilling my glass was a problem I would have done it myself. These are learned behaviours. I learned to say something akin to bon appeteit or enjoy your dinner when I give people food. I simply say you’re welcome when someone thanks me.
However we are willing to accept these nonsense responses because they are good enough.
When I was a full time librarian I watched children plagiarize their homework knowing full well that teachers would accept it because it was good enough. When are a few paragraphs and some photocopied pictures good enough for an 8th grade report on Mozambique? Apparently now because that half hour of effort earned the student an acceptable grade… a grade that was good enough.
Even when I went to library school I found that minimal effort was often good enough. Students with whom I was required to work on team projects would often do the absolute minimum assuming it was good enough. Amazingly their effort often was good enough as we were given superior marks.
I remember when I started my undergraduate studies in 1984 that there were few classes that were easy A’s, there were few classes that required minimal effort to succeed. I also remembered that there were many classes in which I learned things, things I could apply to my other classes and eventually my work and life.
Now school is just not challenging, well not as challenging as it was. It is not because I’ve learned everything, but because there is not the effort to challenge the students any longer. We have entered a vicious circle of good enough. The teachers accept good enough effort, they give good enough grades for this minimal effort and the students complain if they must go above average to get good enough grades.
Rah, rah, rah mediocrity. We fall within two standard deviations of the norm. No wonder Wikipedia is so popular; after all it is good enough.
Re:Good enough
…that statement reflects a change in what we as Americans produce, and truthfully what we accept.
When I had a Chevy it was in the shop three times the first two months I had it for warranty repairs. Since I bought a Honda I’ve never needed a covered service.
I don’t mean to disagree with you main point; however, your Honda was probably produced in Ohio or Alabama by American workers.
Re:Good enough
East Liberty, Ohio so I am told. However it is made to non-American standards. Apparently the Japanese won’t accept ‘good enough’. I like that because neither will I.