On Sun, Oct 9, 2011 at 9:55 AM, Ting Chen <tc...@wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Their opinions and preferences are as legitimate as our own This is a problematic statement. Although as a bland truism it initially seems unexceptional and obvious, it is in fact flatly untrue. It is greatly troubling to think that this statement might represent the level of discussion going among board members. Firstly, it ignores the basic problem that the "opinion and preference" of a large group is not merely that they should not have to see a particular class of image, but rather that no one at all should be able to see them. By showing those images by default, as we clearly plan to do, we are deliberately and knowingly privileging our "opinions and preferences" over theirs. Of course, this is the right thing to do - but it directly contradicts Ting's statement. Secondly, it ignores the fact that an encyclopedia, at least in intention, does not deal in opinions at all, but rather in facts - and while everyone is entitled to their own opinions, no one is entitled to their own facts. The Earth is spherical, and we will show a picture illustrating that. Person A's opinion that it is actually flat is not legitimate, and we will disregard it. Millions of Jews were killed by the Nazi regime, and we will show a picture of a mass grave, because it is the truth, and we greatly prefer it to person B's opinion that the Holocaust is a mere propaganda conspiracy. In these and a thousand other topics, there are groups who have opinions which are directly contrary to known truth, and to pretend that we regard those opinions as "equally valid" is utter nonsense, and completely contrary to the spirit that drives Wikipedians. Cheers, Andrew (Thparkth) _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l