On 5/16/07, Philip Sandifer snowspinner@gmail.com wrote:
On May 16, 2007, at 2:51 AM, doc wrote:
MfD is crude - but at some level we need a community cluestick where a genuine cross-section of users can, without involving themselves in interminable policy discussion, approach the smaller in-group and scream "STOP IT!!! - NO NO NO!"
Indeed. I tend to think that MfD is a very brutal way to change policy. On the other hand, if you can actually get a 2/3 or so consensus to delete the policy page on a highly visible and active MfD, I can think of few more resounding signs that the policy needs to be killed with a stick.
We don't have a good mechanism for policy creation - the process of getting something tagged a guideline tends to be "doing it in such a way that as few people notice and object as possible." (Lord knows I have no idea where most of our so-called guidelines come from.) MfD is an ugly way to affect policy, but I think MfDing the spoiler page has led to a better discussion of it than any other approach would have.
-Phil
It's not a discussion, people are voting without actually addressing each other's concerns.
Mgm