[WikiEN-l] Neutral point of view

[David Gerard]

On 14/04/2008, Phil Sandifer <snowspinner at gmail.com> wrote:

> I actually think (and have argued both at conferences and on
>  Wikipedia) that NPOV is more radical than that. NPOV is not just a
>  goal, but an epistemology - it serves to replace the goal of
>  metaphysical or ontological truth with a socially defined truth -
>  presenting a mainstream overview. (In this regard it's much more
>  allied with contemporary critical theory than I think most people
>  realize) The nice thing about a socially defined truth is that it can
>  be more readily checked, especially with a social editing system,
>  since then the method of writing and the standard of evaluation are
>  closely related. Hence our dependence on consensus and discussion.


NPOV is Wikipedia's greatest innovation - far greater than letting any
idiot edit the website.


- d.