I have been editing regarding the global economic crisis. The outstanding
projection is that (unless something is effective is done) the current
crisis will result in a crisis similar to the Great Depression. That this
warning has been repeatedly made is not subject to dispute, but the
question arises as to the validity of the underlying projection. A more
minor matter is the more or less reliable projection that the rate of
unemployment will rise to 8% (or so) during 2009 in the United States.
There are a number of sources for this. We report generally accepted
economic projections. That is part of what economists do. To a certain
extent the validity for our purposes of publishing depends on appropriate
attribution.
Projections of global warming present the same problem.
The specific problem for Wikipedia is not publishing of generally
accepted projections but of original research which often has little or
no rational basis.
Fred
> == Wikipedia is not a crystal ball. ==
>
> <nowiki>{{speculation}} and {{prophecy}}</nowiki> are not welcome on
> wikipedia. No articles about anticipated events are verifiable, because
> anticipated events are not reliable. They are not reliable, because they
> are
> not testable. Exceptional claims require exceptional references.
> [[:category:Reliable Modern Prophets and Agencies of Prediction]] is very
> small. Forward-looking documents and statements should be restricted to
> events that are almost certain to happen in the obvious sense,
> considering
> how many times it has happened in the past and the resources devoted to
> making it happen again.
>
> [http://future.wikia.com/ Wiki-future], [[WP:IRC]], [[WP:TALK]],
> [[WP:E-MAIL]] and [[USENET]] are fine venues for writing about the
> future,
> and it does not belong here until it is a fact, so look out for sentences
> that contain words like "would", "could", "may", and "might", because
> they
> should tell you what makes them likely, almost now.
>
> $continue with exceptions...no, because as WP:CRYSTAL is now, there hav
> already been a lot of exceptions and that's probably why I ended up with
> so
> much static when I tried to take the [[weasel words]] out of it. I'm sure
> there are people who took and take this policy by the name of the section
> heading, like I did. I don't know a more sensible and pivotal rule than
> this
> to divide wikipedia from the rest of the media.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> WikiEN-l mailing list
> [email protected]
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit:
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
>
_______________________________________________
WikiEN-l mailing list
[email protected]
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
