Anthony wrote:
On 9/9/07, K P kpbotany@gmail.com wrote:
On 9/9/07, Anthony wikimail@inbox.org wrote:
On 9/9/07, K P kpbotany@gmail.com wrote:
On 9/9/07, Anthony wikimail@inbox.org wrote:
On 9/9/07, Vee vee.be.me@gmail.com wrote:
On 09/09/2007, Anthony wikimail@inbox.org wrote:
> Well, I'd say in that situation you already knew why Peter Lorre was > notable while having no idea who he was. He was notable because he > was mentioned in Year of the Cat. People are notable for being mentioned in songs now?
If the song is notable, then yeah, I think so.
Uh, no, I think that was a joke. He's mentioned in the song because he's notable.
My comment wasn't meant as a joke. He's mentioned in the song because he's notable, but he's also notable because he's mentioned in the song. A person can be notable for more than one reason, you know.
Oh, I thought it was. I don't think just being mentioned in a song makes you notable. It would depend upon other factors, such as how notable the song is.
Fair enough, however my initial comment was that he's notable for being mentioned in Year of the Cat, and I never said anyone mentioned in *any* song is notable.
Anyway, my point is that I don't care why or whether someone is notable when I look them up on Wikipedia. If I'm looking them up, then obviously I think they're notable. And I think most readers would agree with this, and couldn't care less about why Wikipedia decided a particular article was worthy of inclusion.
I guess I was just nit-picking the use of the term "notable".
I guess my example wasn't quite a clear-cut as I thought it was. There are times when I encounter a name used in a context where the assumption is that I already know who the person is, but I don't know. Consider if someone simply told me that I look like Peter Lorre (or someone else--I sure don't like like Peter Lorre!). Is Peter Lorre notable simply because someone may have told me I look like him? Yet I certainly might want to find out who Peter Lorre is, to find out if I'm being complimented or insulted.
It seems to me we've gotten off the main point here. The sub-point though I think is clear: people sometimes look up someone in an encyclopedia (including Wikipedia) knowing virtually nothing except the name.
-Rich