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6 Websites That Will Certainly Make You Smarter

By , on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008

Photo by Vit6

Ah, the Internet. It’s one of those things that regularly inspires awe in me, even though I spend several hours a day interacting with it (both professionally and recreationally).

But with such an immense amount of information, it’s difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. While there are many fantastic websites chock full of accurate data and intelligent ideas, there are probably 100 times more that are pretty much useless. A sad fact, but a fact nonetheless. Which is why it’s so important, if you spend any amount of time poking around the web, that you have a few oases – diamonds in the rough, if you will.

In my many, many hours of perusing the Internet, I’ve come across my fair share of websites. I’ve selected a few that I consider to be the least likely to rot your brain (but be warned, all of these can very easily rob you of an entire afternoon if you’re not careful).


  • How Stuff Works – Just like the name implies, this is a site dedicated to explaining the inner-workings of things that we come in contact with every day (and a whole mess of things we’ve never seen nor heard of). Wondering about the internal combustion engine? How about the Internet itself? From televisions to tattoos, this site is a gold mine of useful information.
  • Merriam Webster – Yeah, yeah, I know, just a dictionary, right? Well, perhaps, but it’s one of those places that I visit almost on a daily basis. The search functionality is pretty great, and many of the words you’re looking up have a nice little sound file you can play to hear the correct pronunciation! Definitely the “sleeper” of the list, but spending a couple of minutes a day there will grow your vocabulary like you wouldn’t believe.
  • Project Gutenberg – Probably the least known among those in this list, it has a gigantic collection of free electronic books (ebooks) that you can read on your computer, Palm device, whatever you’d like. A great way to get acquainted with some classic literature, and did I mention it’s free?
  • MIT Open Courseware – Not being the sharpest knife in the drawer, I’d have a pretty uphill battle if I wanted to attend MIT. Well, thanks to their generosity and willingness to share their knowledge with the world, you can read through course materials, lectures, even experience audio and video from the classroom. All for the price of a hot cup of jack squat. Run, don’t walk – especially you science geeks!
  • Metafilter – A “community weblog” that features all manner of topics relevant to today’s world. Politics, art, culture, technology – this one really runs the gamut. It also features a podcast, as well as my personal favorite section, Ask Metafilter (or AskMeFi, for those in the know). Works just like a discussion forum – you ask a question, and the “hive mind” will, generally, answer. Take a gander at the variety of questions that are asked and you’ll begin to understand how I can easily wile away a couple hours there.
  • Wikipedia – Pretty much the grand-daddy of all informational websites, this one probably doesn’t require much explanation. Over 2.2 million articles as I write this, and it’s updated and refined almost constantly by a community of dedicated staff and volunteers who make sure things stay in ship shape. If you want a little extra bang for your non-buck, check out the mailing list that will deliver that day’s Featured Article right into your inbox. Perfect for scanning while you’re having your morning coffee at your desk. And don’t even get me started on the insane cross-referencing…

I’m sure I’m only scratching the surface here. Where do you like to fill up on the smarts? Got a favorite site? Let me know in the comments!

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  • http://songbird6.newsvine.com Elle Rayne

    As a proud ‘Viner, I ask, where is Newsvine? True, the discussion gets a little hot and heavy sometimes, but it’s the megamall of news sites, and a lot of great news and social commentary is posted there. It’s even in the tagline: “Get Smarter Here.” And I have learned a lot from the site.

  • http://www.dailycommonsense.com Daily Common Sense

    Thanks for the links!

  • lpdbw

    Do Metafilter and Wikipedia really make you smarter?

    I wouldn’t trust either on any controversial topic, and that makes me skeptical about the more mundane stuff.

    “Hive Minds” have their limitations, and often demonstrate where “common sense” isn’t so common.

  • http://www.marialanger.com/2008/02/21/links-for-2008-02-21/ links for 2008-02-21

    [...] 6 Websites That Will Certainly Make You Smarter With links, of course. On the Cranking Widgets Blog. (tags: resources Web2.0 web education) [...]

  • andrew

    Sure wikipedia isn’t guaranteed to be 100% correct, but all the correct info is worth the possible incorrect stuff you might come across.

  • Mental-Origami

    dude, wikipedia isn’t a reliable source of information. ANYONE can edit the information. And to prove my point i am going to search and edit Doom 3 on wikipedia and make Big bird the main character. Check it out.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_3

    == Story == Mental-Origami

    [edit] Premise

    Similar to the story of the original Doom, the game focuses on an anonymous marine named Big Bird who is transferred to an extraterrestrial base on a routine mission.

