On 09/10/06, Jossi Fresco <jossifresco(a)mac.com> wrote:
On Sep 14, 2006, at 9:43 AM, David Gerard wrote:
> Dear smart people,
> Please look over
>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:David_Gerard/Process_essay and hack
> it to bits.
Pretty good, David.... I liked in particular the
section on "You
can't legislate against misunderstanding or malice"
My question is, is such a reliance on process and the inherent
bureaucratization a natural evolution of a community of people
wanting to create an encyclopedia based on NPOV, V and NOR? Is that a
reversible/stoppable evolution? Is the current stratification of
users (e.g. "inadvertent committees" or such similar groups; admins,
etc.) unavoidable?
I suspect so. Politics starts when you have two people in the same
place; when you have a few thousand in the same place, it's surprising
the result is anything *other* than politics.
That is: an organisation and a hierarchy will form whether you want it
to or not. And pretending you don't or shouldn't have one won't stop
it forming, and will just make it dangerous to your cause. (I posted a
link to an essay about this to this list a while ago, though I can't
find a link.)
- d.