!Viva Wikipedia!

I love the Internet. It's an incredible source of information, just incredible. Imagine twenty years ago if you told a bunch of professors and scientists every computer in the world would be connected to each other: every library, every school, every database would be connected on one virtual hard drive called the world wide web. They'd say it was one of the greatest achievements in the history of humankind, and that people would naturally get smarter and smarter just by osmosis of web surfing.

And here we are in 2007, and I'm putting this up on the web right now, and I just can't help but think of how stupid people are. Still. I read a George Carlin quote on Wikipedia that said: "I think I figured out why Americans are so stupid. Think about how stupid the Average American is. Well, HALF of 'em are stupider than THAT!" I think it translates to the world of the Internet as well.

But it doesn't have to be this way. We have the best resources in the history of humanity right now, but we aren't using them to the fullest. Wikipedia should be HUGE. Bigger than Microsoft. But it will probably never happen. People are too busy adding last second updates to Anna Nicole Smith's article reminding future generations "On February 8, 2007, Smith was found unresponsive in a room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. YEAH THAT FAT PIG IS FINALY DEAD!!" lest we lose those vital tidbits to the ether that is the information superhighway [ed.-god, I always hated that phrase]. Ah, but what can you do. Eventually the idiots who were fascinated by vandalizing an article on a recent celebrity's death will move on, and one would hope, grow up. With any luck, they will vandalize Rachel Ray's article next month.

Peace.