[WikiEN-l] Correction to New Yorker Article

[Gwern Branwen]

stvrtg <stvrtg at gmail.com> writes:

> On 3/2/07, Jeff Raymond 
<jeff.raymond at internationalhouseofbacon.com> wrote:
>
>> Because, generally, we don't expect people to lie about their 
academic
>> credientials.  How many editors in that area who would know if 
he were
>> making it up do we even have?  And, again, Essjay was (yes, the 
word is
>> now was) a very trusted member of the community - he kept the 
charade up
>> enough where few, if any, would bother questioning him anyway. 
That's a
>> problem, and it's disturbing that you don't recognize it.
>
> Why not? And why would you suppose if you for example tried to 
pass yourself
> off as a Th.D that people who actually are wouldn't find certain 
things odd
> about what you say? This entire charge against Essjay falls 
  under the
> pseudonym issue,
> and of course is entirely ironic that most of the critics happen 
  to be
> either disgruntled
> (Kelly) or themselves anonymous. The issue is between Essjay and 
the New
> Yorker.
> We dont have a personnel screening policy. The onus was on the 
Pulitzer
> prize winning
> author to check her sources, not to rely on a third party.
>....
>
> - Stevertigo

As one of those "anonymous" users (I certainly hope I cannot be 
counted among the disgruntled), I feel I must protest. I do not 
think the criticism of myself and people like me is "ironic" in 
any way: our very ability to work peaceably and quietly on the 
wiki demonstrates that one does not need to fabricate a false 
life, ostensibly in order to defend oneself against trolls and 
assorted ne'er-do-wells. Our existence militates against the very 
suggestion of a false dichotomy (between either risking your 
personal life by revealing everything truthful, or simply making 
stuff up which sounds plausible) - there is at least a third 
option: to say nothing. Americans might be familiar with the idea 
of a 'Fifth amendment'; I would like to say that on a wiki, about 
your private life you *do* have the right to remain silent.

-- 
Gwern
Inquiring minds want to know.