[WikiEN-l] Point of origin (was Re: HD DVD key and the spam blacklist)

[Gregory Maxwell]

On Thu May 3 12:32:31 UTC 2007 Anthony wrote:
>Ah yes, now I remember that.
>I've long been a believer though, that for many rules, consistency is
>more important than correctness.  In fact, for many rules there is no
>correct answer, so long as one is picked.  If we all stopped at green
>lights and went at red lights, the world would still work just fine.
>I think that analogy follows to some of the examples in [[WP:POINT]],
>especially the ones dealing with AfD.
>Anthony

Ha. I agree with you that consistency often has value.  .. and I think
that the inability to achieve real consistency and the constant
bickering over inconsequential decisions are among the worst problems
with Enwiki's anti-authoritarian governance model.

That said, I don't agree that there are all that many things where
"any consistent solution" is okay. What is actually needed is "any
reasonably smart consistent solution". We just can't pick at random.
.. and to achieve that you need actual authority and judgement, and
not just a random number generator.

Your example is perfect for demonstrating this...

If every person went on red and stopped on green but we failed to
change the firing sequence of the lights... Cars would hit each other
during signaling patterns like "one direction left turn" which display
three red sides and one green.

It's not enough that behavior be consistent.. it must be considered,
intelligent, and generally 'good enough' as well.  It doesn't need to
be perfect, or even the favorite of the majority in many cases.