Q&A: Learning from Wikipedia
Learning from Wikipedia
Question
Hello Rabbi. Lately I’ve been stirred by a very strong desire to broaden and organize within myself knowledge in a variety of fields, including history and philosophy.
I really feel pushed to want to know what happened in the past in human culture in general, and in Jewish/Israeli culture in particular, and within that also to know the words of the thinkers and figures who were active then, and to become familiar with their thought and intellectual imprint.
At the moment I’m not able to study in a structured university framework, and in practice I’m gathering materials on my own and organizing them by myself. So I wanted to ask your opinion about the information offered on Wikipedia—is it a legitimate and good place to gather and acquire knowledge (even if only initial and basic, in order to build foundations) in these fields and in general?
I’d also be happy to get some guidance on where it’s worth starting and how to do this בכלל? How does one go about creating a structured and organized framework of knowledge in these fields?
Thank you,
Yehuda
Answer
Definitely yes. Though with any source, it’s worth taking the approach of “respect it, but be wary of it.” I don’t have a general algorithm, and it also depends on what interests you and what your current educational background is. I’d suggest not looking for algorithms, but rather starting to roll along according to your interests, and the bigger picture will already be built along the way. If you want to cover a subject in a more thorough and rigorous way, there are courses from the Open University and the like.