[WikiEN-l] Re: troubled.

Wed May 12 14:40:18 UTC 2004

--- Rich Holton <rich_holton at yahoo.com> wrote:
[large snip]
> Again, I am NOT suggesting the elimination of the
> images. Only presenting them in a way that improves
> the "accessibility" and usability of Wikipedia.

I contend that the value of an encyclopedia comes from what it
includes, not what it excludes.

Imagine if you will that you have to fight a war (a well-known theme
these days), and you need weapons. You can go to the arsenal to fill
up, yet you can't pick just anything you want, because the more,
hummm, dangerous ones are just out of reach... 

The same can be applied in the world of business, or recovery from
the myriads of afflictions that plage humanity such as disease,
drug/alcohol/etc abuse, prostitution, underage sex (whichever age)
and   violence, of even politics, ethics, and philosophy. If you want
to know the real facts, you need the real facts, unfiltered, raw,
in-your-face. The reader is the one who can form his or her own
opinion, and will be able to do so with unbiased facts, since all of
them will be readily available on the same footing. 

Some may argue: But they are available, just one click away! I
respond that it's like the grocery store putting candy at kids eye
level and fitness magazines up for their dads and moms. The very
placement of the information is suggestive to behavior (they want the
kids to want candy) and thus demonstrates a bias.  

We don't sell candy or magazines. If you want to make a
child-friendly encyclopedia, knock yourself out. Most of us live in
the real world where people struggle, suffer and die, and we need the
best information available, no matter how unpalatable it may seem to
some, to survive as individuals, as a specie,  and advance the
achievements of our civilization (especially since, cell-phones and
Internet notwithstanding, we seem to have returned to the Age of
Barbarians).

=====
Christopher Mahan
chris_mahan at yahoo.com
818.943.1850 cell
http://www.christophermahan.com/

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