[WikiEN-l] A need to maintain credibility

[Robert]

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"


I totally agree with Jay's point. Wikipedia will
immediately lose any credibility it has if it becomes a
massive repository of crank views, which it will be if
people strictly follow the letter of the NPOV policy as
currently written.  Articles on and by cranks will
outnumber serious issues a hundred to one (at least).


Shane replied, quoting from [[WP:NPOV]]
> ...
> ...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.

I am sure that this was never the purpose of the NPOV
policy; it seems to me that the concerns Jay related were
behind the original insertion of this paragraph. This
paragraph was meant to limit material on and by cranks.


> 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. 

I agree. A literal reading of this section can be taken out
of context and misued in this way.

> 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.

That is fine by me. We should subtly rewrite this section
of the NPOV article to take into account Jay's concerns; we
should use some of the very language he used in his letter
here.

Robert (RK)



		
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