User:KC Panchal/AGF Challenge 2 Exercise Answers
2.1 Taking a Leak
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Jack Leak is an author who is frequently in the news for his controversial theory that oil and gas are not the result of millions of years of decomposition of organic material. Leak has published a series of books describing his theories. Leak is a prominent faculty member at an Ivy League university. He believes that oil and gas are the result of inorganic processes deep within the earth's crust. The faculty in Leak's department have put a statement on the department webpage stating they disagree with Leak's theory. Surveys of other scientists in his field show that over 99% of them think his theory is unscientific and contradicted by the evidence. Almost every review of Leak's books by other scientists is negative. His work is quite popular among the public, however, who do not want to believe that the supply of fossil fuels is finite, and that we might run out of oil. Leak has testified as an expert witness during several legal trials where environmentalists were trying to block deep offshore drilling or drilling in the arctic. The opposing side in these trials has always ripped Leak's testimony to shreds, ridiculing him. However, he remains very popular with the majority of the public. An article about one of Leak's books, Earth Juices, on Wikipedia includes links to several negative reviews. One prominent Wikipedia editor demands that these negative reviews be removed, since they violate WP:BLP. The claim is that anything negative about these books in the reviews reflects negatively on Leak's work, and on Leak himself, and therefore violates WP:BLP. In addition, several editors on Wikipedia have objected to statements in Leak's biography on Wikipedia stating that the "scientific community disagrees with his theories". They claim that one cannot measure what the scientific community believes, so that this statement does not belong and is not valid. Do the negative reviews of Leak's work constitute a WP:BLP violation? Can Wikipedia link to these negative reviews? Can Wikipedia state that the "scientific community" agrees or disagrees with his theories? Are articles on this author's ideas WP:FRINGE theories since most of the public subscribes to them? What does WP:NPOV state about how these ideas should be presented on Wikipedia? How many hours of editor time should Wikipedia spend to deal with this? |
- "Are articles on this author's ideas WP:FRINGE theories since most of the public subscribes to them?": Yes, it is a fringe theory as it "departs significantly from the prevailing or mainstream view in its particular field of study". Of course, to reach this conclusion one needs to determine what mainstream view is. That can be achieved by giving specific instances from "over 99% of them think his theory is unscientific and contradicted by the evidence". Also, the fact that the faculty on the official web page of the department state that they disagree is significant, as University web pages as considered to be reliable sources, when the authors have peer-reviewed articles themselves to their name. So, the negative reviews, especially by notable experts in the field who themselves have peer-reviewed published articles should be cited.
- "Can Wikipedia state that the "scientific community" agrees or disagrees with his theories?":The usage of term "scientific community" comes off as an overgeneralization. I'd prefer "experts in geology (or the pertinent field)". Defining who's an expert in Geology is not difficult and uses the same criteria of reliable sources. The experiments or grounds on which the other experts disagree with Leak's theory should also be mentioned.
- "Do the negative reviews of Leak's work constitute a WP:BLP violation? Can Wikipedia link to these negative reviews?":Yes, the negative review should find place for two reasons:
- Negative reviews of Leak's work are simply that negative reviews of Leak's work, and not Leak himself. Also, just because something is negative doesn't make it unworthy of being on Wikipedia. It deserves a place provided it is substantiated by reliable sources.
- It is important that the negative reviews be cited as they make the book "Earth juices" notable
- Also, just because the one raising objection is "established" editor, does not make his/her argument any more valid.
- "What does WP:NPOV state about how these ideas should be presented on Wikipedia?" That it should not be declared by the authors of the article if the theory is true or not. The articles on books by Leak can focus on the theory only briefly, and response to the book—both in terms of praise as well as controversy arising out of negation of theory would be the main subjects. There would be of course other particulars like how he got inspiration for the book or what research "he claims" he performed before writing the book. The article cannot go into undue details of the theory as that wouldn't be the subject. Discussing the theory in great details in such an article will make it seem much more notable than it actually would be. The guiding principle for the article is that what made the subject of article worthy of inclusion on Wikipedia (notable, in simple words) was not the hypothesis he propounded, but the controversy it generated. Also, if an article on the theory of "Earth juices" is written, it'd have to go into greater details, but to a degree significantly less than that on established theories.
