[WikiEN-l] Talking to Jimmy Wales about discussion

[geni]

2008/9/2 Will <will at nabble.com>:
> I emailed Jimmy Wales about adding a "real" discussion function to
> Wikipedia. He suggested that I post to this mailing list to start a
> discussion. Below are the 4 emails we exchanged. What do you think?
>
> 1. My initial email:
> --------------------------------
> Hi,
>
> This is Will. I am the co-founder of Nabble, a project for making
> discussions better.
>
> I have been following the discussions on the wikia mailing list
> (http://n2.nabble.com/Wikia-Search-f738587.html). I like your product
> design work and philosophy, for example, "avoid excessive a priori
> thinking", we do the same in our work.
>
> I write to you because you don't seem to care much about discussions.
> On Wikipedia, the "discussion" tab is ubiquitous, but you don't allow
> people to discuss the subject there because discussions can ONLY be
> about improving the main page.
>
> This rule sounds arbitrary. Why can't a I ask a question about the
> subject there? You have many experts and  fellow users visiting the
> same page, wouldn't it be good if they can talk and socialize and help
> each other out? Communities grow there. You can have a separate
> discussion area dedicated to editors. But currently it's all editors.
> What's more, the design of the discussion function is so wiki-centric,
> you probably designed it on purpose in order to keep the regular guys
> out. You seem to be missing a community opportunity here.
>
> I hope to continue this conversation, if you are interested...
>
> Regards,
> Will

Your software does not appear to be open source.





> Yes. You got my point.  Asking questions and debating and watching
> other people ask and debate is a crucial part of learning. Have you
> ever learned a subject by just reading an article? For example, you
> can read an article on breast cancer, but if your wife has it, then
> you WILL have tons of questions, few of which are addressed by that
> article.

And those questions are best answered by a doctor.

>Similarly, you can read the article on SEO, but if you are a
> web start-up that needs it, then you will have questions.

Perhaps but there are no shortage of SEO forums on the web.

> Learning is called "学问" in Chinese. 学 means to "study", and  问 means
> to "question". Wikipedia has 学 but not 问. I am not just being
> philosophical here. I am a practical guy and I use wikipedia a lot.
> Right now I do the 问 part in other places, but you could have me
> easily. It will be a natural addition to Wikipedia.

Not really. You don't get discussion with say encarta.


> You are saying that your goal is to create an encyclopedia and there
> is nothing else to it, right? You can always reject a new idea by
> stating an old goal. I say it's an old goal because it was already
> achieved a few years ago. Wiki is already history as Wikipedia has
> done nothing new since you started working on search engines.
>


Nothing new? Wikiversity? The in browser video player?

> Maybe we can ask what is the goal of an encyclopedia? If you see it
> along the lines of learning (学问), then you will see my point as
> relevant. Otherwise, nice talking to you. I appreciate you actually
> get back to me.

An encyclopedia is a general source of knowledge.


-- 
geni