[WikiEN-l] SPOV threatens NPOV

Sun Dec 18 11:55:29 UTC 2005

On 12/17/05, David Gerard <fun at thingy.apana.org.au> wrote:
> Ray Saintonge wrote:
> > Sam Korn wrote:
> >> On 12/16/05, David Gerard <fun at thingy.apana.org.au> wrote:
>
> >>> [[Wikipedia:Avoid weasel words]]
>
> >> But not at the expense of [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view]].
>
> > And using "pseudoscience" alone would be at the expense of NPOV
>
>
> You still appear to be trying to "prove" this by assertion.

The problem is that "pseudoscience" is a subjective term.  Whether a
topic is pseudoscience is not a black-and-white thing.  Who determines
whether the scientific method has been followed?  Not us!  That would
be original research, and asserting a point of view.  Yes, sometimes
it will be obvious.  However, most of the time it will not be.  The
proponents of these theories will never be of the opinion that they
are pseudoscience, and that they fail to conform to the scientific
method!

Wikipedia often has the problem of falling into pushing a relativist
point of view.  This is one of those occasions.

--
Sam