Michael Snow wrote:
Mark Richards wrote:
So, to try to avoid the constant posturing for a
while, how does this help us to navigate the different
understandings of what should and should not go in?
Are you in favour or against schools, for example? I
can't really tell from your message.
Why do you need to be able to tell? Part of the reason Dpbsmith's
attempt at discussion is helpful is because he's trying to explore
general principles _instead of_ "posturing" as either "for" or
"against" schools.
I would never have guessed that. After listing a number of possible
definitions for the word "knowledge" he promptly rejects one of the most
likely possibilities. He gives six possibilities, quite properly
rejects "carnal knowledge" as totally irrelevant, but gives as his only
reason for rejecting another the proposition that "Inclusionists seem to
feel that it ought to mean" that. He then concludes that an
encyclopedia is "book-larning" (sic!). This might be phrased in other
words that an encyclopedia is limited to those concepts that put a
hillbilly in awe of the elite. The important skills of the backwoods,
like distilling moonshine, would have no place in an encyclopedia.
If all you're interested in knowing is whether
someone is *for* or
*against* whatever side you are on, it's no wonder this discussion is
deteriorating into "inclusionist vs. deletionist" factionalism and
moving no closer to consensus. Most of what I've seen for the past
week in 90% of the messages on this list (and in spite of several
attempts at calling a timeout to the flamewar) is people caricaturing
their opponents in the debate in an attempt to ridicule them into
changing sides. It should not be surprising that this is not an
effective method of persuasion, and it also does very little to get
undecided observers to support either side.
There's more to this than schools. There are probably many criteria for
deletion that are accepted in common. The arguments really focus on the
pompous concept of notability.
If this sounds a lot like the current political
dynamics in the United
States, well ... but that's off the topic, so let's not go there.
Bush's foreign policy does a good job of epitomizing deletionism. :-)
Ec