User:Σ/Testing facility/TP/TpProt/447

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Encyclopedia

Hi I was just wondering if contributing to the encyclopedia itself ever interested you? What sort of topics interest you? ♦ Dr. Blofeld 09:46, 12 October 2013 (UTC)

Well, Dr. Blofeld, 51.70% of my edits are to the Wikipedia article space so I do work on the encyclopedia itself. All sorts of topics interest me, I try to fix problems, especially regarding references, tables and categories, when I come across them...small improvements that help articles.
But I imagine you aren't talking about merely edits but content creation itself. After seeing so many newly created articles quickly deleted, the idea of putting a lot work into writing which is then erased, well, that is completely unappealing to me. I also don't see a lot of value in creating a lot of random stub articles which, by and large, are never expanded by other Editors, just for the sake of article creation. They typically don't provide much information and are just placeholders.
It's been interesting to me to see so many unreferenced, badly written, older articles that currently exist on Wikipedia and then see such a high bar set for newly created articles. I'm not saying that bad articles should be accepted, just that standards have changed a lot on Wikipedia regarding article creation and now a lot of articles that could improve over time are simply being deleted.
At least, that is my perception of what is occurring. Liz Read! Talk! 12:51, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
Agreed, a massive cleanup job is needed on here and it's difficult to know where to start, and shoddy new articles which go under the radar are adding to the cleanup job and workload. I just didn't recognize your name which if you're a veteran here that strikes me as odd.♦ Dr. Blofeld 14:42, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
Well, I first registered in 2007 as Nwjerseyliz but I made most of my edits logged out, as an IP. My most recent IP account seems like it is static as it only contains my edits if you check Contributions. But all I did was fix typos that I saw or run-on sentences, I didn't know much about formatting or how Wikipedia was organized.
I decided to become more active last summer and my first comments in the Wiki space reflect my confusion and frustration over where to find information on how Wiki operates and how to edit. Now that I know my way around, it seems obvious but back in July, I kept searching for topics with Wikipedia's search function, not knowing that I had to go to Advanced and check the "Wikipedia" box in order to find pages in the Wiki space. It was very frustrating and I'm glad the Editors who staff the Teahouse are incredibly patient.
My first serious edits, of course, stepped on toes. I wish Editors and Admins who post warnings on User Talk Pages would realize that casual Editors don't even know that policy and guideline pages exist...they don't know there are these articles they should read first or where they are and they couldn't find them without a direct link. So, I was labeled as "disruptive" and some of my edits were reverted because I was learning by trial and error. This scolding led to me spending a lot of time reading Wiki articles and noticeboards, in order to better understand Wikipedia culture and what expectations were. This is why you just started to seeing my name around the past few months and also why I also often advise against imposing blocks on new Editors because I know how much I stumbled around, ignorant of what customs and practices I was violating. Liz Read! Talk! 16:06, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
P.S. Nwjerseyliz still exists and if I go to other Wiki sites it logs me in under that username and when I return to en.wiki, I'm still logged in as Nwjerseyliz. So, you'll still see some edits there.
  • Liz wrote: But I imagine you aren't talking about merely edits but content creation itself. After seeing so many newly created articles quickly deleted, the idea of putting a lot work into writing which is then erased, well, that is completely unappealing to me.
I know exactly how you feel.
Liz wrote: I also don't see a lot of value in creating a lot of random stub articles which, by and large, are never expanded by other Editors, just for the sake of article creation. They typically don't provide much information and are just placeholders.
Just to play devil’s advocate: Most, if not all, the articles I created were stubs, and while what you say above (still) applies to some, others have received some nice contributions. See for example Wage Earner Protection Program Act
Liz wrote: It's been interesting to me to see so many unreferenced, badly written, older articles that currently exist on Wikipedia and then see such a high bar set for newly created articles. I'm not saying that bad articles should be accepted, just that standards have changed a lot on Wikipedia regarding article creation and now a lot of articles that could improve over time are simply being deleted.
How true, sigh… XOttawahitech (talk) 15:03, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
I was spending a lot of time in
WP:CfD last month, Ottawahitech
, but it could get so adversarial, it was tiring. I mean, the easiest thing is to vote Delete because it takes no effort (just like posting Block! on AN/I). But if you want to Keep, you have to find policies, guidelines or logical reasons to justify why content should exist. I also felt like I needed to notify everyone who might be effected by a Delete and found that the majority of Editors are not checking in daily and decisions in Deletions wrap up quickly (usually in a week or less). So, that effort didn't pay off with much response but I'm glad I did it.
