On 3/2/07, Gwern Branwen gwern0@gmail.com wrote:
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.
I think most people agree that what Essjay did was a mistake. But I dislike people who find it easy to dismiss someone's years of good work on the basis of a mistake, and moreso if that dismissal rests on some inflated concept about what that mistake was or means.
-Stevertigo