Research

The internet is a mixed bag for academic and research purposes, except for very contemporary fields like communication, media and cultural studies. We all depend on Google (or Baidu, etc.) and we all look at Wiki.  That's fine but we need to be able to sift through and read all sources and where they come from critically. Question everything, including your teachers!

You probably already know that all media, and all journalism, comes with baggage and agendas from their authors, their re-posters, and the places and mediums they come from.  (It easier to spot "fake news" when virtually everything is already fake news! ).  But the same problem of reliability and selectivity and bias occurs in all scholarship within the humanities and social sciences.  This includes history and politics and sociology as much as philosophy and culture. 

But research, which for us means digging further and reading more and more widely, all while thinking through (or re-thinking) what we read and see, is more important than ever. 

Having said this, here a couple very quick tips:

1.  Speak boldly and don't be afraid to take a position on something, or simply to say what you feel as well as what you think.  At the same time be open to changing your mind and rethinking things.  Try to always go on thinking, throughout your life and simply throughout your classes and university studies. 

2. "Strong opinions, lightly held."  This is an old motto for good debate and conversation, and it is a useful one.

3.  Don't cite Wikipedia in an academic paper. Wiki just isn't reliable for anything, precisely because it is anonymous and unaccountable. This is especially so for any type of academic or, indeed, human/political/complicated/historical/social matter or topic.  Of course you can and will still use Wiki in your life (we all do) and for more trivial and basic but useful information. 

4. Get you to a library, specifically ours at HKU.  Go in person or through their various online search engines and databases and so on.  It is incredibly easy to find books and articles and 'stuff' compared to the old days of card catalogues and basic computers. HKU LIBRARY LINK