[Wikipedia-l] Curly brackets and teaching the unteachable

[Ray Saintonge]

Julie Hofmann Kemp wrote:

>Re teaching the unteachable -- We'd all love to, but there are some
>users, Fr. Jonat being one, who don't want to learn.  They want to say
>what they want to say, and facts as the rest of us know them don't come
>into it.  I personally think Helga's a special case -- She really does
>care about making this a good site; she really believes her articles are
>legitimate; she really believes that there is a conspiracy to hide the
>truth; and her own personal losses color all of her political insights
>and contributions.  It doesn't help that she's also willfully pig
>ignorant of how to critically read any historical source, primary or
>secondary, IM very fed up with her O; however, she isn't a vandal in the
>true sense of the word, and usually is only borderline troll-like.  I
>certainly can't in good conscience support banning her, but neither do I
>believe she will ever change -- there is no rule against crap
>contributions -- just tons of irritation.  The only sure thing is that
>she will eventually ride her hobby horse elsewhere after accusing us of
>twisting the TRUTH, and a couple of months from now, quietly return to
>make changes until someone notices.
>
>On the bright side, I've found that almost all newbies respond favorably
>to hints and direction to NPOV policy, how to make articles better,
>etc., so I don't think it's an issue.   Lets keep in mind that, by and
>large, the people here actually do want to cooperate and produce good
>work -- it's just that lots of that happens without being noticed!!
>
>Jules
>
I must commend the sensitivity that you show toward another 
contributor's "pig ignorance" in the face of what is clearly a 
frustrating experience.  You seem to recognize that misguided ideas 
often come as sincerely from the heart.  Your students are indeed 
fortunate if their essays and term papers receive the level of analysis 
that you provided for HJ's Copernicus article.. Too many of our 
colleagues are over-hasty with heavy-handed tactics.  

Eclecticology