Julie Hofmann Kemp wrote:
Re teaching the unteachable -- We'd all love to,
but there are some
users, Fr. Jonat being one, who don't want to learn. They want to say
what they want to say, and facts as the rest of us know them don't come
into it. I personally think Helga's a special case -- She really does
care about making this a good site; she really believes her articles are
legitimate; she really believes that there is a conspiracy to hide the
truth; and her own personal losses color all of her political insights
and contributions. It doesn't help that she's also willfully pig
ignorant of how to critically read any historical source, primary or
secondary, IM very fed up with her O; however, she isn't a vandal in the
true sense of the word, and usually is only borderline troll-like. I
certainly can't in good conscience support banning her, but neither do I
believe she will ever change -- there is no rule against crap
contributions -- just tons of irritation. The only sure thing is that
she will eventually ride her hobby horse elsewhere after accusing us of
twisting the TRUTH, and a couple of months from now, quietly return to
make changes until someone notices.
On the bright side, I've found that almost all newbies respond favorably
to hints and direction to NPOV policy, how to make articles better,
etc., so I don't think it's an issue. Lets keep in mind that, by and
large, the people here actually do want to cooperate and produce good
work -- it's just that lots of that happens without being noticed!!
Jules
I must commend the sensitivity that you show toward another
contributor's "pig ignorance" in the face of what is clearly a
frustrating experience. You seem to recognize that misguided ideas
often come as sincerely from the heart. Your students are indeed
fortunate if their essays and term papers receive the level of analysis
that you provided for HJ's Copernicus article.. Too many of our
colleagues are over-hasty with heavy-handed tactics.
Eclecticology