The Wikepedia Principle

Learning a language is a difficult thing to do for most people, including myself. When I was learning French at the University of Ottawa, I adopted the "wikepedia principle", before I even discovered Wikepedia, and probably before that website existed.

For me, it means stopping at every term (or idea) that I don't understand, and looking it up in a dictionary or encyclopedia. I think my parents can be credited for indoctrinating me with this principle. At the dinner table, I would ask far-fetched questions (like how is the gelatin on the Dairy Queen cake made?). My parents, although they likely knew everything, pretended not to know some of the answers and made us look up the answer in the Encyclopedia Britannica, conveniently located in the living room for easy access. I believe that they did this to discourage the incessant banter of questions at the dinner table. They figured that they had to associate a cost (looking something up) with the questions.

Anyhow, the end result is that I look up everything that I don't understand. I look it up on Wikepedia, because that website encyclopedia has a Coles Notes explanation for everything, including far-fetched concepts and historical facts.

I think the wikepedia principle is a key to life-long learning. If I ever am responsible for the upbringing of little people, I will probably do as my parents did: pretend not to know stuff to make the kids look it up for themselves, with the following condition, No internet at the dinner table!.