On 04/12/2007, Alec Conroy alecmconroy@gmail.com wrote:
I've always been a little bit worried in the back of my mind that Wikipedia is hierarchical, rather than totally open.
I urge you to read 'The Tyranny of Structurelessness', which I find myself recommending here every few months:
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/hist_texts/structurelessness.html
Precis: Human form hierarchies naturally. If you try to suppress hierarchies from public view, they'll form out of your sight and come back to bite you in the arse.
(The paper posits votes on everything as a solution, though I've yet to see a voting procedure on Wikipedia other than the Board secret ballot that didn't turn into a lynch mob or a demonstration of "one idiot, one vote." And the Board secret ballot is getting some close questioning.)
- d.