On Mar 17, 2007, at 11:36 PM, Sheldon Rampton wrote:
Oldak Quill wrote:
Ok, more succinctly put: will the subject still be notable after the destruction of humanity? No, notability is a human concept and isn't objective.
Well, for that matter, grammar and language are also entirely human concepts, so I guess we need to also eliminate grammar and language from Wikipedia if we wish to follow Oldak's reasoning (which itself relies entirely on human concepts, however ridiculous).
Straw man - nobody is arguing for the removal of all human concepts from Wikipedia's administration. Just for the recognition that judgment needs to be employed - something that's true for grammar (c.f. the British/American English debates) as well as inclusion. The claim of objectivity is a claim, fundamentally, a claim that these things can be decided without use of judgment - if it's objective fact whether topic X is notable then we don't need to debate it.
That's nonsense. We absolutely do.
-Phil