- How many hours of editor time should Wikipedia spend to deal with this?: I will not be able to quantify in terms of number of hours, but the ultimate content in relation to the author, theory and book that appears on Wikipedia should be sufficiently less than the articles on established concepts. The number of hours spent would depend upon how much POV-insertion and vandalism the page experiences. Countering blatant vandalism wouldn't take much time, but tackling subtle POV-insertion, especially by established editors would obviously be difficult and time-consuming.
- Leak has testified as an expert witness during several legal trials where environmentalists were trying to block deep offshore drilling or drilling in the arctic. In this context, I'd like to point out that writing a book is one thing but testifying at legal trials in defense of powerful petroleum producing corporations is entirely different. So,an eye should be kept on latest developments over the issue. and if any allegations over a nexus with substantial evidence come to notice, they can be mentioned to keep the articles current and balanced. But, this is just to be only kept at the back of the mind, and it's possibility shouldn't influence what's contained in the article, unless of course the possibility turns into reality.
2.2 It is not free
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The Institute for Quantum Healing (IQH) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in Los Angeles by several college dropouts and entrepreneurs. They maintain that rectally inserting a small 10 ml bottle of helium gas while humming a particular chant will excite the quantum energy levels of the helium, and create quantum entanglement between the helium gas atoms and electrons associated with human thought processes, called "thinkons". These thinkons can then be directed by assorted processes developed by the IQH to travel throughout the subject's nervous system and heal the body, as well as help the subject achieve optimum health. The founders of the IQH have created a book called "Optimum health through Quantum Healing" with a picture of the founders of IQH wearing Einstein masks and wigs dancing the Macarena on a beach. This is a well known book and it is sold in every major bookstore. Billboards with this image are common throughout the US and internationally, and it is commonly featured on television as well. Wikipedia uses an image of the book's cover in the article about the book, which features a distinctive design. Some Wikipedia editors also want to use an image of the book's cover in the article about Quantum Healing and possibly in the article about the Institute of Quantum Healing, on the grounds that this helps the reader to identify and recognize the movement, by including a picture of the main book associated with this institute and set of treatments. They seek to apply clause 8 of the NonFree Content Criteria:
to justify wider use of the image of the cover. Other editors dispute this and a huge battle ensues which spreads to dozens of other images of book covers on other articles, and other images. Things begin to escalate as the two camps become entrenched. All kinds of charges of violation of WP:NPA and WP:CIVIL and WP:AGF are lobbed back and forth. What does Clause 8 of NFCC really mean? Is it ever really right to use an image just because it is identifiable with a subject, to help increase audience understanding? Should nonfree images ever be used on Wikipedia, for any reason? Do images help or hurt Wikipedia articles, making them appear less serious? After all World Book Encyclopedia has many more pictures than Encyclopedia Britannica, a more serious encyclopedia. How many hours of editor time should Wikipedia spend to deal with this? |
- '"What does Clause 8 of NFCC really mean? Is it ever really right to use an image just because it is identifiable with a subject, to help increase audience understanding?": Whether the image use is justified or not depends upon the specific article in question:
- Institute of Quantum Healing—unjustified instead, a picture of the logo the Organization would be more appropriate
- Quantum healing—totally unjustified—as this is a concept/hypothesis, does not at all require an image, more so if it is non-free.
- Articles on founders of Institute of Quantum Healing—the usage might be justified if no other free image of the founding members is available. Since, it is said the book is very popular (high sales), the individual authors automatically become notable, in which case it's quite desirable to have an image, but not the one in question, which does not even reveal face of the authors. In that case it might be better to use another non-free image (if a free one is not available), which actually serves the purpose.
- Do images help or hurt Wikipedia articles, making them appear less serious?: That depends upon the precise context—explanation of concepts, processes, etc. most definitely requires images. Likewise, articles on monuments, places, objects, persons also benefit from images. Inappropriate (out of context) makes article seem trivial and "desperate".