I'm still finding out where I fit in to the Wiki world, where I can help out the most but also get some satisfaction.
I didn't mean to knock stub authors, some that I've seen are closer to articles while others are pretty meager. I just became curious how some Editors could create 100s (or 1000s) of articles and when I looked into it, they were often just a sentence-long stubs about some obscure type of salamander or gnat that lists their scientific name and common name and a reference to some biological reference book. A decent article could take weeks or months to craft especially considering all of the other things going on in life. It's quite an investment of time and effort to track down all of the necessary references so the subject is going to have to be one I already know something about. I truly admire Editors that have the persistence to take a so-so article to GA and FA status.
But like the guidelines say, this isn't a race, Wikipedia grows as a cumulative effort and a new article can be added today, next month or next year and still be a worthwhile addition. Sorry for rambling a bit, I tend to get a little reflective in the morning when I'm drinking my coffee. Thanks for being a Talk Page Stalker! ;-) Liz Read! Talk! 16:06, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
Butting in here, I wholeheartedly agree with you about how it can take a long time to find sources, particularly at present. That's probably the main reason I'm working on getting together the lists of encyclopedic articles, and also trying to add some of the older PD ones to commons. Particularly for a lot of older topics, like maybe a 19th century mayor of Berlin, some of those older sources might be among the best out there, considering the possibly greater temporary significance of the subject at the time those works came out, and more space devoted to them on that basis, and the fact that, in a lot of cases, except some involving homosexual outing, revelation of subsequent sometimes questionable sexual or other forms of behavior, etc., there won't be a lot of currently regarded information about them that won't be included in those old sources. Granted, a lot of that sort of material can also, not unreasonably, be called "boring", but it might still be significant enough for inclusion here to some degree. John Carter (talk) 17:44, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
You have to be very careful with old reference materials, John. They reflect what certain scholars believed at the time they were written, but our understanding about most fields, from physics to literature to anthropology, is not even the same as it was ten years ago. I'd say that even a reference text from 1993 is out-of-date, depending on the type of information it contains.
I've seen old Catholic Encyclopedias from the turn of the 20th century and reading them gave me a good idea about what a particular group of chosen Catholic theologians (but not laypeople) believed about the saints or the sacraments in 1907. But we not only know more 100+ years later but scholarship itself has changed. Methods of research have changed, there are more academic contributions from scholars in countries outside of Europe and North America and also, gasp!, women, too. While much of academic training itself has changed little over the past 150 years (unfortunately), the individuals who are doing the research have changed, immensely, the research questions that are being asked have evolved over time and so have the conclusions drawn from that research.
Older reference materials are valuable in that they can demonstrate how understanding of a concept or event has changed over time but they are, basically, a moment encapsulated in a time capsule. I'd argue that they should only be used as a reference if a Wiki article is discussing what people at a certain moment in time believed as these works do not reflect contemporary scholarship. That doesn't make them useless, just that their use has to be qualified and it should be noted that they are dated. Liz Read! Talk! 18:06, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
On the matters you referred to, I actually more or less agree, which is why I mentioned the example of an older mayor of Berlin, although I suppose any older biographical article about minor figures who haven't gotten much subsequent attention might be similar. Regarding matters of religion, yeah, I have seen how in some cases like regarding Nag Hammadi, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Mani's early Christianity, and several other matters which have been significantly changed by recent discoveries would invalidate a lot of the older conclusions, but that number of topics, broad as it is, is probably still a non-majority of the total number of all the possible topics out there. Particularly starting in the era of when written sources became particularly common, say the end of the 19th century, and some works like the Chambers, Britannica, and a few other comparatively non-biased sources, the older articles on, for instance, countries which have since been merged, or conquered, or whatever, might still be among the better sources for those older topics. John Carter (talk) 18:14, 12 October 2013 (UTC)

