"Newyorkbrad (Wikipedia)" <newyorkbrad(a)gmail.com> writes:
During discussion of the deletion review for [[Darvon
cocktail]]
today on
WT:DRV, it was mentioned that En-WP has an article
called
[[Suicide
methods]]. After reading this article in detail, I
have spent
the morning
contemplating whether I consider it acceptable that
Wikipedia is
disseminating this article on the Internet. I have concluded
that I do
not. In many respects, this article could be used as
a how-to
guide by
someone contemplating suicide and/or could lead such a
person to
infer that
suicide is a reasonable response to whatever may be
bothering
him or her.
While some other portions of the article may be
relatively
common knowledge
or background information, I do not see how the
article could be
maintained
in an acceptable state without permanently protecting
it.
I was astonished to read that this article has been put up for
AfD three
times and has been closed as keep, once speedily, on
each
occasion,
sometimes with indignation at the prospect of its
deletion. I
do, however,
believe that our sensitivity to our obligations as one
of the
ten leading
websites in the world has increased in recent months.
I consider myself a rather conventional and non-rouge type of
editor and
administrator but it is requiring a supreme effort of
willpower
not to
perform an immediate IAR speedy deletion of this
article on the
ground that
it represents an imminent threat to human life and
safety whose
existence tends to place the project in disrepute. I have no
desire to
create drama, but I am gravely troubled and would
welcome
comments from
other Wikipedians.
Newyorkbrad
I do not see how that article is any more dangerous than something
like [[thermite]] or any of our better and more detailed articles
on fun things like various hazards to life and limb. We have
bigger fish to fry (and things like [[TOTSE]] will still be high
up in Google hits for these things anyway).
--
Gwern
Inquiring minds want to know.