On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 12:58 AM, FT2 ft2.wiki@gmail.com wrote:
I think you're missing the point, or not appreciating where I'm looking. The point about basic attitudes is they inform all other discussions. An admin who embodies courtesy, thoughtfulness, calmness, balance, is not the kind who will be (as you describe) "fundamentally unwilling to talk about it, or even listen". That's a basic attitude problem, verging on incompatibility with adminship. Yes BLP is a serious matter. So is resisting "mass panic" and engaging in dialog and consensus seeking - another basic attitude: faced with a major crisis some will forget such basics and others won't.
I wasn't active at the time (on wikibreak) so I didn't see the blow by blow unfolding of all this nor "who did what". While BLP is a major problem, there was probably very little that needed doing "that day" or which would not have tolerated courtesy and time for a formal consensus seeking approach. Even if some felt that these articles needed radical handling, that would not negate a good basic attitude of respectfulness - it's as easy as "Apologies, I don't disagree that we need discussion but I feel this deletion is required. You do have valid points though".
The fact that you felt as you describe actually demonstrates the point I'm making - because the things you describe as "the problem" would actually all be failings of very basic courtesy and standards to other users. Your own words show it - your complaint is unwillingness to talk, unwillingness to listen, arguing against the person not the issue, incivility, belittlement, etc. The words you're using show the problem was not really BLPs or even the complexity of the dispute, but more it was the way that basic attitudes were not sufficiently followed by all participating admins. If they had been, you would not have felt as you describe.
My argument is therefore directly in line with that - that admins need to be first and foremost, people who can and do exemplify good standards of conduct - even in a heated matter.
FT2.
Okay, yes, I was misreading you, and that's the bit I was missing. Thanks. It seems like the trick is to work toward implementing this as an actual cultural ideology, which it certainly is not on AN/I right now.
- causa sui