Rick Bronson

WP:AFD I'm afraid. If you're unsure how that works please let me know. GiantSnowman
19:10, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, Giant. I don't take reverts personally, I try to use them as a way to understand what I did incorrectly. I think I need a short list of valid reasons for deletion because I thought that being an insubstantial article was evidence enough. I mean, it was a sentence long with all of these external links! Is "it looks like junk" a valid reason? No, that's probably too generic.
What I find puzzling is that there are so many Editors who are a quick draw with Speedy Deletes...they seem to tag dozens of SDs all day long. And I find myself an Inclusionist and usually argue to Keep articles and categories from deletion. But when I find a delete-worthy article, I don't know the right way to get it done. Seriously, I've proposed maybe 3 AfD (over 3 months) and they were all kept. I must be doing something wrong because I wouldn't haven't proposed them unless I thought they would meet the criteria for deletion.
Any way, thanks for explaining it to me. Liz Read! Talk! 20:04, 13 October 2013 (UTC)
A reason as short as "Does not appear to meet notability guidelines" is more than sufficient for PROD purposes - you might also want to take a look at
WP:DEL-REASON. GiantSnowman
08:09, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
Much appreciated, Giant. Thank for pointing me in the right direction. Liz Read! Talk! 09:02, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedians willing to provide third opinions

Hi liz,

I just discovered Category:Wikipedians willing to provide third opinions and immediately thought of you. I know you are busy but I doubt you will get a lot of requests if you list yourself there. Cheers, XOttawahitech (talk) 15:15, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Thank you for thinking of me, Ottawahitech. I've wanted to get involved into some aspect of dispute resolution on Wikipedia. I think I could make a contribution there. But while I've been editing WP, on and off, since 2007, it's just been fixing typos, grammar mistakes and the like and I've only been exploring, in depth, Wikipedia itself since July.
So, I'll look over 3O and maybe in a little while, I'll feel like I have the experience to be useful there. Thanks again, Ottawahitech. ;-) Liz Read! Talk! 15:52, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Requesting comment on Talk:Aaron Swartz

Should a parenthetical comment be inserted in the bio lead saying that Swartz killed himself “just after the second anniversary of his arrest”?

Illustration: “On January 6, 2011, Swartz was arrested.... On January 11, 2013, just after the second anniversary of his arrest, Swartz was found dead....”

(This is my first RfC.) --Dervorguilla (talk) 09:33, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Hi, Dervorguilla! I read over the article text, the remarks already posted and left a comment. It looks like this textual edit has already been made so now it is a matter of Editors arguing for a reversion and I didn't see any such comments. Liz Read! Talk! 16:03, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

UK in BLP

Hi, thanks for taking an interest :) The discussion moved to the editor's talk page (User talk:Narrow Feint) but he seems to be busy at the moment and is only replying sporadically. He has not continued with his editing either, so we'll see how it progresses. Cheers, Bretonbanquet (talk) 21:05, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, Bretonbanquet. It's frustrating when someone brings a problem to be resolved, everyone weighs with an opinion but nothing happens. Liz Read! Talk! 21:08, 15 October 2013 (UTC)
Yes, I think so too! People like to have their say but no decisions are made. Hopefully this will be resolved on the editor's talk page anyway :) Bretonbanquet (talk) 21:13, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

Post-Arbitration Workshop Cool-down

Liz, you forgot to sign your comment under Pre-planned dispute: diff. Ignocrates (talk) 22:08, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