- How many hours of editor time should Wikipedia spend to deal with this?: If many editors have become passionate about the issue, trying to reach consensus and pacifying would be obviously important, and may take some time. Also, reaching a just conclusion would be important, as it may become a precedent for future policies and practices.
2.3 Shockingly
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An editor on climatology pages has been adding his own personal etymology for the term "cyclone". This editor claims that the term "cyclone" comes from the words "sigh" and "clone". That is, a cyclone is a big rush of air, like a sigh, and a cyclone is a copy of this rush of air, that is, a clone of a sigh, or a "sigh-clone" or "cyclone". This editor has no sources for his folk etymology. He edit wars to insert it, and it is removed. He argues for it on the talk pages of the articles. People tell him it violates WP:NOR and WP:RS and WP:V repeatedly, which he ignores. After telling him this 28 times in a row, ZZ, a well known editor who writes about climatology on Wikipedia, and author of 26 pieces of featured content, tells him,
Several admins are outraged and claim that ZZ should be banned. The word that offends them the most is the word "shockingly" in ZZ's post. A very heated thread is generated on the Administrators' Noticeboard about this. Many are disgusted that ZZ would have committed such an egregious offense. No one asks why ZZ wrote this statement. No one chastises the editor who had been spamming the climatology pages with the unsourced etymology of "cyclone". In fact, many jump to the defense of the "sigh-clone" proponent, claiming it is unfair to insist on sources or to argue with this editor or to prevent this editor from including their unsourced etymology in the articles. A huge lynch mob assembles to drive out ZZ for such an uncivil comment and for his "personal attack" on the "sigh-clone" proponent. Some wonder if it will not be a net loss to protect the "sigh-clone" proponent, who has never made an unreverted edit to any article or written any content on Wikipedia, while removing the creator of 26 pieces of featured content. Jimbo's quote about how we do not want to keep jerks around just because they do good work is repeated over and over. What should Wikipedia do in this case? What would you do? What is reasonable? What direction is Wikipedia heading in? Should it continue in that direction? What is the best way to create a respected reference work? How many hours of editor time should Wikipedia spend to deal with this? |
- "What would you do?": I'll try to check out if the OR-pusher has sockpuppets. The possibility of meatpuppets also needs to be thought of. If the number of supporters for the sigh-clone author is overwhelmingly high, then the possibility that all the supporters are sockpuppets is slim. I can see that the question is more about individual opinion on quality of Wikipedia, but since, it has been claimed [weasel words] that the scenarios are similar to actual happenstances, this consideration of proxies is relevant. I cannot do much more than voicing my support for ZZ, and trying to convince the most vocal supporters of the original author that they look at the longstanding contributions of ZZ. Also, the circumstances of provocation (the histories of concerned article and its talk page) need to be cited. Also, I'll point out that even though ZZ's comment that invited an unexpected ire was directed towards the contribution of the editor and not towards the editor him/herself. "Comments should not be personalized and should be directed at content and actions rather than people" is quoted by WP:NPA.
- My response to "we do not want to keep jerks around just because they do good work": "I have seen many users putting the "citation needed" tag after unsourced information...simply remove them" (or something like that)—Jimbo Wales (again).
- "What is the best way to create a respected reference work?": By strictly adhering to the citation policy.
- What direction is Wikipedia heading in? Should it continue in that direction?: Well, I haven't personally come across such blatant instances of all policy violations, more so with involvement of administrators (who're supposed to be the most trustworthy members). Consensus-building is important, but what has been described in the situation is not consensus, but prejudice and preconception.
- What should Wikipedia do in this case?: This is an imprecise question, but by it if it is meant what should the Wikipedians do, then it should be the same as my response described above, and blocking and subsequently banning the OR-pusher. Also, if the editor has been operating a single purpose account that makes sockpuppetry more likely.
