Hi Renee and all,

On Sat, 25 Nov 2017 17:49:39 +0000 Renée Bagslint reneebagslint@gmail.com wrote:

A recent Signpost piece, "Good faith gibberish", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2017... chooses to mock the claimed incomprehensibility of certain Wikipedia articles, two of which are mathematics articles by the same author. There are three things which, taken together make this a matter of concern to the wider community.

Firstly, the article is by an account self-described "as a WP Visiting Scholar, and Wikipedian in Residence". It is thereby flagged as an emanation of the movement.

Secondly, the alleged incomprehensibility of the mathematics articles, which are correct and succinct, is entirely attributable to the ignorance of the Signpost's author and editors. Even those completely ignorant of mathematics could have used Google Books to discover that the Federer--Morse Theorem is not, as suggested, a hoax.

Thirdly, the author selected for mockery in this way, user:r.e.b., is not only an expert, but an extremely distinguished mathematician, at a level equivalent to a Nobel prize-winner in another discipline. He has written numerous articles on mathematics and I have long thought that Wikipedia scarcely deserves his work. Now I'm sure of it.

First of all note that I appreciate r.e.b's contributions and thank him for them.

That put aside: that article is clearly marked as "humour" based on the URL. Should it still be taken seriously? Furthermore, how much do Signpost humour articles reflect the official stance of the Wikimedia Foundation? Finally, note that it is expected that one's work will face some criticism, either valid or false, and one should learn to cope with it. I've written about it here - http://shlomifishswiki.branchable.com/Encourage_criticism_and_try_to_get_off... and here - http://shlomifishswiki.branchable.com/Never_Try_to_Please_Everyone/ .

I'm not saying that signpost piece is commendable, but it should be taken in proportion.

So there we have it. A Wikpedian-in-Residence makes it clear that "experts are scum". Is this the message the community chooses to present going forward? _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe