Sometimes Wikipedia really freaks me out. Earlier today I was looking for information on bananas for the 'science' experiment I have discussed with a few of you. I came across this page. Now, I can fully understand obsessive people on the internet writing massive, well researched pages about the Klingon language, Polka dancing or Trains; they are all hobbies (or escapist fantasies to avoid dealing with the real world), but bananas? Who gets fanatical about bananas? I really struggle to imagine the sort of guy that comes home from a long day at the office (I bet he is an accountant, and I hope I never meet him at a party) and settles down for a hard night of writing about has favourite fruits and/or vegetables. This guy exists, and by the look of Wikipedia there are hundreds of him!
Each article on Wikipedia has an associated 'discussion' page, where the people writing the article argue about what should and should not be in there. The banana page is no different (Talk:Banana), here are a few snippets from the plantain based bickering contained therein.
I'm not sure about eating rotting bananas:
Standing up for your country in the fruit and vegetable arena:
This guy is the Forest Gump of the encyclopedia editing world:
I love the thought that hidden behind every single page there is an army of overexcited nerds quibbling over the most asinine details. It's not just banana either, I typed in a few more common household objects and learnt that at least the Wikipedia pages for soap, box, apple, folder and egg (food) are astoundingly complete. As an example of utter insanity just look at the category page for different types of container!
The internet baffles me. It really does.
Each article on Wikipedia has an associated 'discussion' page, where the people writing the article argue about what should and should not be in there. The banana page is no different (Talk:Banana), here are a few snippets from the plantain based bickering contained therein.
I'm not sure about eating rotting bananas:
what about saying that bananas take a really long time to go bad? they are closest to honey in that you can eat them long after they seem to have rotten.Standing up for your country in the fruit and vegetable arena:
I request that the reference to Panama as a country whose economy was/is dominated by the banana trade be struck off.This guy is the Forest Gump of the encyclopedia editing world:
Having just eaten a banana and biting at the skin to open it, is it worth mentioning that the skin has a disgusting taste? -- ChrisI love the thought that hidden behind every single page there is an army of overexcited nerds quibbling over the most asinine details. It's not just banana either, I typed in a few more common household objects and learnt that at least the Wikipedia pages for soap, box, apple, folder and egg (food) are astoundingly complete. As an example of utter insanity just look at the category page for different types of container!
The internet baffles me. It really does.
