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Wikipedia

World's Largest Encyclopedia

Wikipedia is the world's largest encyclopedia, and the quintessential example of the success of collaborative online content. It was created in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, and run by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.

Experts Most Alike:

Richard Dawkins   Evolutionary Biologist, Writer, Atheism Activist 100% Agreement / 3
Barack Obama   United States President 75% Agreement / 2

Experts Least Alike:

Jasper Kirkby   Particle Physicist 25% Agreement / 2
Phillip Johnson   Law Professor 37% Agreement / 2

Wikipedia's Opinions

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.
27 Apr 2009    Source


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.
27 Apr 2009    Source


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.
27 Apr 2009    Source


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.'
10 Mar 2010    Source


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.
27 Apr 2009    Source


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.
27 Apr 2009    Source


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.
27 Apr 2009    Source


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.
27 Apr 2009    Source


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.
27 Apr 2009    Source


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.
27 Apr 2009    Source


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.
11 May 2009    Source


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.
27 Apr 2009    Source


Comparisons to Other Experts

Agree
Richard Dawkins
Evolutionary Biologist, Writer, Atheism Activist
100% / 3 opinions

Kenneth Miller
Biology Professor, Christian
100% / 2 opinions

Gavin Schmidt
Climatologist
100% / 1 opinions

Martin Blaser
Professor of Medicine
100% / 1 opinions

Karl Kruszelnicki
Scientific Journalist
100% / 1 opinions

Eliezer Yudkowsky
Artificial Intelligence Researcher
100% / 1 opinions

Paul Z. Myers
Biology Professor
100% / 1 opinions

Steven Pinker
Psychology Professor
100% / 1 opinions

Sarah Palin
Former Governor of Alaska (Republican)
100% / 1 opinions

Joe Biden
US Vice President, Democrat
100% / 1 opinions

Robert Todd Carroll
Philosophy Professor
100% / 1 opinions

Mostly Agree
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) Scientific Body formed by U.N.
62% / 2 opinions

Barack Obama
United States President
75% / 2 opinions

Ian Frazer
Inventor of Cervical Cancer Vaccine
75% / 1 opinions

In-Between
Marc Breedlove
Neuroscience Professor
50% / 1 opinions

Kevin Rudd
Australian Prime Minister, 2007-
50% / 1 opinions

Mostly Disagree
Jasper Kirkby
Particle Physicist
25% / 2 opinions

Phillip Johnson
Law Professor
37% / 2 opinions

Christina Ricci
Actress
25% / 1 opinions

A. Bernard Ackerman
Founding Figure in Dermatopathology
25% / 1 opinions

Roy Spencer
Meteorologist
25% / 1 opinions

Disagree
The Catholic Church
Largest Christian Church
12% / 2 opinions

Albert Mohler
President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
0% / 2 opinions

Granville Sewell
Mathematics Professor
0% / 1 opinions

William Dembski
Intelligent Design Theorist
0% / 1 opinions

Kent Hovind
Celebrity Creationist
0% / 1 opinions

Conservapedia
Encylopedia
0% / 1 opinions

Dayne Rudhyar
Pioneer in Modern Astrology
0% / 1 opinions

Liz Greene
Pioneer in Modern Astrology
0% / 1 opinions

Ann Coulter
Political Commentator
0% / 1 opinions