Hey, it was just that one place, right, Ignocrates? I guess you are both watching that page!
Your answers to the questions seemed a little snippy but I gather it is just coming out of exhaustion about the whole process. But that's how the text read to me. Liz Read! Talk! 22:28, 13 October 2013 (UTC)
Sorry if I seemed a little snippy but you are right about the reason. I'm getting really tired of having my motives impugned all the time. Ignocrates (talk) 22:33, 13 October 2013 (UTC)
Ignocrates, you can be snippy with me. ;-) But I'd advise both you and John Carter not to be snippy with Arbitrators who, for all I know, are all still undecided on this whole case. Liz Read! Talk! 22:38, 13 October 2013 (UTC)
I will try to be more tactful in the future. Btw, do you still agree with this statement? You are getting a small taste of what I have been enduring for 3 years. Maybe that is why I am a little snippy. :0) Ignocrates (talk) 22:51, 13 October 2013 (UTC)
Well, John had always been civil and respectful to me until now. And I, along with others, have repeatedly asked him to tone down the hostility and while he never paid any attention to us, he also never attacked me. But I think my criticism of his MOS religion guidelines offended him. Liz Read! Talk! 00:39, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Liz, I found one more. diff You might want to fix it for the record. Sorry I missed this yesterday. Ignocrates (talk) 17:16, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Damn! Well, there were so many proposals and suggestions to comment on. Thanks for catching my errors. My sig came after the deadline but I hope that ARBCOM can see that it was the only content that was added.
It was time-consuming to go through each suggestion so I can only guess at how many hours you and John have invested in just this one dispute resolution process (and over 3 years, I'm sure it's 100s of hours). Nishidani came in at the last moment with a fair evaluation, I thought, on the content aspects of this dispute which had not received as much attention as it should have. I wish Ret.Prof. and Keilana could have offered their perspectives (along with others who were actually involved in the debates over 2013) but they didn't so ARBCOM will just have to make an evaluation based on the evidence that they do have.
I think it's interesting to see how few of the various parties who have been involved in this persistent discussion over the years chose to participate in ARBCOM proceedings. I think most just want to move past this. Liz Read! Talk! 17:46, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
You can manually backdate the timestamps on the two signatures you added if you want to be more precise.
Nishidani's comment is very helpful because I didn't want to presume to speak for him in my response to the second question. Now the Arbs can see the perspective from both sides.
The deafening silence you detect is not a coincidence. There is an almost tragic aspect to this dispute. Ignocrates (talk) 18:23, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
I don't want to manually fix the timestamp as, though it is innocent, it could be interpreted as manipulation. I trust ARBCOM can see that the edit was just a matter of crossing Ts and dotting Is.
The tragedy is that there were so many times when this dispute could have deescalated and, well, it didn't. And my direct knowledge is just from July, I had to read up on its history on archived pages to see how long this has been going on. It was certainly a discouraging glimpse into conflict that resists resolution. But, at least now, it's out of all of your hands. Liz Read! Talk! 18:55, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
I have a theory about why this didn't de-escalate. Maybe I'll expound on it after all of this is over, if there is any curiosity & I can keep myself from sounding too pretentious. ;-) -- llywrch (talk) 21:02, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
As a student of conflict within organizations, I'd love to hear your theory, llywrch, if you could draw abstract insights instead of grounding it in the specific personalities involved. I think it's a combination of an interpersonal relationship conflict and the sensitivity of the content area. How is that for pretentious? ;-) Liz Read! Talk! 21:16, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
My thoughts treat this incident more of an example of a phenomena, than requiring me to mention any one person. I don't think it depends on specific personalities -- well, maybe it does explain mine -- but so no one thinks I'm bad-mouthing anyone, I'm waiting until this is over with before I share it. -- llywrch (talk) 21:23, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
That sounds great. The more generalized it is, the greater ease there is in applying it to a variety of similar situations (all grounded in the context of history though). Whenever you're ready, llywrch. Liz Read! Talk! 21:43, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
I'm in as well. There should be lessons learned from this protracted dispute beyond the crime & punishment administered to the involved parties by ArbCom. Ignocrates (talk) 21:54, 14 October 2013 (UTC)


