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ZorbaTHut  2yr ago (text post)   Edited 2yr ago   38753 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 12, 2022

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability,_not_truth

Sometimes we know for sure that the reliable sources are in error, but we cannot find replacement sources that are correct. As Douglas Adams wrote of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, "Where it is inaccurate it is at least definitively inaccurate. In cases of major discrepancy it's always reality that's got it wrong."

I'm sure I can go dig up an example for you if you want, but here's the actual official policy on this topic.

EDIT: This isn't the official policy - this is an essay on the official policy. See below for correction.

Knowingly using sources that are lying is straightforwardly stupid and I'd hope that both (1) no actual Wikipedia policy can be construed that way, and (2) no discussion has concluded that way. What you linked is an unofficial and unsanctioned interpretation of policy. From the box at the top:

This is an essay.... This page is not... one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

I suppose that's on us, for bad signage. I'll certainly never argue that we're good at user interfaces :)

That said, a common criticism of Wikipedia is how it relies on existing sources rather than "the truth". This is an entirely valid criticism. It is a correct interpretation of policy that, as your essay says, Wikipedia would have advocated for a geocentric universe if it had existed back in the days when that was the mainstream viewpoint. In a sense, that's how it has to be. People fighting over truth itself doesn't make for a good encyclopedia, because verification of the results is many times harder.

Ah, my mistake. In that case just take it as an essay on the official policy rather than the official policy itself - I was confused due to seeing this particular course of events play out in real time, and then seeing this essay essentially explaining what had just happened.

EDIT:

Knowingly using sources that are lying is straightforwardly stupid and I'd hope that both (1) no actual Wikipedia policy can be construed that way, and (2) no discussion has concluded that way.

This was in fact the situation in which I was made aware of this policy. If you want to see more, please go read the archived talk pages for the Gamergate article (hope you have some time on your hands).

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