On 12/12/06, Guy Chapman aka JzG <guy.chapman(a)spamcop.net> wrote:
On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 11:29:18 +1030, "Alphax
\(Wikipedia email\)"
<alphasigmax(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Why? Dismissing it outright is what any
rational human being does.
NPOV says otherwise.
Not so. We can document it, in terms which make it abundantly clear
that *this is simply not true* even though some people are determined
to believe it. NPOV would not, of course, allow the mad theory to
creep into the main article.
Guy, I hope it's obvious that I respect you quite a lot, but as much
as I agree with you that the ideas the conspiracists put forth are
intellectual garbage, I really very badly think that this attitude
ultimately encourages them and (much worse) public perceptions of
them.
We can't make the lunacy go away; if we really want to minimize the
encouragement we give them, let the light of neutral open review of
their ideas expose them as garbage. People are much less likely to
believe conspiracy theories when the whole situation is laid
dispassionately out for them to see what kooks the kooks are.
Anything else ends up encouraging them.
--
-george william herbert
george.herbert(a)gmail.com