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List:       wikipedia-l
Subject:    Re: [Wikipedia-l] An idea
From:       Mark Williamson <node.ue () gmail ! com>
Date:       2005-06-01 23:55:39
Message-ID: 849f98ed0506011655534d90f3 () mail ! gmail ! com
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Exactly - it helps others realise that the crackpot is a crackpot.

What if the crackpot opens a RfC to get other people's opinions about
who is correct, and they all agree with the crackpot because his
version of the truth "sounds better"? Thus the crackpot version gets
written into the article semipermanently, and any further attempts by
the smart person to remove it from the article will be seen as
anything from a troublesome annoyance to vicious vandalism.

Mark

On 01/06/05, Joseph Reagle <reagle@mit.edu> wrote:
> On Tuesday 31 May 2005 20:02, Mark Williamson wrote:
> > In some situations however it would be a good thing for the person
> > with the degree in astrophysics to tell the person without to stfu.
> 
> Ah, OK. So you are touching on the issue of what exact role does the
> credential system serve. Is it an intelligence highlighter, a moron
> mitigator, I way of incenting contributions, etc.
> 
> As a crackpot moron mitigator, I don't expect credential would do that much
> with respect to the crackpot -- your just part of the conspiracy. If it
> served in some way to help others regulate the crackpot, then perhaps...
> 


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