[WikiEN-l] Re: Filtering, etc.

[koyaanis qatsi]

Geoff writes:
>I also think this system solves the POV problem
>by being APOV - the authorities' point of view -
>when the 'pedia _must_ take a point of view. The
>APOV is, after all, the only thing that matters
>when there are authorities with a POV, anyway.

Yes, but wikipedia does not strive for APOV; it
strives for NPOV.  The more I hear about this, the
more I'm convinced that it is simply not a project for
wikipedia; that filtering content--or "sifting" it, if
you will--is a project for something else.  Let's call
it "sifter," shall we?

You make some good points otherwise, especiallly about
wanting the 'pedia to be broadly available, but miss
the point that annotating articles with culturally
relative standards of e.g. "explicit" is POV.  And,
just to get away from the sex examples (they're
becoming tedious), in a film I saw recently about
[[throat singing]], the people of a rural community
outside Mongolia killed a sheep by putting their hand
through a hole in the chest to stop its aorta.  I
thought the footage graphic, if not nauseating, but
the people doing the ceremony were unbothered by it
and in fact considered it a great honor.  I fail to
see how my opinion about the action is of any
consequence to wikipedia whatsoever; and I'd oppose
anyone's attempts to label the action according to
their moral or cultural standards--even if I share
them.

kq

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