re:A future for Nupedia? Academic degrees have real usefulness
Jens Ropers wirtes:
The only thing I am lobbying you all against is that we (a) make degrees a requirement of some sort at any stage in the process
I would agree with this.
(b) and/or automatically value input from an academic more than input from a non-academic. I still think it is obvious (to me anyway) that ''most'' of the time academics will prevail with their views. ''But they will do so '''based on the merit of what they say'' and NOT based on the recognition of their
title.''
I would agree with this as well. I do feel that someone who spent four years in college and an additional two years earning a master, or an additional three to seven years earning a Ph.D. is much more likely to be worth listening to. Wikipedia contributors, myself included, are a self-selected bunch of Internet-advocates. Some of us are very much worth listening to, while some are not.
Interestingly, our qualifications change while we are writing. I know more now about cladograms and the evolution of reptiles than I knew two years ago. What I would have written two or more years ago probably would have been misleading, incomplete or totally wrong. What I have written in the last year, in contrast, is pretty much up to snuff (That is, AFAIK.)
Having an expert or two on a particular subject adds quite a bit, because they can correct oversights on points we aren't even cognizant of!
Jen writes:
Currently, no contributor is allowed to argue: "But I am a senior professor of quantum dynamics, so I win and you shut up!" It is VERY important that this remains so.
Well, this depends on the case. If someone is saying that multiple theories on quantum dynamics exist, and our reviewer favors one theory, then Jen is correct: Such an argument by a reviewer would be invalid. Even Ph.D.s have to follow our NPOV policy. At best they could say "Most physicists accept Prof. Simon's formulation of QED, while a small minority accept Prof. Timov's forumlation of QED." No Wikipedia contributor can speak "ex cathredra".
However, a a Ph.D. in this subject can and should say "so I win and you shut up" when dealing with someone who is trying to write stuff like "I am a self-taught PHYSICIST, and I have discovered that QUANTUM MECHANICS is NOT real, and my theory is being SURPRESSED by the intellectual elite. My theory, on my WEB PAGE for $25, should have equal mention in this article!!!" Statements that clearly and obviously erroneous, or crank views held by a tiny population (often a population of one!) do not need mention in our articles.
IOW, I agree with Jen's concerns. As I currently understand it, our standard NPOV policy should prevent the abuses that she is correctly concerned about.
Robert (RK)
===== I�m astounded by people who want to "know" the universe when it�s hard enough to find your way around Chinatown. - Woody Allen
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