On 14/04/2008, Phil Sandifer <snowspinner(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I actually think (and have argued both at conferences
and on
Wikipedia) that NPOV is more radical than that. NPOV is not just a
goal, but an epistemology - it serves to replace the goal of
metaphysical or ontological truth with a socially defined truth -
presenting a mainstream overview. (In this regard it's much more
allied with contemporary critical theory than I think most people
realize) The nice thing about a socially defined truth is that it can
be more readily checked, especially with a social editing system,
since then the method of writing and the standard of evaluation are
closely related. Hence our dependence on consensus and discussion.
NPOV is Wikipedia's greatest innovation - far greater than letting any
idiot edit the website.
- d.