And, if I may say so, I believe it would really be in your own best interests to review some previous arbitrations. I acknowledge that you seem to have generated in your own head a rather unsupportable conclusion about me, which is rather obvious given some of your edits. But you will find that for instance
WP:ARBMAC2#Stalemate solution specifically was an instance of ArbCom requesting involvement of the kind of outside input I am requesting. Particularly for someone who seeks to be an administrator, it would really help to refrain from making statements about what can and can't and should and shouldn't be done until after you make an effort to see if it has or has not been done before. John Carter (talk
) 22:14, 13 October 2013 (UTC)
Are you talking to me, John? Why would you assume I wanted to be an administrator? Or are you referring to My very best wishes?
I'm not sure what you mean by "in my own best interests" but I reviewed the Ebionites request for arbitration and Ebionites2 case over the summer when I was trying to sort out what was happening on the Talk Pages and Noticeboards where you and Ignocrates sparred.
As for Arbitration, the deadline is today and I've posted what I've posted. So far, the ARBCOM hasn't paid much attention to the statements I've made, so I don't think my words will have a great effect upon the proceedings, especially compared to your own words. Any further comments I make will be regarding the proposed decisions, if I choose to participate in that discussion. Liz Read! Talk! 22:26, 13 October 2013 (UTC)
Um, at some point you said you wanted to be an administrator. And I find the borderline hysteria of the comment about how I might be talking to Mvbw laughable. I'm not sure if you have bothered to review the recent discussion on his user talk page, which you apparently haven't, between me and him, but you will find that I suggested to him maybe doing some translations of Russian material. But, I guess, you didn't review such, did you, and you have taken his declarations based on his own prejudicial views of the Falun Gong 2 arbitration at face value. If you are not planning to seek adminship, though, then perhaps you should feel free to continue to make the sort of poorly researched and judgmental comments you seem to at least in my eyes enjoy making about others. And you apparently didn't review the talk pages of Jayjg, or Dougweller, or any of the other pages I had linked to in my evidence page, where a lot of the problematic conduct took place, which is also relevant. Poor research, and drawing conclusions based on poor research, is actually something I would have not expected from an academic or a former librarian. John Carter (talk) 22:39, 13 October 2013 (UTC)
John, you offer some wise advice here which I try to follow. I suggest you take your own words to heart. Peace. Liz Read! Talk! 16:28, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
May I suggest that you perhaps read them more fully, so that you might "take to heart" the actual words I said, as opposed to a personal spin of the comments I said in applying them to situations they did not address. I note that I was referring to article talk pages, and this is not an article talk page as per
WP:TPG, which specifically applies to article talk pages - there is a difference, even if you don't seem to recognize it. Also, you seem to believe that my indicating you did insufficient research, and that such a statement is somehow a "personal attack," as per my own earlier comment, really can't help but call into question your research even more. Saying someone has demonstrated poor judgment is not necessarily a personal attack. I hope in time you may come to understand that. John Carter (talk
) 15:17, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
FWIW, Liz, based on your comments at Ebionites 3 Workshop, I'd say you are insightful about other people & have a level head on your shoulders; you would make a fine Admin -- if you want to be one. (Nothing wrong if you don't want the mop; Wikipedia could use more mediators, too.) And I'm speaking as someone who has contributed to Wikipedia fairly regularly (except for an 18 month break) since late October 2002. -- llywrch (talk) 18:15, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
I vote for mediator. Liz, you would be awesome. Imagine the concept - people getting together who actually want to work out a dispute. Ignocrates (talk) 18:32, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
Well, thanks, llywrch and Ignocrates, for your kind words. My attempts to mediate this case over the summer were spectacularly unsuccessful but, then, I had no idea going in how longstanding this grudge was and I spent quite a few days reading over archived Talk Pages and ARBCOM decisions just trying to identify the sticking points and the "players". But I was in over my head.
Mediating is more appealing to me than doling out blocks, and it doesn't require Admin status. I think a problem with ARBCOM is that, like a law court, it looks for violations of conduct and hands out sanctions and admonishments, it's a very blunt tool for resolving conflict and can be scarring. I'm more interested in assessing what each party's goal is and seeing how much everyone can accommodate each other (all according WP policies and guidelines, of course). This process involves an acceptance by everyone that they won't get "their way" 100% and not every person will agree to those terms. That is why I'd bet that most conflicts on WP are resolved by one party just saying, "Enough" and leaving. Liz Read! Talk! 19:10, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
If you wish to engage in "mediation," I believe your best option would be to actually do something you have not, so far as I can see, necessarily done, and maybe become active at the dispute resolution noticeboard or similar venues, where you can perhaps pick up some experience in mediation. John Carter (talk) 15:17, 17 October 2013 (UTC)

