User:Skomorokh/The Curtain
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Like theism, conspiracy theory, and layman's economics, much of the uninformed variety of Wikipedia criticism is fatally prone to the fallacy of agency. Observing in the complex network of interactions that form the output encyclopaedia a phenomenon of which they disapprove, this species of critic discerns damning patterns, malign intentions and at root, nefarious culprits. In reality, most of the actual or perceived negative externalities arising from the project are the result of a large number of spontaneous, discrete actions, each motivated by distinct and mutually ignorant purposes. There is, in most instances, no man behind the curtain. Of course, this would also go for Wikipedia's positive externalities, if any were to be found...
- Take-away thoughts
A butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil and a tornado consequently tears through Texas; do not infer from this the existence of a cadre of Santa Anna revanchists bent on astronomical terror.
Those who gaze into the abyss of Wikipedia would do well to remember Hanlon's razor: never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
"I could see a thousand dancing hamsters on the checkuser results and still think they were sockpuppets." – Deskana[1]