NPOV and credibility (was Re: [WikiEN-l] Original research)

[Shane King]

JAY JG wrote:
> Wikipedia couldn't possibly represent ALL views, nor should it.  There 
> are 6 billion people in the world, each with their own view on a 
> limitless array of topics.  Even if we limit ourselves to the much 
> smaller (though still overwhelming)  number of views that are, say, 
> published on websites, NPOV does not demand that we say "according to 
> Einstein e=mc^2, but according to my Aunt Gertie 
> [www.relativityaccordingtogertie.com], e=mc^3"

Actually, from [[WP:NPOV]]:


Articles that compare views need not give minority views as much or as 
detailed a description as more popular views. We should not attempt to 
represent a dispute as if a view held by only a small minority of people 
deserved as much attention as a majority view. That may be misleading as 
to the shape of the dispute. If we are to represent the dispute fairly, 
we should present competing views in proportion to their representation 
among experts on the subject, or among the concerned parties. None of 
this, however, is to say that minority views cannot receive as much 
attention as we can possibly give them on pages specifically devoted to 
those views. There is no size limit to Wikipedia. But even on such 
pages, though a view is spelled out possibly in great detail, we still 
make sure that the view is not represented as the truth.


So while we don't necessarily have to give Gertie a spot besides 
Einstein, the NPOV policy says that:

a) We only give Einstein more space in the main article because his view 
is more popular, not because it's more credible; and
b) Gertie can (and should) be given space if someone's willing to write 
the article.

Now that may seem ridiculous to you, but that's what the policy page 
says! If that's not actually what we want to be doing, then we should 
change the policy, not ignore it. It seems to me Wikipedia has a whole 
lot of policy that if you read it closely doesn't describe how things 
are actually done at all. I want to fix that: either by getting people 
to follow the policy, or getting the policy changed.

Shane.