[WikiEN-l] Accountability: bringing back a proposal I made nearly 2 years...

[Bartning at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/6/2007 8:25:31 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
cunctator at gmail.com writes:

Frankly,  I think one of the benefits of Wikipedia is that it forces people
to become  disabused of Arguments by Authority, to force people to engage in
critical  thinking, etc.

Why? Because it doesn't rely on the lazy trappings of  credentials and
curricula vitae and titles and celebrity endorsement,  etc.

Any credentialling system can be gamed. So why encourage people to  have a
false sense of security about something that isn't really needed for  the
goals of the project?



I disagree.  People do not use critical thinking in their ignoring  
authority, and it's not just credentials, it's making a joke out of something  serious 
with pseudonyms or using systemic ad hominems such as WP:DICK, not  to mention 
the unfair application of standards.
 
Vincent 
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