[WikiEN-l] Talking to Jimmy Wales about discussion

[WJhonson at aol.com]

I don't fully see the distinction you are trying to draw.
If I want information on my specific cancer, I will look at the specific  
articles about it and the various specific procedures and drugs available.
 
That information applies to me, as well as it does to other cases.  If  the 
information is in just a widely general presentation that no one can apply  it, 
then why have it at all?  It serves no purpose to write in such a vague  way 
that no one can apply that knowledge.
 
"Can I eat with this medicine?" is a specific question that can be  
specifically answered in our article, without the need to consult another  doctor.
 
 
 
In a message dated 9/5/2008 4:24:11 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
thomas.dalton at gmail.com writes:

2008/9/5  <WJhonson at aol.com>:
> I'm not sure I fully  agree with this.  It would depend on the  question.
> The  internet allows people to check and re-check what they've been   told.
> In that sense, our article on digitalis should strive to  represent the
> average knowledge of the medical community, not just be  a source of  
entertainment
> for example.
>
> If our  article on breast cancer could be improved in some way, that is a
> good  thing.

I'll clarify a key point about what I said: Questions about  *your
wife's* breast cancer should be directed to a doctor. Questions  about
breast cancer *in general* could well be answered on Wikipedia and  if
they're not already in the article the reference desk would be  happy
to help (be careful how you phrase the question though or it might  be
interpreted as a request for medical advice and deleted). If you  want
to re-check what a doctor has told you about your specific case,  you
go to a different doctor.

More generally, the issue of how  encyclopaedic facts apply to a given
case is not, itself, encyclopaedic.  The application of facts is a
matter for professionals, we just concern  ourselves with the facts
themselves (the reference desks will sometimes  help out with the
application, but generally the desks exist to help people  find out
encyclopaedic facts, although sometimes facts too obscure to  be
included in the encyclopaedia proper [yet, at  least]).

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