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<TITLE>RE: [WikiEN-l] unilateral bans of controversial users</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>Jimmy Wales wrote:</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>> > If it was at least an edit war about something that reasonable</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > people can disagree on -- but his edits were pure vandalism, plain</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> > and simple.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> I think that's the key here. </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> We have to be cautious, of course, that we not silently expand our</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> understanding of "pure vandalism" too far.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> But Erik has cogently and correctly made the point a few times</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> recently that "Wikipedia is not about 'rights'. Wikipedia is about</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> creating an encyclopedia. All this trolling distracts from that</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> goal."</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> I can imagine, and I would probably enjoy (for a little while) a wiki</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> with no purpose, no rules, no bans, anything goes, freewheeling,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> random, chaotic, with that anarchic structure (or should I say</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> 'anti-structure') being the primary value.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> But that's not wikipedia. Our open atmosphere is a means to an end,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> and it's the end that is our primary focus, our loving passion, the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> thing that brings us all together: the encyclopedia.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> So while I'm certainly on the cautious end of the scale, very near to</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> Cunctator in fact, as to the merits of bans and rules and so on, I do</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> think it's very important to keep our priorities straight.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> That's why I was supportive of Angela banning "UnbannableOne". That's</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> why I banned "The Fellowship of the Troll" yesterday.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> There are people in the world with active mental pathologies. It's</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> difficult for good and benevolent people to really grasp that someone</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> could have the time and energy to come to a charitable humanitarian</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> project that tries to be open and friendly and inclusive and neutral</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> simply for the purpose of causing trouble. We tend to try to project</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> our happy loving values on their actions, assuming that they are just</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> trying to help us remain neutral or whatever.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> But sometimes, that's just not true. As difficult as it is to</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> imagine, some people just are plain and simple assholes.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> An important concept here is "the sanction of the victim". Leonard</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> Peikoff defined that term as "the willingness of the good to suffer at</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> the hands of evil, to accept the role of sacrificial victim for the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> 'sin' of creating values."</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> We fall into that trap fairly often, I'm afraid. Our own good values</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> are used against us. We are open, patient, inquiring after truth,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> intested in fairness, neutrality, community, harmony, justice. And so</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> we put up with a fair amount of nonsense, more than we should.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> --Jimbo</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>And I doubt anyone will put it better.</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>Billy Mills</FONT>
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