On 8/7/06, Steve Bennett <stevagewp(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On 8/7/06, David Gerard <dgerard(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
"NPOV is fairly describing things or beliefs without succumbing to them."
Oh, I do like that one. How about "without advocating them"?
I think "succumbing" has the extra meaning that often one "succumbs"
to a belief by attempting to debunk it. This was common at [[Safe
Speed]] for instance - although most of the group's claims were
clearly baloney, some of our editors were getting sucked into
attempting to disprove them, falling afoul of NPOV. I'm not sure how
to put that succinctly though - "without taking a side"? "without
trying to prove or disprove them"? "without regard to their inherent
worth"?
Steve
I was going for a sort of protean conception there- we all have
different ideas of what "succumbing" to a POV might be; perhaps it is
simply avoiding it and not speaking of it, or mentioning things one
should not, etc. But it always contains a sense that you are treating
this subject different than other subjects. Its opposite, not
succumbing, carries connotations of objective trustworthiness: if one
has not succumbed, then one can be trusted to give an informative and
inherently fair account of matters (to the best of one's ability).
Besides, it isn't a commonly used word and makes it wonderfully succint.
~maru