Here’s an interesting thesis: Wikipedia is fostering a climate of blind trust among people seeking information.

That’s the view held by Deakin University associate professor of information systems Sharman Lichtenstein. In a recent Computer World article, Lichtenstein notes the “reliance by students on Wikipedia for finding information, and acceptance of the practice by teachers and academics, was ‘crowding out’ valuable knowledge and creating a generation unable to source ‘credible expert’ views even if desired.”

Evidently this is part and parcel of the Wikipedia vs. Britannica debate that has been bandied about for years. Lichtenstein, however, adds that the real crux of the problem is not the masses that contribute but rather the hierarchy of editors that are often veiled in anonymity and thus lack accountability for the final product. Hence why competing products like Google Knol will be, in her opinion, a step ahead.

So what do you think? Is this simply a dissatisfied member of the Ivory Tower attempting to preserve their position’s status as an “authority” on a specific topic? Or is the world of mass produced content a real threat to the depth of human knowledge and expertise?