| Revision as of 01:04, 13 October 2007 editProfg (talk | contribs)518 edits restoring page← Previous edit |
Latest revision as of 22:15, 26 October 2009 edit undoDeirdreAnne (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users12,821 edits clean up, Replaced: {{Sockpuppeteerproven|blocked| → {{Sockpuppeteer|proven|casename=, using AWB |
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{{Sockpuppeteer|proven|casename=Misplaced Pages:Requests_for_checkuser/Case/Profg}} |
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This is me. You may know who I am. |
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== Anonymity == |
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I don't believe Misplaced Pages is the place to tout everything about you, so I won't do that here. I will admit to having earned one Ph.D., and to currently working on completing a second one. I will admit to teaching at both public and private colleges and universities in the past; to leaving academia for the world of business and politics; and to finally realizing that I just can't get away from my love of teaching, so I've begun doing so again. |
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There is no such thing as complete anonymity on the internet, and anyone can find out who anyone is on any website. But that's about all I care to admit to here -- except to say that yes, just like everyone else, I do have a POV (see below), which means that, just like everyone else, I have ] in just about every area of Misplaced Pages that could be edited. Don't ''you''? :-) |
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== Contributing to the project == |
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Unlike many I've seen at WP, I live in the ]. I've now contributed several hundred ], along with a few new articles. I see one of my greatest contributions to be challenging ], many of whom they ''are'' POV-warriors and think ''they'' are the ones carrying on such noble work. And yes, that can be frustrating -- but I've raised children, so I'm getting better at exercising patience than I used to be. :-) |
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== A note about POV == |
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According to ], "], ] and ] have a strict '''neutral point of view''' (NPOV) policy, which states that their missions are best served not by advancing or detracting particular points of view on any given subject, but by trying to present a fair, neutral description of the facts — among which are the facts that various interpretations and points of view exist." |
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This is a great policy. The problem, however, is that no ''single'' editor '''has''' a "neutral point of view." Unfortunately, many of the editors one encounters on Misplaced Pages actually ''believe'' that their own personal viewpoints are neutral. This leads them to the associated belief that each one of them is a special expert on the topics they are editing, and have particular authority to dictate how the articles they edit should read. |
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Let me make one assurance here: I ''know'' my POV isn't neutral. I know just as well that ''no one else's'' POV is neutral. What we are supposed to do here as editors is to assure that the ''articles'' are neutral -- or, as NPOV states above, attempt "to present a fair, neutral description of the facts — among which are the facts that various interpretations and points of view exist." No matter how hard we try, ''every'' version of any article is biased, mine included. My "preferred version" of an article is no more the "NPOV version" than anyone else's. That's why we're supposed to work ''together'' to move articles in that direction, by including '''all''' of the facts that are relevant to articles... even the ones we don't like, or don't agree with, or can't believe that anyone in his right mind would ''ever'' believe. |
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I don't see this understanding from many editors here, even long-term admins. That may be due to the demographics of WP editors; it appears that the ratio of knowledgeable experts to college freshmen is approximately 1:36,000. That's okay; but the only way to ensure that Misplaced Pages is truly an '''encyclopedic wiki''' is for most editors to quit whining about violations of ], ], and especially, ]. (The list of "policies" that are constantly quoted as immutable laws of nature and nature's God is actually much longer, but these are the most-abused.) Let Misplaced Pages be a true ]; let editors actually try to present a fair, neutral description of the facts in each article (YES, even "controversial" ones); and quit trying to use "policies" to suppress the '''facts''' that various interpretations and points of view '''really do''' exist. |
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Then, maybe we in academia will start taking Misplaced Pages seriously enough to allow its use as a source in citations. :-) |
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''SIDE NOTE:'' I recommend an excellent "rant" by ], entitled ]. If you're a "POV-warrior", you won't like it. In fact, forget I ever told you to click there. Seriously. Don't do it. No, wait, stop... |
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