[WikiEN-l] Anti-intellectualism

[Thomas Larsen]

Hi,

On 12/12/08, George Herbert <george.herbert at gmail.com> wrote:
> On one hand, there is anti-elitism / anti-intellectualism present in
> some corners of Wikipedia.  When found it should be Burned with Fire.
>
> On the other hand, numerous academics have failed miserably to engage
> with Wikipedia on our terms - which is NOR, RS, etc.  "Because I said
> so" is no more valid for a Professor than for Joe 6-pack... The
> professor is more likely to be correct, but he's no more verifyable
> when he says that, and we have no way of knowing if the Professor
> really is who he/she claim they are.

I agree with you here--I feel, though, that our way of dealing with
academics who violate NOR/RS/etc. should be slightly more sensitive.
Saying "that's our way of doing things, do it this way or leave"
obviously is very offputting to academics and, quite understandably,
deters them from becoming contributors. Far more constructive is a
calm approach that explains _why_ NOR/RS/etc. are good principles for
an encyclopedia.

Most true academics (excluding fake people who claim to be academics,
of course) know encyclopedic standards pretty well, I think. After
all, original research doesn't tend to get into Encyclopedia
Britannica ...

Cheers,

--Thomas