This week the assigned reading and discussion for Monday focused on Wikipedia, as well as the benefits and downsides of using the site as a resource for accurate information. The article assigned was entitled “The Debate Over “Devil’s Triangle” Shows Wikipedia at Its Best,” by Stephen Harrison which focused on the edits on the “Devil’s Triangle” wikipedia page during the trial of Brett Kavanaugh and his confirmation into the Supreme Court. “an anonymous Wikipedia editor added the following text to the Devil’s Triangle disambiguation page,  which lists and describes various meanings for a given topic: “Devil’s Triangle, a popular drinking game enjoyed by friends of judge Brett Kavanaugh.” The text was quickly removed with this warning for potential editors: “DO NOT ADD the hoax about a ‘drinking game’, especially as related by Brett Kavanaugh. We do not dignify such hoaxes with mention.”,”(Harrison, 2018). This definition was rejected based on the standards and principles wikipedia has established as it considers itself an online encyclopedia. Monday’s class began with the discussion of the encyclopedia which was written and compiled with all the information in the world and organized accordingly. This information and organization was provided by a board which hired experts, and this process relates to a primary idea covered in Vannevar Bush’s essay that things get better as more people use them since the encyclopedia (and wikipedia) has consistently been improved and edited.

This ties into software systems such as Apple OSX vs LINUX, since apple can only be altered by the engineers and is only as good as it needs to be to see, while free software programs such as Linux can be edited by anyone and is constantly being improved. This is similar to Wikipedia since it is constantly edited and changing. A study was mention in our class discussion that stated Wikipedia is as accurate as a college textbook, with the benefit of being a free resource. There is no central administration for the site but they have a staff which checks for citations, accuracy, etc. This freedom “democratizes authority,” “undermines the authority of people like me,” and “breaks the tradition of knowledge sharing” as claimed by our professor and it has its downsides. By allowing anyone to edit the site Wikipedia can provide a sufficient source of information but it also has no filter on information which can result in misconceptions contributing to things such as hate-fueled, misguided internet conspiracies.

The assignment for Wednesday’s class was to search a music term in several databases and find when was the earliest mention of this term in American sources, whether literature or news/media. I choose to research the term “opera” which was first ever mentioned in a book 1612 found in the British Library, although it was written in latin. The first mention of the term “opera” in an American newspaper was in the Gazette of the United-States., June 17, 1789, Page 75, in the “Foreign and Domestic Miscellaneous Articles”. The passage is describing the Prince of Wales meeting a crowd while attending the Opera in London, indicating that the concept of opera is widely known and as can be inferred from the book in 1612, existed prior to this newspaper and the United States. It comments on public opinion of the Prince at the time, and also indicates a technological error, for many of the words with “s” feature and “f” in its place, such as ” We fincerely hope that the Prince will not confider this event as any want of refpect of the public at large for perfon or character,” and “His Royal Highnefs”.

This tied into the discussion regarding how in the 18th and 19th century the technological advancements and historical events radically altered peoples perceptions and displaced them in time. In this time period it was the first time sound was studied, and this knowledge was used to create displacing effects in various forms of architecture such as in cathedrals and art museums. The acoustics are engineered in both of these spaces for almost opposite effects, for catholic cathedrals attempt to create an ethereal experience, with the intensity of echos, the power of reverberation from the priest as well as the choir, and other details such as the high ceilings, gargoyles, gaudy features, crosses, gold accents, aroma from the candles and incense, stained glass windows, and more. Each of these features not only displaces the individual but also reflects the power of God, since it was built in reverence of him, and in a way the contrast between God and man. Art museums have a similar impact but rather than God and man, it is art and man. Protected by alarms, guards, and glass, this works are immortalized and not to be touched by the common person. The architectural sound design creates a silent environment, trapping sound and allowing for each individual to observe art in a quiet, undisturbed manner.