2.4 The Naked Truth
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Several Christian sects which are proponents of Christian naturism claim that a literal reading of the Book of Genesis means that it is forbidden by God to wear clothes, unless required as protection from the elements. One prominent sect, the Starkerites, have become more and more prominent in the UK in the last few decades. They are famous for their radio and television sermons promising that everyone who wears clothes is an affront to God and is going straight to hell. Some of the more extreme varieties of Starkerites, such as the Nakedites, even preach that people who wear clothes indoors should be summarily killed for their blasphemy. The Nakedites have tried to get laws passed requiring that all children attending government schools doff their clothes indoors. This measure is meant to avoid offending any Nakedite children. There have been some well publicized lawsuits trying to impose Nakedite requirements on various commercial enterprises and public institutions, which the Nakedites have always lost. Lately a contingent of Nakedites have joined Wikipedia and are changing all the articles on Christianity to reflect Nakedite teachings. Huge edit wars break out, since Nakedites regard all those who do not follow indoor nudity and Nakedite philosophy as not real Christians and infidels. They therefore demand that the Wikipedia articles be written accordingly. Any efforts to stop them or slow them down are met with angry responses and a claim that they have a right to their religious freedom, which Wikipedia is suppressing. What should Wikipedia do? Is it a restriction of their religious freedom to have other versions of Christianity described on Wikipedia? Do they have the right to not be offended? Should Wikipedia give in to their demands and remove pictures of clothed people worshiping in churches from all articles on Christianity? Should Wikipedia remove all pictures of all clothed people indoors to try to assuage the Nakedites? Should anyone from any FRINGE movement be allowed to show up on Wikipedia and demand to be able to dictate how all articles in some area are written? What if they decry the definition of WP:FRINGE and try to rewrite WP:FRINGE and other policies to let them do whatever they want? How much of the articles on Christianity should be devoted to describing Nakedite beliefs? How many hours of editor time should Wikipedia spend to deal with this? |
- "Is it a restriction of their religious freedom to have other versions of Christianity described on Wikipedia?": It is definitely not an infringement of their religious rights as Wikipedia is not asking them (and certainly not with any authority) to wear or not wear clothes themselves. If they are claiming that that's what is written in the book of "Genesis", then it would be appropriate to quote the appropriate portion from the scripture verbatim (I suppose in Hebrew), and give the various possible translations. Various possible because when translating from an old language, the same word could have many meanings. The translations have to be supported by noted experts of the (Hebrew) language with citations.
- "Should Wikipedia give in to their demands and remove pictures of clothed people worshiping in churches from all articles on Christianity?" No, there's no need to remove pictures of clothed people worshiping as that'd be the depiction of a fact, i.e., many people do worship with clothes on, that's what would be the purpose of the picture, I suppose, not if that is supported by the scriptures or not.
- "Do they have the right to not be offended?": No, whatever they contribute to Wikipedia automatically enters the public domain, and if they feel offended if their contributions are edited, deleted or modified in any way, then they are best advised to not contribute.
- "How much of the articles on Christianity should be devoted to describing Nakedite beliefs?": Religion is a personal choice. So, no other person can sit in declare some one else to belong or not belong to a particular religion. If I choose to say that I'm X-ist ("X" being some religion), no one else can claim that I'm not an X-ist simply because I don't follow certain practices. What I am driving at is that if the nakedists say that they are Christians, then they have to be considered Christians. Of course, their sect should be considered to be an independent one or not would depend upon their numbers. If the numbers are significant (as determined by census, or other reliable reports), then they have to articles devoted to their beliefs deserve a place under a broad umbrella of "articles on Christianity". But, if their number is insignificant, articles on their belief deserve a place as a significant controversy, but not as a POV.
- "Should anyone from any FRINGE movement be allowed to show up on Wikipedia and demand to be able to dictate how all articles in some area are written? What if they decry the definition of WP:FRINGE and try to rewrite WP:FRINGE and other policies to let them do whatever they want?" No, they cannot be given a free hand. But, if the question is should they be allowed to write on Wikipedia, "Yes"; Wikipedia is not so much about who writes as it is about what they write. But, their policies have to follow a broad consensus. If the try to modify the policy on fringe theories, it will not meet consensus. And, if, and I repeat, if, it meets consensus, then be it; that's the nature of Wikipedia—I'll definitely take a long wikibreak, and may be occasionally return to browse through just like Uncyclopedia.org.
