User:Innoak

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1 About
- 1.1 Areas of [relative] expertise
- 1.2 Interests
2 Foundational goals
- 2.1 Immediate Goals
3 Pages to which I have contribued
4 Favorite Links

[edit] About

I am a graduate-level student in linguistics. I hold a bachelors degree in linguistics and philosophy.

[edit] Areas of [relative] expertise

Linguistics, philosophy-- especially philosophy of language, languages: Russian, Spanish, German

[edit] Interests

Foundations of linguistics, Optimality Theory, probabilistic methods in linguistics, constructed languages, polysynthetic languages; social policy, consumerism, regulation of substances in cosmetics and food, the school curriculum in America.

[edit] Foundational goals

I view Wikipedia as a hopeful example of making the notions of intellectual honesty and public verifiability more explicit in collective consciousness through participation (even as a mere potentiality) and through the idea of something belonging to no one and hence, you could say, everyone. This can serve as a contribution to American society in particular, where, in my view, more could be done to foster a feeling of connectedness between various institutions and the public. It has been my experience that apathy and disdain for one's society come from a sense that one's actions have no stake in the decision process.

Wikipedia has been extremely useful in my life as a source of many an intellectual journey, and I know the frustration upon sometimes pursuing a link to a page that does not yet exist. I would like to do all I can to help with the project to reduce the likelihood of this happening to others, and for the sake of the aforementioned values. I have always wanted to contribute to Wikipedia on the basis of my technical knowledge of grammar and, by extension, editing skills that I could offer. However, the push-factor for finally joining was the relative scarcity of breadth in linguistics articles.

I have respect for those with more experience than me, and only post where I have sufficient knowledge and where I can provide sources.