On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 12:58 AM, FT2 <ft2.wiki(a)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