User:Gwsell/sandbox

Welcome to the sandbox of Gerald Sell!

Bands I Love

 * Meshuggah
 * Porcupine Tree
 * Deftones
 * Cynic

Things I Dislike

 * 1) Country Music
 * 2) Deadlines
 * 3) Brussel Sprouts

Wikipedia Opinions
In The Wikipedia Review, critics of Wikipedia have compiled a list of criticisms that condemn the communal online encyclopedia. Their obvious and primary complaint about Wikipedia is that it contains incorrect, misleading, and biased information. They argue that Wikipedia’s articles are often used to spread gossip and bias opinions, allowing anonymous editors and administrators to slander real-world topics by posting false or inaccurate information. Though I understand the potentiality of this problem, I believe that the information most frequently sought after on the site is more in the nature of solid and inarguable facts, not that of debatable opinions. Most of Wikipedia’s users know that the site is run by the community and, thus, the majority of its content must be taken with a grain of salt. That being said, I also believe that those who use Wikipedia generally do so only to gain a brief overview of a topic. Overall, I think that Wikipedia and its dedicated users understand that it is a communal and free-form site and those who wish to criticize it can only do so within the false pretense that it is, in fact, a scholarly and concrete source of information.

Animal Ethics/Human Exceptionalism
Many of the opinions and beliefs associated with animal ethics are influenced by the theory of human exceptionalism which is the anthropocentric view that humans are the most significant species on the planet or that humans are, in some way, more valuable than other species. Commonly, the views on human exceptionalism are derivative of religious concepts or texts such as the Bible’s Genesis 1:26 which states “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Wesley J. Smith, an associate of the Discovery Institute and an active voice on human exceptionalism in light of animal ethics, is at the forefront of the debate over human’s responsibility in animal ethics. Smith believes that humans have a duty to each other, the natural world, and to treat animals ethically. In his blog, he writes that “Because we are unquestionably a unique species--the only species capable of even contemplating ethical issues and assuming responsibilities--we uniquely are capable of apprehending the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, proper and improper conduct toward animals. Or to put it more succinctly if being human isn't what requires us to treat animals humanely, what in the world does?"