[WikiEN-l] Re: Notability meta-guidelines

Wed Jan 18 19:40:47 UTC 2006

> 1) A subject should not become *more notable* by appearing in 
> Wikipedia.  {The vanity principle}

>Just so long as you do not confuse "notable" with "widely known".

You're right. I should restate this as:

1) A subject should not appear more notable than they are by appearing
in Wikipedia.  {The vanity principle}

>If there are only four people in the world who can perform a
particularly 
>crufty surgical procedure, then I would say that all four of them would

>count as "notable".

Definitely.

>In this kind of case, it is the duty of Wikipedia to ensure that these 
>people are made **more** widely-known, because they are sufficiently
notable 
>to deserve it.

Eek. I don't like the sound of that at all. Don't we try and avoid moral
judgments? Should attempt to make little-known war criminals more widely
known?

On the other hand, encyclopaedias are there to enlighten us. Hmm.

Steve