On 3/2/07, Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com wrote:
This is the most concerning development yet. If he was lying about the rest of his real life, why would he tell the truth about his love life?
Rubbish. I think you just crossed the line into gossip.
Thoughts.
1. At issue is the question of a correction in public identity. 2. Wikipedia has an anti-credentialist ethos for a reason, and this reason is the reason for Wikipedia's success. 3. The quote where Essjay pulls his "credentials" is taken out of context:
"Unless of course he is the Bishop of Rome. However, the censor, who is an agent of the Roman Curia/Holy See may certainly place a text on the "blacklist" of heretical publications. I believe the entry to be correct as it reads, and I offer as my reference the text "Catholicism for Dummies" by Trigilio (Ph.D./Th.D.) and Brighenti (Ph.D.). The text offers a Nihil Obstat from the Rev. Daniel J. Mahan, STB, STL, Censor Librorum, and an Imprimatur from the Rev. Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, Vicar General. This is a text I often require for my students, and I would hang my own Ph.D. on it's credibility."
Note that the book he recommends is "Catholicism for Dummies" which he adds (almost certainly with a chuckle ) that "I would hang my own Ph.D on its credibility." I find it a bit funny myself.
4. If Essjay misrepresented himself in any substantial way in arguments related to his claimed expertise, how is it that noone qualified in that area suspected he wasnt a Phd/Thd? I suspect the reason is because his ventures into misrepresentation were quite limited to the cantankerous. I suspect also that this fact might bother people who might have thought they could tell just by looking at someones pixels.
5. We edit for different reasons (some of us even while naked), and I suspect that the real reason people are upset is because they have a feeling of being deceived, finding that theyve somehow based their respect on a claimed credential, not on Essjays actual work. Disappointing, perhaps, but disappointment carries some elevated expectation. What was the expectation?
- SV