Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Chemistry/editorial wisdom
Wikipedia pages may be appropriately technical
[edit]Not all knowledge is immediately accessible to a layperson; some knowledge requires understanding of prerequisites. This means that many scientific (and historo-political) pages may not be comprehensible to the so-called "average reader" who doesn't understand "the basics" of the field. It is perfectly acceptable to remove technical tabs (e.g., {{Technical}} and {{Context}}) from articles which are meant to explain technical topic and thus utilize appropriately technical language. Wikipedia editors are not required to leave their intelligence, nor their technical competence, at the door when editing! Wikipedia exists to be a source of information about a wide range of subjects including science. Pages on specific technical and scientific topics should try to explain the material included; they should not provide an introduction to the entire area of science. This is redundant and an inefficient use of energy. Furthermore, application of "perfect article" standards to make specific technical and scientific topics self-contained and understandable to audiences not already familiar with the general field may not be appropriate since "perfection" "may not be attainable" for such pages.