At our recent Thanksgiving dinner I asked two family members what they think of Wikipedia.  One ‘loves it so much’ he sends money monthly. The other considers it ‘a truly reliable source.’

I personally approach Wikipedia with caution.  If an entry can be slanted in a Lefty direction it will be.  I am an expert witness in American courts in nine subject areas and have been cross- examined many times in my life as a legal witness. Much of the time where I know a subject because I have taught it at the university level or because I worked in the field for many years, Wikipedia is wrong.  In the dozen times I’ve made a correction with appropriate references, my correction disappears the next day.

The subject of this blog is the disappearance of reliable sources today.  The best thinker on this subject was Marshall McLuhan, his book was The Medium is the Message.  The medium of our time is the Internet.  The Internet is the reason 'authoritative source’ has disappeared. And has been gone for nearly two decades.

There never was a ‘truth’ other than in a syllogism. We have always relied on authoritative sources ranging from leading academics, to the New York Times, or scientific consensus, or expert opinion and maybe a professional or governmental authority.

I don’t need to recount the downfall of all these authorities. 

Any statement based on authority will lead to an Internet lookup which will give a variety of answers and many credible videos.

Virtually anything of importance that is treated as authoritative by one part of American society will be doubted or disputed by a large different part of our society. Thanks to the Internet and Internet video.

Thus, our society is deeply divided on many important issues. There are no commonly agreed authoritative ideas, issues, or values today.

What does that mean?

I would guess that we are returning to a tribal society where we only trust our own tribe.  Our tribe is our authority. And vice versa.

The fascinating genius of America has been that our assimilation has been so effective that tribal allegiance has virtually disappeared.  This in turn has allowed commerce to thrive.  The consequence of tribal return will be direct harm to modern commerce.  

Imagine going to work where people of different tribes can’t get along.  Much like China where Wongs only work with Wongs and Gees only work, bank, and rent from Gees.