- "How many hours of editor time should Wikipedia spend to deal with this?": Combating the POV-insertion, vandalism, and accusations in various Wikipedia-forums will take up a lot of time.
2.5 How long is yours?
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A commercially-available DVD is part of the evidence in a trial. The trial transcripts list the DVD as being 75 minutes in length. Amazon.com and several other sites that sell this DVD list it as 75 minutes in length. An editor appears on Wikipedia and claims that the copy he has in his possession is 51 minutes in length, and that Wikipedia must change its article accordingly. When other editors on Wikipedia disagree with him, he becomes quite adamant about his demands and even combative. When people resist him, this becomes a major complaint at Wikipedia Review about the unfairness of Wikipedia and the bias of Wikipedia and the lack of ethics on Wikipedia. What should Wikipedia do? How should Wikipedia describe the length of this DVD? What is most reasonable and fair? What is encyclopedic? What policies are involved here? Should anyone be allowed to edit Wikipedia according to what they have asserted is The TRUTHTM? Is it a violation of WP:IAR to require that a WP:RS for this editor's claim of 51 minutes before it can be included in the article? How many hours of editor time should Wikipedia spend to deal with this? |
- How should Wikipedia describe the length of this DVD? What is most reasonable and fair? What is encyclopedic? What policies are involved here?: 75 mins. As that's reliable (court transcript records and sellers like Amazon.com, which are considered to be reliable in this (feature of a product the web site sells) matter. Quoting relevant guideline from one of the sign post (dispatches: "Some sites have proven reliable for some purposes: examples include (but are not limited to) IGN, CNET and Cricinfo". Also, the policy of no original research should restrict the editor from putting the video's length as 51 mins.
- Is it a violation of WP:IAR to require that a WP:RS for this editor's claim of 51 minutes before it can be included in the article?: No, "Ignore all rules" is about the content-layout and not what can be included in Wikipedia. Any matter that does not fulfill the reliability criteria needs to be removed. More so, if such material is about living persons (as a court trial would be).
- "How many hours of editor time should Wikipedia spend to deal with this?": This shouldn't take much time to resolve. If the user does not heed repeated warning, stricter action like blocking and banning might have to be applied.
2.6 The US is collaborating with space aliens
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A prominent belief in certain Muslim countries that is spread in the mainstream Islamic media is that the United States has a secret program to collaborate with aliens from outer space to (1) scare Muslims and (2) build space weapons to attack Muslims. As proof, they often refer to the internet video called the Alien autopsy video which some "claim" was shown to be a hoax. Nevertheless, in the Muslim world, the "proof" that this video was a hoax perpetrated by someone trying to raise money is dismissed as US government disinformation, and the Alien autopsy video is said to be a leaked official US government video made at Area 51. It is repeatedly asserted that this video is obviously an official classified US government video. Several editors create articles on Wikipedia propagating this theory. Text segments describing this concept are introduced in articles about the United States and UFOs and in several other articles as well. Sources are provided to articles in the mainstream Islamic media. Huge edit wars erupt. What should be done? How should this topic be represented on Wikipedia? Are the mainstream Islamic media sources reliable sources for this subject? If mainstream European and American media sources ignore this rumor or dismiss it, should they be given more prominence than the mainstream Islamic media sources? If public surveys in Islamic countries show that 80-90 percent of the population of Muslim nations subscribes to this belief, does this subject qualify as a WP:FRINGE belief? How can one decide if this story qualifies as a WP:FRINGE story or not if Western media ignore this story completely, and there are no surveys of Westerners to compare? How many hours of editor time should Wikipedia spend to deal with this? |
