[WikiEN-l] Consumerium

Fri May 7 22:26:01 UTC 2004

I think these different perceptions are a natural outgrowth of the
wiki process.  We all tend to notice biases that annoy us more than we
notice biases that confirm our opinions.  For highly
political/ideological people (like me, for example) the problem may be
even more severe -- people can become convinced that their own
opinions are just simple ordinary fact, and anything which challenges
their preconceptions must therefore be biased.

I am an ardent fan of the United States Second Amendment, though, and
I have been meaning to mention that some of the articles in that
general area exhibit a troubling pro-gun bias.  As a rule, I try not
to edit stuff like that, but ironically enough if I had to pick
something to edit today, that's where I would personally start.

But even here, and I think this is the ultimate secret of wiki, I
think that my desire to fix the pro-gun bias is actually an expression
in part of political motives.  Because I am fully convinced that my
position is right, I think that the best form of persuasion is a
totally neutral presentation of the facts.  Pro-gun bias actually
_damages_ the cause, because it will cause reasonable people to read
the article and dismiss it as biased.

I think that's why this all ultimately works so well.  Good natured
people are happy to let the facts shine through, because if they do,
then of course other people will draw the right conclusions.  Bias is
unnecessary and counterproductive.

--Jimbo

Theresa Robinson wrote:

> > I think Wikipedia tends to tilt slightly tilted towards the left of
> > center, and slightly towards an EU-centric viewpoint, vaguely along the
> > lines of BBC News's tilt (though theirs is somewhat more pronounced).
> 
> How fascinating!  I tend to find wikipedia slanted slightly right-wing,
> with a wide spectrum of people to round it out.  It's very interesting
> that we can get such different opinions of the same group of people.
> 
> moink
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