steve vertigo wrote:
How does having a democratic and responsive way of dealing with issues conflict with making an encyclopedia?
It doesn't, generally, although I think we can all agree that there is sometimes tension between ideals of openness and ideals of quality in the encyclopedia. We have to deal with these friction points thoughtfully and 'conservatively' in the sense of working to adapt our policies over time, but cautiously, so as not to follow the fad of the month.
What will naturally happen is that we will tend to fall at different points along a spectrum, but as long as we all recognize that reasonable people can differ, we're already a long way down the road to finding mutually satisfactory solutions.
Steve isn't the first person to recommend a formalization of the way some things happen, and I'll be thinking and writing more about that in the next few weeks.
--Jimbo