Anthony wrote: > So we need to weigh the harm vs. the benefits, right?
Right. I don't know whether this experiment's benefits will outweigh its harm. I only know that the community had no opportunity to discuss the matter (including possible improvements) and arrive at a determination. Presumably, we all agree that the harm caused by the temporary removal of 100 external links is relatively minor. But if the resultant data collection lacks substantial value, this relatively minor harm is unjustified. And if other users engage in similar experimentation, it will multiply. > > > What's a "consensus-backed experiment"? > > An experiment whose validity and appropriateness have been affirmed by > > the community. > I'm not letting you out that easy. What does it mean to "have been > affirmed by the community"? I'm not trying to dodge your question. I honestly don't understand what's unclear. I'm referring to a hypothetical scenario in which the Wikipedia editing community has evaluated a proposed experiment's basic parameters (with enough details withheld to prevent impacting the results) and reached consensus [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Consensus] that the plan is sensible and should be implemented (either with or without modification). David Levy _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l