stevertigo wrote:
--- ScottL scott@mu.org wrote:
Do you have a source for that?
WTF?
When you make a sweeping generalised claim about how people actually behave and perceieve things as if it were a fact, particularly as this applies to a particular case which should be easily supported or not - its fair to ask for a citation. In this case you were making some claim about how peoples eyeballs worked and that this automatically invalidated everything else I said.
Actually it was not my claim. The post you were replying too was made by someone else. The WTF was that, not being in an article common sense and personal experienc should suffice for such an obvious statment.
You seem to be confusing editors with casual readers. Most of the features you point at are for editors. People who will take the time to get use to the conventions and terms used. Some people just want to find the right article.
No, Im not. I also read lots, and in the course of reading I make little changes, and sometimes more major ones. Im more of a gnome who looks at wiki from the point of view of readability.
You are on this list, which means you are more involved in wikipedia than most of the people who read it. Given the numbers (17th most visited site for the month) I think it is reasonable to say that people who have never edited a single article are the majority of readers. Everyone else is just at an editor at a different stage of advancement.
So I disagree that my suggestion is a bad one, just because people here say so, and particularly because all of the arguments against seem to rest on this notion that 1) its fine the way it is 2) its confusing 3) its against policy.
3 - DIS policy is borked and needs correcting. Peppering articles in the sciences with hatnotes referencing pop culture (especially particular bits that in themselves dont merit an article on their own) is called LINKSPAM and falls under SPAM and not DIS. 2 - People arent stupid, unless they are taught to act that way. 1 - It would probably be fine if every single case were handled by a disambiguation, and not left to discretion. If that was consistent, then we wouldnt see any "for the b-side by the Spice Girls" links.
-sv.
It has been a wile since I looked but my if memory serves all the print encyclopedias do it the same way we currently do it. Only they have fewer articles so they don't have the "embarrassment" that you seem to be feeling.
SKL