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adding PHILIP ROTH as notable example
The '''hearsay society''' is a term used to describe a prevailing current of thought, stemming in large part from the popularity of [[Wikipedia]], that discourages making statements unless a reference can be found to others having said them already; and if a reference is found, then the statements are considered true regardless of whether the reference consists of unreliable [[hearsay]]. This is a form of [[intellectual cowardice]], and can lead to the propagation of misleading, incorrect or deliberately untrue information, while some individuals abandon even the attempt at using their own [[logic]] or thinking for themselves. In the hearsay society the use of [[hearsay]] is so rampant that participants can lose the ability to recognize the difference between what is hearsay, and what is not.
The '''hearsay society''' is a term used to describe a prevailing current of thought, stemming in large part from the popularity of [[Wikipedia]], that discourages making statements unless a reference can be found to others having said them already; and if a reference is found, then the statements are considered true regardless of whether the reference consists of unreliable [[hearsay]]. This is a form of [[intellectual cowardice]], and can lead to the propagation of misleading, incorrect or deliberately untrue information, while some individuals abandon even the attempt at using their own [[logic]] or thinking for themselves. In the hearsay society the use of [[hearsay]] is so rampant that participants can lose the ability to recognize the difference between what is hearsay, and what is not.
'''Example''': when confronted with the logic and even miracles performed by [[Jesus]], [[Pharisees]] insisted that Jesus cite "authorities" for his truths. Imagine listening to the [[Prodigal Son]] and then asking the absurd question, ''do you have any references for this?''
==Notable examples==
*Philip Roth: An absurd situation at [[Wikipedia]] took place when Philip Roth, author of the novel “The Human Stain” was trying to correct a serious misstatement that this novel was “inspired by the life of the writer Anatole Broyard.” This alleged allegation was in no way substantiated by fact as “The Human Stain” was inspired, rather, by an unhappy event in the life of author's late friend Melvin Tumin, professor of sociology at Princeton. The correction was refused on grounds that Roth, was not a credible source: “I understand your point that the author is the greatest authority on their own work,” wrote the Wikipedia Administrator—“but we require secondary sources.”<ref name="Open letter"/> Consequently, author Philip Roth had to publish an open letter in The New Yorker to satisfy the editors of Wikipedia<ref name="The Guardian">{{cite web |author=Cory Doctorow|title=Why Philip Roth needs a secondary source|publisher=The Guardian|date=19 September 2012 |accessdate=03-June-2013|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/sep/19/why-philip-roth-needs-secondary-source|quote=Author Philip Roth had to publish a letter in The New Yorker to satisfy the editors of Wikipedia...}}</ref> while complaining that items entering Wikipedia are not from the world of truthfulness but from the babble of literary gossip—there is no truth in it at all.<ref name="Open letter">{{cite web |author=Philip Roth|title=An Open Letter To Wikipedia|date=September 7, 2012|accessdate=03-June-2013|url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/09/an-open-letter-to-wikipedia.html|quote=Dear Wikipedia, I am Philip Roth. I had reason recently to read for the first time the Wikipedia entry discussing my novel “The Human Stain.” The entry contains a serious misstatement that I would like to ask to have removed. This item entered Wikipedia not from the world of truthfulness but from the babble of literary gossip—there is no truth in it at all.}}</ref>
*'''Example''': when confronted with the logic and even miracles performed by [[Jesus]], [[Pharisees]] insisted that Jesus cite "authorities" for his truths. Imagine listening to the [[Prodigal Son]] and then asking the absurd question, ''do you have any references for this?''
==Wikipedia's role==
==Wikipedia's role==
There was a great deal of hearsay circulating about Jesus himself, much of it apparently unfounded speculation about his identity. Jesus warns his disciples to put what they have heard second-hand to one side, and instead make their own interpretation of the evidence they have seen: not "who do men say" but "whom say ye". Disregarding the hearsay, [[Peter]] then finds that he can provide the correct answer - despite its surprising and challenging nature, and despite his own lack of scholarly education.
There was a great deal of hearsay circulating about Jesus himself, much of it apparently unfounded speculation about his identity. Jesus warns his disciples to put what they have heard second-hand to one side, and instead make their own interpretation of the evidence they have seen: not "who do men say" but "whom say ye". Disregarding the hearsay, [[Peter]] then finds that he can provide the correct answer - despite its surprising and challenging nature, and despite his own lack of scholarly education.
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Epistemology]]
[[Category:Epistemology]]
[[Category:Censorship]]
[[Category:Censorship]]