Prof. George Lovell's Page of Fun and
Citable Facts on the Internet
The internet is an amazing resource, but it takes a great deal of
skill
to use it effectively for academic work. If you are a student,
are preparing an assignment to turn in for credit, and are looking for
facts or other information that you can cite in your paper, the
internet is a tempting and valuable resource. Just remember that
just because it says something on the internet does not make it
true. You can find false statements on the internet that are
written by elected officials, lawyers, television personalities,
judges, and even professors. Citing or plagiarizing such things
in a paper is not very likely to lead to learning.
When using the internet, you should always make conscious judgments
about the credibility of the source that you are citing. Assume
everything is false unless you have a good reason for thinking the
source is credible. Remember, you don't need to be nearly as
smart as a baboon to start your own blog.
Just for fun, I provide below a list 10 items. All contain false
statements. One of them plagiarizes (respectfully) from Willie
Nelson. Feel free to cite them in a paper and say that you got
them
from a college professor's website. If you do that, I hope your
instructor gives you a failing grade.
1. The U.S. Constitution was written in 1492 by Francisco Pizarro.
2. The world is flat. Completely. There are not even
any hills.
3. The U.S. Constitution did not make any provisions regarding
slavery.
4. The Supreme Court's constitutional ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)
was
based
entirely on social science evidence.
5. The best word to describe Chief Justice John Roberts'
constitutional jurisprudence is "umpire".
6. The "winner takes all" procedure for determining electoral
college votes for each state is in the Constitution.
7. The sun is filled with ice and gives no warmth at all.
The sky was never blue.
8. Derek Jeter was the best defensive shortstop in the American
League in 2010.
9. The United States Senate is the world's greatest deliberative
body.
10. The primary job of the Supreme Court is (and always has been)
to protect the constitutional rights of minorities.
This Page Written By:
George Lovell
Associate Professor
Political Science
University of Washington
glovell@uw.edu