Wikipedia

Wikipedia's Opinions

Homosexuality Does homosexuality have a significant genetic component? Neutral No simple cause for sexual orientation has been conclusively demonstrated, and there is no scientific consensus as to whether the contributing factors are primarily biological or environmental. Edit Pitches 27 Apr 2009    Source Is homosexuality natural? Mostly Agree The natural existence of homosexuality in non-human animals is considered controversial by conservative religious groups who oppose LGBT social movements because these findings seem to point to the natural occurrence of homosexuality in humans. Edit Pitches 27 Apr 2009    Source Evolution Did complex life evolve through the process of natural selection? Agree Advocates of intelligent design argue that it is a scientific theory, and seek to fundamentally redefine science to accept supernatural explanations. The unequivocal consensus in the scientific community is that [evolution by natural selection is true and that] intelligent design is not science. The Consensus Pitch   Edit Pitches 27 Apr 2009    Source Is the theory of evolution falsified by fossil evidence? Disagree ...the discovery of more and more transitional fossils continues to add to knowledge of evolutionary transitions, making many of the "missing links" missing no more. ... Proponents of creationism have frequently made claims about the existence or implications of transitional fossils that some of the scientific community considers to be false and misleading. Some of these claims include: 'There are no transitional fossils.' ...[and]... 'No fossils are found with partially functional features.' Edit Pitches 10 Mar 2010    Source Religion Is the earth approximately 6000 years old? (as opposed to 4.5 billion) Disagree Modern geologists and geophysicists consider the age of the Earth to be around 4.54 billion years (4.54 × 109 years ± 1%). This age has been determined by radiometric age dating of meteorite material and is consistent with the ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and lunar samples. Edit Pitches 27 Apr 2009    Source Does evolution violate the second law of thermodynamics? Disagree The second law is only true of closed systems. It is easy to decrease entropy, with an energy source. For example, a refrigerator separates warm and cold air, but only when it is plugged in. Since all biology requires an external energy source, the Sun, there's nothing unusual (thermodynamically) with it growing more complex with time. Edit Pitches 27 Apr 2009    Source Climatology Have solar cycles significantly affected earth's recent climate? Disagree There has been no increase of solar brightness over the last 1,000 years. Solar cycles led to a negligible increase in brightness over the last 30 years, but this effect is too small to contribute significantly to global warming. The combined effect of natural climate forcing, solar variation and changes in volcanic activity, probably had a warming effect from pre-industrial times to 1950 but a cooling effect since. Edit Pitches 27 Apr 2009    Source Does cosmic radiation significantly affect earth's climate? Disagree [A] hypothesis is that magnetic activity of the sun deflects cosmic rays that may influence the generation of cloud condensation nuclei and thereby affect the climate. Other research has found no relation between warming in recent decades and cosmic rays. The influence of cosmic rays on cloud cover is two orders of magnitude lower than needed to explain the observed changes in clouds, and is not a significant contributor to present global warming. Edit Pitches 27 Apr 2009    Source

Global Warming Should the Kyoto protocol be adopted? Neutral Economists have been trying to analyze the overall net benefit of Kyoto Protocol through cost-benefit analysis. There is disagreement due to large uncertainties in economic variables. ... The recent Copenhagen consensus project found that the Kyoto Protocol would slow down the process of global warming, but have a superficial overall benefit. Defenders [argue] that while the initial greenhouse gas cuts may have little effect, they set the political precedent for bigger cuts in the future. Edit Pitches 27 Apr 2009    Source Is there a consensus on global warming amongst scientists? Mostly Agree The majority of climate scientists agree that global warming is primarily caused by human activities such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation. The conclusion that global warming is mainly caused by human activity and will continue if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced has been endorsed by more than 75 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries. Edit Pitches 21 Jun 2010    Source Health Can being too clean make you sick? Mostly Agree The hygiene hypothesis is supported by epidemiological data. Studies have shown that various immunological and autoimmune diseases are much less common in the developing world than the industrialized world and that immigrants to the industrialized world from the developing world increasingly develop immunological disorders in relation to the length of time since arrival in the industrialized world. Edit Pitches 27 Apr 2009    Source Does sun exposure cause skin cancer? Mostly Agree Excessive UV-radiation is the leading cause of primarily non malignant skin cancers. Sunscreen is widely agreed to prevent sunburn, although a minority of scientists argue that it may not effectively protect against malignant melanoma, which is either caused by a different part of the ultraviolet spectrum or, according to others, not caused by sun exposure at all. Edit Pitches 11 May 2009    Source Science Does astrology work (is personality correlated with the positions of celestial bodies at birth)? Disagree Studies have repeatedly failed to demonstrate statistically significant relationships between astrological predictions and operationally-defined outcomes. ... When testing for cognitive, behavioral, physical and other variables, one study of astrological "time twins" showed that human characteristics are not molded by the influence of the Sun, Moon and planets at the time of birth. Edit Pitches 27 Apr 2009    Source Alternative Medicine Does homeopathy work? Disagree Claims of homeopathy's efficacy beyond the placebo effect are unsupported by the collective weight of scientific and clinical evidence. While some individual studies have positive results, systematic reviews of published trials fail to conclusively demonstrate efficacy. Furthermore, higher quality trials tend to report less positive results, and most positive studies have not been replicated or show methodological problems... The Overwhelming Evidence Pitch   Edit Pitches 26 Apr 2010    Source Can poor eyesight be improved with eye exercises? Disagree Despite continued anecdotal reports of successful results, Bates' techniques have not been shown to objectively improve eyesight, and his main physiological proposition – that the eyeball changes shape to maintain focus – has consistently been contradicted by observation. Edit Pitches 01 Jun 2010    Source Conspiracy Theories Did the US Government play a part in the 9/11 attacks? Disagree On [the] morning [of September 11, 2001], 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. Edit Pitches 27 Apr 2010    Source

Comparisons with Other Experts and Influencers

The similarity between Wikipedia and each expert and influencer is calculated by looking at how the same questions were answered. These figures are used to calculate conforming, nonconforming, and projected opinions. The accuracy of the analysis depends on Wikipedia's coverage, which grows with the number of their opinions entered into TakeOnIt.

Conforming Opinions

Wikipedia's conforming opinions are opinions that align with the group of experts and influencers Wikipedia typically agrees with.

Nonconforming Opinions

Wikipedia's nonconforming opinions are opinions that contradict the group of experts and influencers Wikipedia typically agrees with.

Projected Opinions

Wikipedia's projected opinions are opinions Wikipedia is expected to have if their opinions align with the experts and influencers that they typically agree with.