Why I reverted your edit to science fiction fandom

Joss has a lot of fans in the looser, broader sense; but he has never ever been a member of actual SF fandom. He never came to conventions, never pubbed a fanzine, etc. His contact with fandom has been as a showrunner, writer-producer, etc., after he started creating genre television; not as an actual fan. Contrast this to somebody like Harlan Ellison, Marion Zimmer Bradley, or Damon Knight, who were fans first and pros afterward. Just sayin'. --Orange Mike | Talk 14:41, 17 October 2013 (UTC) (This has nothing to do with my attitude towards Joss' shows; see my userboxen on that matter.)

And Isaac Asimov was a big ol' fanboy, Orange Mike? Liz Read! Talk! 14:52, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
P.S. Okay, I saw your User Page and see your scifi cred. ;-) L.
Isaac was part of the original New York fan scene, certainly! He was one of the naughty leftists excluded from the 1st World Science Fiction Convention by the Great Exclusion Act, perhaps the earliest major fan feud. Remember: the article science fiction fandom is about people involved in the active culture of SF fandom, not the kind of "fan" who is a passive media culture consumer rather than a participant in a fandom. A "fanboy" might never do anything but watch a show or maybe collect action figures, a very different model of behavior. (And please, don't call it "scifi"!) --Orange Mike | Talk 15:38, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
Okay, Orange Mike, I tip my hat to the depth of your knowledge about SF fan culture. Thanks for being understanding about my mistake. Liz Read! Talk! 15:59, 17 October 2013 (UTC)

Request for comment

As you previously participated in related discussions you are invited to comment at the discussion at Wikipedia:WikiProject Articles for creation/RfC for AfC reviewer permission criteria. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 05:49, 18 October 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for alerting me, Kudpung กุดผึ้ง. Much appreciated. ;-) Liz Read! Talk! 17:26, 18 October 2013 (UTC)

Nothing more to say

The Tumbleman AE is the second time I happen to see you make an astute comment as you did on Risker's talk page... Nothing to say but to support the comments in both places. Thanks for the great work.(olive (talk) 18:38, 16 October 2013 (UTC))

