[WikiEN-l] Troubling news on Citizendium

[Stan Shebs]

Marc Riddell wrote:
> Ya know what we need in WP, an Article on Expertaphobia: The fear of, and
> seeming intimidation by, people who know stuff about things.
>   
I think there is one somewhere already, maybe on meta.
> Someone, I don't recall who it was, wrote that they would never work on
> something where experts were involved. Really? Who would you go to if you
> needed heart surgery, or wanted to learn how to play a violin?
>
> Don't look now, but you are working with the aid of experts right now! Those
> marvelous persons behind the scenes of this computerized market place who
> make all of this possible. Without them we would be typing into the ether.
>   
Indeed, I'm an expert in some areas myself, and there are even a couple 
articles in WP where I could fairly lay claim to being the "leading 
authority" on those topics. There have been plenty of times where I've 
seen a moronic edit and spluttered at the screen "who do you think you 
are, to be questioning *me*?", and times where I was tempted to add an 
interesting detail, and then realized that I only knew it because of a 
private email in my possession - so the WP addition must await 
publication of the book.

WP is an unusual challenge for experts, because you can't just say "X is 
true" and have a crowd of adoring students copy it down uncritically. 
It's much more like being the ringer at the pool hall, where you go in 
unknown and have to impress people with your present skill rather than 
your past reputation. I think it's a good challenge for experts actually 
- can you command respect for your knowledge using your words alone, 
without falling back on the CV? We have some pseudonymous experts in WP 
who are really world-class and receive considerable deference, so it can 
work that way.

Stan