Asaf Bartov, 06/07/2013 23:51:
To be precise, the facts do not show that. They show the CAPTCHA is responsible for significantly fewer good-faith contributions from casual editors. That is is or is not a "bad idea", however, is a subjective judgment, based on one's weighing of multiple factors.
Evidently, large parts of the PTWP community remain convinced that the downsides of not having the CAPTCHA (easier vandalism? admin workload? -- I'm not really following that debate) outweigh the upsides.
It's worth noting, among other things, that the vote in question ended just before the stats were released.
Nemo
You (and I) may well disagree, but let's recognize that this depends on our _judgment_ of priorities.
Whether or not an editing community's mandate for self-governance should extend to the right to make such a fundamentally anti-wiki measure as the emergency CAPTCHA feature a permanent one is debatable, of course.
Asaf