I think the bigger problem there is "Did you look yourself first?" Usually, I've found when I'm unsure about something, a quick run through Google or Proquest is all it takes. In more than one instance though, that actually has revealed that what was there is wrong, or misleading, or incomplete. I don't think it's necessarily stupid to challenge something, even by a person who may not know much on it. After all, presumably, the -article- is written for those who may not know much on the subject. (If someone already knows the subject inside and out, what do they need our article for anyway?) In that case, it certainly never hurts to list sources, not only for validation, but also because they tend to go into much greater depth.
On 4/3/07, Phil Sandifer Snowspinner@gmail.com wrote:
On Apr 3, 2007, at 3:01 PM, Seraphim Blade wrote:
I can see where you're coming from. Though I imagine that generally, truly uncontroversial information just goes right through without causing, well, any controversy. The minute someone says "Who says it's so?" the information has just become controversial, and "I do" doesn't seem like a tremendously good answer at that point.
The problem is that people are saying "who says it's so" for reasons that are, to be blunt, kinda stupid. People need to stop challenging information on subjects they're ignorant about or that they don't sincerely doubt the validity of. Absent that safety we have to be ready to say "Oh for God's sake, just stop worrying about it."
-Phil _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l