Thanks, olive. I'm uninvolved in the Sheldrake discussion but I went over to the Talk Page several times to read through the discussion over the past three weeks. I see the polarity that I've noted in previous discussion between skeptics and sympathizers. While I didn't follow all of Tumbleman's arguments and comments, he shouldn't be turned into a scapegoat for what is a very uncivil and heated conversation. This minor sock incident and some old message board comments from 2005 have been brought up and it's grounds for an indefinite block? Sometimes, to the casual observer, it seems like AN, AN/I and ARBCOM are just a means for driving Editors who one disagrees with off of Wikipedia. And the more I dig into the ARBCOM case files, well, I see the same names come up again and again and again. Liz Read! Talk! 22:02, 16 October 2013 (UTC)
I've been participating in the chaotic mess that is the Rupert Sheldrake biography. I guess you could say that I'm a Sheldrake supporter. I got into it because someone requested it of me due to my strong subject knowledge. But it is useless there. The arguments have nothing to do with good scholarship and everything to do with turf wars. I have tried to be civil, but the abuse and bullying is just endless. I end up being terse. I have dealt with a lot of skeptics over time and these are by far some of the worst I've ever encountered.Craig Weiler (talk) 22:46, 16 October 2013 (UTC)
Well, Craig Weiler, it's important to know that there has been an ongoing struggle on Wikipedia between skeptics and sympathizers since at least 2006 (that's the first Arbitration case I came across). There is one group of skeptics that targets what they judge to be pseudoscience and a similar group that targets new religious movements (like Scientology or Transcendental Meditation). The goal is to convince others, hopefully influential Editors, that a specific theory, opinion or viewpoint is "fringe". Once that is accomplished, you can ridicule it and marginalize it all you like.
Since the body of the world's scientists or theologians don't gather together to debate these matters, it all becomes a race for sources that back up what you believe to be true. Instead of swords, people pull out references and duel with them. You would think the least painful resolution for all concerned would be compromise but it's become a matter of ideology so people consider this a matter of TRUTH (WP:But it's true!) so Editors are reluctant to back down from their entrenched positions.
From what I can gather, the most common way for disagreements on contentious subjects to be settled on Wikipedia is:
  1. outnumber your opponent by bringing in reinforcements
  2. overwhelm them with data/references and ask them to refute each one
  3. get them kicked off of WP for 3Rs or edit warring
  4. someone gets frustrated, angry and gets bounced off WP for launching a personal attack or
  5. you wear your opponent down until they get tired of the fight and leave
Wikipedia is people and people have virtues and vices so Wikipedia does, too. Liz Read! Talk! 23:20, 16 October 2013 (UTC)
That about sizes up what I've seen so far. This is all going to blow up in Wikipedia's face. Liz, how long have you been editing on Wikipedia if I may ask?Craig Weiler (talk) 23:30, 16 October 2013 (UTC)
I don't know about that, Craig, Wikipedia has weathered full-on scandals that were pretty enormous and it still survives. That's one of the advantages of having a decentralized organization, individuals can leave (or be kicked out) while new users are just signing up. And English Wikipedia is just one of the hundreds of Wikis. I'm sure there are huge problems on Wikis in different languages that most of us aren't even aware of.
As for me, there is a little bit of information about me on my User page. I first created a registered account in 2007 but I chose to mostly edit logged out, as an IP, because I didn't really want to engage with other users, I just wanted to fix typos and grammar mistakes when I saw them and move on. It's only since July 2013 that I've really become a full participant here but it's been quite an immersion! Liz Read! Talk! 00:05, 17 October 2013 (UTC)

I didn't mean to imply that it would crush Wikipedia, only create a great deal of trouble for it. Watching the Trial of Tumbleman I can only marvel at how completely this group of ideologues has captured Wikipedia. That, not the Sheldrake web page, will be the main source of trouble because it's an indication that the entire system is broken.Craig Weiler (talk) 00:14, 17 October 2013 (UTC)

