MacGyverMagic/Mgm wrote:
We should teach people to be critical.
Far too often people take what they read for granted without any
thought or double-checking. We should work to keep featured articles
accurate (because they're supposed to be the best). To get rid of
other inaccuracies we should look for sources. If we don't have any,
people should be naturally untrusting and try to verify the info
another way.
NO ONE can guarantee absolutely correct info. Look at Britannica.
Teaching people to be critical is itself a process. In all but the most
advanced educational systems that is contrary to centuries of
established habit. Before a person can be effectively critical he needs
to believe that his opinions matter. If we see a person doing things
which are "obviously wrong" we need to be open to the likelihood that
that contributor does not see his work as wrong at all. Assuming good
faith is important, and taking the time to develop a dialogue is the
best evidence that good faith has been assumed. Impatience in purging
Wikipedia of errors only angers people. You may have gone over the same
problem again and again with many other users, but for the user with
whom you are interacting now it may be his first time with the problem;
your past baggage is of no concern to him.
I like to avoid punitive processes, though it is sometimes tempting to
apply it to those who fail to assume good faith. Perhaps in the New
Year we all sometimes need to pause to question our assumptions before
being unfriendly.
Ec