2.7 No original research!
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User:AppleButtEr is editing an article about chihuahuas. A controversy develops about the colors of chihuahuas. AppleButtEr finds one source that states that 48 percent of chihuahuas are black according to one study. Another source claims that 65 percent of chihuahuas are black. A third reference alleges that 64 percent of chihuahuas are white or brown and the rest are black. Finally, one source describes a study where 5893 chihuahuas were examined, and 3482 were found to be black. AppleButtEr wants to convert all these figures into percentages of black chihuahuas so that they can be compared (48%, 65%, 36% and 59.1%) and then present the comparison in a table. Another editor, User:RunOff, who has never edited the article before, appears on the talk page. RunOff states that converting these numbers into percentages is forbidden because it constitutes WP:OR and in particular WP:SYNTH. AppleButtEr quotes policies and papers that appear to be relevant such as [1] and [2], but RunOff ignores these and continues to fight. AppleButtEr brings in others to help him, but RunOff reveals that he is an admin and makes it clear that anyone disagreeing with his position will be blocked. When RunOff is asked about WP:AGF and WP:NPA and WP:CIVIL, he states that those do not apply to experienced users, but only to newbies, and wikilawyers until everyone else gives up. How would you analyze this situation? Is it WP:OR to convert numbers into percentages for comparison purposes? Does this constitute a violation of WP:SYNTH? What should AppleButtEr do when he encounters an editor or admin like RunOff? How many hours of editor time should Wikipedia spend to deal with this? |
2.8 Sex and evolution
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Several very complicated articles on a theory about the origin of sex are written on Wikipedia. For example:
Most of the references are in Russian. It is clearly a well known theory, but almost completely unknown in the West. The English in the articles is stilted. What should be done? Is this article suitable for Wikipedia? Is it pseudoscience or science? Does it fall under WP:FRINGE? What would you suggest that Wikipedia do with the large number of articles on this topic? How many hours of editor time should Wikipedia spend to deal with this? |
- ^ Geodakyan V. A. (2000). Evolutionary Chromosomes And Evolutionary Sex Dimorphism. “Biology Bulletin” 27 N 2, 99–113.
- ^ Geodakyan V. A. (1992). Evolutionary Logic of the Functional Asymmetry of the Brain. “Doklady Biological Sciences” 324 N 1-6, 283–287.
- ^ Geodakyan V. A., Geodakyan K. V. (1997). A New Concept on Lefthandedness. “Doklady Biological Sciences” 356 N 1-6, 450–454.
- ^ Geodakyan V. A., Sherman A. L. (1971). Svjaz' vrozdennych anomalij razvitija s polom (Relation of birth defects with sex). “Zh. Obsh. Biol.” 32 N 4, 417–424.
- ^ Vasiltshenko G. S. (1977, 2005) General sexopathology. Moscow, Medicine 488 p.
- ^ Nartova-Boschaver S. K. (2003) Differential psychology: Textbook. Moscow. Flinta Moscow psychological-social institute.
- ^ Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Department of Molecular and Biological Physics. Lectures for the 1st grade “Biology basics”. Lecture #24 Evolutionary Theory of Sex. Biotechnology. Immunology. Signal transmission in the body. http://www.fizhim.ru/student/files/biology/biolections/lection24/
- ^ Kharkov national university (Ukraine). Faculty of psychology. Department of general psychology. Cycle of lectures “Gender studies in psychology” Lecture #11. Studies of gender differences in brain organization and cognition. http://www.gender.univer.kharkov.ua/speckursy-025.shtml
- ^ Bibliography
- ^ Rahlis L. (1998) Why God created Adam and Eve? Russia House (Atlanta, GA), September N 9 (68), 4.
- ^ Rahlis L. (1999) Supplementing each other. Russia House (Atlanta, GA), February N 2 (73) 5.
- ^ Gordon A. (2002) Evolutionary theory of sex. “Program «00:30»” NTV, June 06.
- ^ Gordon A. (2002) Evolutionary theory of sex-2. “Program «00:30»” NTV, Apr 15.
- ^ Gordon A. (2003) Theory of brain asymmetry. “Program «00:30»” NTV, Dec 09.