--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, cardemaister <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TM-Sidhi
Just read it. I think it's remarkably balanced and neutral in tone, and very largely accurate, with a few minor errors. > I certainly don't think they should change this: It's not clear why Barry thinks anybody would want to change any of the points he lists. The judge's dismissal of the TM-Sidhis case on the basis of the constitutional definition of religion and the quotes from various critics are all well documented. (Note that the *validity* of these opinions isn't documented, nor does it need to be, nor in many cases *could* it be. And a big effort has been made to quote rebuttals by TM proponents for most of the critical opinions, which is about as fair as one could ask for. Unsurprisingly, Barry doesn't quote those.) For example: <snip> > "Physicist and skeptic Robert L. Park called the [1993 > Washington D.C.] study a "clinic in data distortion". Park > questioned the validity of the study by saying that during > the weeks of the experiment Washington, D.C.'s weekly murder > count hit the highest level ever recorded." The next paragraph: "Maxwell Rainforth, Assistant Professor of Physiology and Health and Statistics at Maharishi University of Management and a coauthor of the Washington, D.C. study, acknowledged that the 36-hour period [during the eight-week study period] was 'horrific,' but said that, from a scientific perspective, it was a statistical outlier because homicides by themselves constituted a small data set. He said that homicides comprised 3% of violent crimes in the year of the study (1993). Rainforth characterized Park's criticisms of the study as 'superficial, highly polemical' and 'willfully misleading', and that his objections to the use of time series analysis and other statistical methods were not based on scientific arguments. He also questioned whether Park had read the published study, since his criticism focused on a preliminary Interim Report released at a press conference in 1994." And in the description of the project and its results is this: "At a 1994 press conference to announce the analysis of that study, Hagelin said that, during the period of the experiment Washington, D.C. experienced a significant reduction in psychiatric emergency calls, fewer complaints against the police, and an increase in public approval of President Bill Clinton. Overall, there was an 18% reduction in violent crime during the study period, he told the press." > So I guess what Card is suggesting is that TM TBs might > want to go in and edit the Wikipedia article, performing > data distortion on top of data distortion. :-) No, that isn't what Card is suggesting. He actually hasn't suggested anything. Rather, he wonders (see his subject heading) if there are any *corrections* to be made. Also, there clearly were TM proponents among the people who wrote the article in the first place, or it wouldn't be so balanced. I think this article is an example of the Wikipedia process in dealing with a controversial topic at its very best. Everyone involved should be congratulated on the result.