Well, I guess my point is this is not the first time there has been a dust-up like this. I don't know if there was ever a time when the system wasn't "broken". Conflict happens every day in a collaborative environment. Most times, it is peacefully resolved through the passage of time (you make an edit, I come by a week later and edit the same page, someone else comes by later that day and edits my work) but there are occasions when an article like Sheldrake becomes a focal point for a much larger debate on what is legitimate knowledge and what is not. For the participants, the stakes are high and it goes far beyond Sheldrake himself. Right now, the article is on a 3 day lock-down, which means no one can edit it and hopefully, people talk to each other instead of warring over edits. Liz Read! Talk! 00:27, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
There is not a chance in hell of people working together. This parapsychology stuff just sets the skeptics off too much. The history of parapsychology, which dates to the late 1800's is full of this kind of behavior from detractors from the very beginning. Irrational, ideologue, rude, nasty authoritative: everything happening on the Sheldrake page is the mirror of a history that stretches back 130 years. The skeptics are all frightened by something so deep in their subconscious that they're not even aware of it and they fight like hell to keep it that way.
I know that it's tempting to view both sides as heads and tails of the same coin. It's easy and it seems to make sense until you realize one side is purely reactionary and the other side isn't reactionary at all. Wikipedia is like a warm, comfortable blanket for skeptics; it has boundaries; rules, authority and procedures. It's their virtual playground and prison. They can be kings here, but leaving means giving up their Wikipedia kingdom and starting over.
By contrast the very thing that draws them in repels the people on the other side of the debate. Unlike them, we can never stop seeing the prison bars, nor can we stay in a perpetual state of hate and fear, constantly motivated to fight the smallest battles, which is why they always win in places like this, but are slowly losing in the world at large.Craig Weiler (talk) 04:06, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
Very insightful analysis, Craig Weiler. I don't judge people by their beliefs but on how they treat other people so my sympathies lie with those who can remain civil and who strive overcome any bitterness or animosity they might feel towards those who are different from them. As for the two camps in this debate, I think they have such dramatically different worldviews. But I think Wikipedia should reflect them both. Liz Read! Talk! 15:00, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
@Liz: Your idea that Tumbleman might have gone to a mediation is a good one and one that would help retain valuable editors. In my mind we should always be looking for ways to keep people rather than ways to get rid of them. The missing ingredient in this case was that Tumbleman was one of many on that talk page as you've said, and that he is a relatively inexperienced editor. How does an intelligent person react to the heated, often illogical arguments presented with out the experience to see what the outcomes can be given the Wikipedia environment? What do they feel they have to do in desperation as they try to have their points heard. There are those who understand and have the experience to manipulate the system in favour of a world view. I believe this encyclopedia is collaborative, that behaviours that are deliberate attempts to damage other editors and get rid of them are the most egregious and in the long run the most dangerous to the collaborative environment, and to Wikipedia. A friend wise friend once told me he doubted Wikipedia over time could sustain the kind of negatively driven environment this kind of editor created. I hope he's right.:O)(olive (talk) 15:43, 17 October 2013 (UTC))
You sound like the voice of experience, olive. I don't have any magic answers to your question. I know that it is important to listen to others, hear their concerns and address the ones that you believe have merit. I think it's also important not to react out of anger but I know how hard it is to refrain from snapping back when one feels attacked or belittled. The best one can do is try and learn from ones mistakes.
You do point out a problem I see, which seems like wikilawyering to me (although I'm not sure if that is the correct term). There are those Editors who are very smart about the way to file complaints, who have allies who are Admins, who are ready to back up any claim with a "diff" and if an inexperienced (and even some experienced) users run afoul of them, good luck! They are very effective at mustering support for whatever they propose because they know the system well while most newbies don't even know the WP jargon, what a noticeboard is or that in a defense of their actions they can't be sarcastic, flippant or angry (which, frankly, is a standard internet response).
They begin at a disadvantage that is difficult to overcome and becomes impossible if the complainant is able to get them labeled a "troll", "vandal", "sock", "puppet" or the nebulous "disruptive Editor". Whether these identifications are valid or invalid, these labels are almost impossible to shake and they follow a user even if they quit WP, go away for a few years and then return under a different username. If someone connects them to a maligned, previous account (and they haven't acknowledged this on their User Page), the typical response seems to be an automatic block.
It's ironic for a medium that is constantly changing, second by second, edited by tens of thousands of people, that it also seems to be unable to forget and forgive. Regarding its users, WP has a long, long memory. Liz Read! Talk! 16:25, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
Hi Liz, if you have any interest in this area you are touching on here, and have a few minutes, could you look at my essay
WP:POV Railroad and give any feedback or comments you may have, on the essay talk page? Thanks in advance. -- — Keithbob • Talk
• 19:09, 18 October 2013 (UTC)
I have a lot of tabs open right now, Keithbob, but I'll look over it sometime today. ;-) Liz Read! Talk! 19:18, 18 October 2013 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #80

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.
Read the full report · Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 19:50, 18 October 2013 (UTC)
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