Nothing below strikes me as encyclopedic. What are we trying to do with this article,
and how does it educate anyone? It looks like pure commentary, but I suppose some of it
might be editable into something useful, so I'll leave the text here. --LDC
- The way people conduct themselves when discussing a controversy is often more interesting to an observer than the issue at hand. Often, dishonest debate tactics are used, especially in political campaigns, where ad hominem attacks are especially effective. Alternately, some people think that ad hominem attacks are very appropriate in representational democracies, since electing a representative involves trusting a person to do the right thing. Calling peple dishonest, on the other hand, rarely results in a good debate.
- Nonetheless, societies have sometimes been formed dedicated to discussion of controversial issues with (they hoped) high ethical standards. One wonders if Wiki can be such a forum. Of course, that depends on what your definition of "high ethical standards" is, and whether or not you like calling people "dishonest".
- Over the last four centuries, natural philosophy developed into modern science, which has dedicated itself to finding the truth about reality. It seeks to settle controversies over matters within its province by submitting hypotheses and evidence to peer review and public scrutiny. See scientific method.
- Gone forever are the days when scientific ideas would be suppressed (Galileo) or touted for ideological purposes (Lysenko).
I wrote what you moved and thank you for moving it. It is indeed commentary. Does it belong in meta-wiki? --
Ed Poor
- Actually, someone revised it after I orginally wrote it. I didn't say
- Alternately, some people think that ad hominem attacks are very appropriate in representational democracies, since electing a representative involves trusting a person to do the right thing. Calling peple dishonest, on the other hand, rarely results in a good debate.
or that it
- depends on what your definition of "high ethical standards" is, and whether or not you like calling people "dishonest".
Perhaps it belongs to some branch of sociology or politics.
--Ed Poor
WINAD -- I doubt we can say anything useful about this subject and should therefore delete this page. (IMHO meta-wiki is probably a good place for it).
We could always just put in the info that it's the title of a Prince song... ;-)
JHK
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