    GGKTHXBYE

    Mental-Origami

    (Omniscient)

  • http://brettkelly.org brett

    @Mental-Origami

    The bathwater called, it’s wondering how often to feed the baby.

    Honestly, the out-of-hand dismissal of Wikipedia as a reliable source of information based on the fact that it can be edited by anyone is, in my mind, illogical. You’re assuming that because you can change the Doom 3 page (which, interestingly enough, has been corrected as of this writing) that all of the information is suspect? This makes the assumption that information not editable by everyone is somehow more accurate, which is clearly false.

  • bob

    I’ll explore the websites you metinoned above. thank you for sharing.

  • http://www.ted.com/ David

    Try http://www.ted.com/

    Smartest people on the planet give you a 20 minute presentation

  • http://www.brandsofhandbag.com sylph

    I usually love to research on wkipedia

  • dollyllama

    One of my favorite websites, it’s been around forever, ad free (odd because it may be so unknown), yet keeps growing) and simply awesome reference.

    http://www.martindalecenter.com/

  • Dana

    Librivox is good as well; it’s a site offering free mp3′s of literature like ‘War and Peace’ and ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner for free. Unfortunately, it’s all volunteer readers, so the areas are a bit spotty.

  • Keith

    Instructables.com is pretty good. Its a community of people who like to make stuff and show how others can make them.

  • Alan
  • http://mooneleaf.com/flashcards Lauxa

    For vocabulary, I would say freerice.com is much more fun and interesting than a dictionary.

  • http://www.infowars.com Ben

    Source information regardless of where you find it. Not trusting wikopedia because of user content while trusting the Britannica people strikes me as elitest and as stated before, illogical.

  • http://www.europeantenders.com Tenders

    Cool list of links! Thanks

  • http://anatomiser.co.uk anatmoiser

    Knowledge: a tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable.
    Wisdom: you don’t put tomatoes in fruit salad.

  • http://anatomiser.co.uk anatmoiser

    Knowledge: knowing a tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable.
    Wisdom: knowing not to put them in a fruit salad.

  • http://? Dom

    Ok, for the dude who wrote Wikipedia is not a reliable source of info…

    If your writing a 30 page essay in college or university or your doing a masters or doctorate, well duh! don’t use it!

    But let me tell you from personal experience, its the best site for fast info that will help you think of sources, ideas, or anything else!

    Its not credible, of course but its a very powerful tool to broaden you horizon!

    Also, why would you want to look at wikipedia for Doom 3 info?

    Cheers!

  • http://? Dom

    Ok, for the dude who wrote Wikipedia is not a reliable source of info…

    If your writing a 30 page essay in college or university or your doing a masters or doctorate, well duh! don’t use it!

    But let me tell you from personal experience, its the best site for fast info that will help you think of sources, ideas, or anything else!

    Its not credible, of course but its a very powerful tool to broaden you horizon!

    Cheers!

  • http://AskTheTrainer.com Personal Trainer

    This is great, but I would argue that you should list websites which teach people things to do offline where they can learn the best.

  • http://www.ffusa.com/ Chinoto Vokro

    Even if someone edits wikipedia with false information, someone is bound to notice it and change it back or make it better. (Example: On February 25, 2008 Doom 3 was changed by Mental-Origami so Big Bird seemed to be the main character, but after four hours Xihr changed it back.)

  • http://thefitnessdiva.blogspot.com The Fitness Diva

    Great list, and I have used some of these sites. Will check out the others. This brain never rests! ;)

  • http://www.color-chart.org color_chart

    I love that how stuff works site so much i rarely go on there anymore because if i do i know ill spend the rest of the day on there and not get anything done… great post…

  • http://www.gopokerturnier.com/www-two-bullet-poker-com/ www two bullet poker com

    www two bullet poker com…

    dissipates Greenfeld Cathy …

  • http://www.jsws.com.au/illawarra-web-design shellharbour web design

    I couldn't live without getting the right information at wikipedia, oh by the way I'll definitely try the other links, they sound useful..

  • http://www.ptxmarketing.com/online-marketing Online Marketing

    No doubt wikipedia is one of the most popular websites when we are looking for academic or non-academic information, by the way I haven't tried all of them so I'll give them all a shot.

  • http://www.ptxmarketing.com/online-marketing/email-marketing Email Marketing

    I'll try to hang out with those websites, wiki is my most used educational and informational websites, but I'll try out other sites that you mentioned.

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