On 2/23/06, John Lee johnleemk@gawab.com wrote:
If people refused to AfD anything they didn't know anything about (who can really say they know anything about my local garage band?), we would be deleting a lot less crap, if less good articles. It's all a question of trading off false positives for false negatives. I have rarely seen an ignorance-based debate that didn't end up getting closed as a keep, or being overturned by DRV.
An excellent argument for why AfD should never be democracy-based (or believed to be that way). In these situations, you almost need someone to step up, say, "Look, I actually know something about entomology. I believe this insect is notable", wipe all the existing votes, and say "now, does anyone actually disagree?"
It also seems to me that "ignorance-based debates" are not in themselves harmful, provided that there are mechanisms such that they don't drown out the informed. Everyone's worst nightmare is the 10 pokemon fans drowning out the tenured professor in his own field. But does it actually happen?
(PS if anyone here is a pokémon fan, just let me know and give me a different demographic to pick on instead...)
Steve