I agree 100% with the above. We couldn't get anything done if we had to have attribution for every statement. But when something sounds controversial, or possibly controversial, attribution is necessary, I think, at least if we're going to make this a respectable, reliable resource. --LMS |
I agree 100% with the above. We couldn't get anything done if we had to have attribution for every statement. But when something sounds controversial, or possibly controversial, attribution is necessary, I think, at least if we're going to make this a respectable, reliable resource. --LMS I think attribution is important in this case because it seems a lot more controversial than it really is, so in this case there needed to be a statement that this really isn't too controversial among the experts in the field. -- Chenyu |
And besides, if we are going to cover mythology at all, how do we justify using the word for Greek, Roman, Sumerian, and other cultural and religious traditions and not for Christian, Hindu. scientific, or other cultures? The only difference, it seems to me, is there aren't any Sumerians around to complain. That's hardly a difference worth changing titles for. --LDC
Sorry to rain on your parade, but there are over a million Neopagans, a religion based "mythology". A minority, yes, but where do you draw the line? Most Neopagans don't believe the stories to be literally true, but then again most Christians don't believe all the Christian myths to be literally true, either. Other than fundamentalists, for example, few really believe Jonah lived inside a whale's stomach for 40 days or whatever it was. --Dmerrill
That doesn't mean that Christians will not take great offense at their stories being called "mythology," David. This is just basic politeness, as I see it. --LMS
Readded the influence on story telling to science. The problem was brought up by James Burke. Some of the examples of how story telling affects scientific education are my own, but 1) I think I am qualified to make those statements based on personal experience and 2) they aren't particularly controversial statements among science teachers. -- Chenyu
James Burke is not, to my knowledge, a well-respected authority on the history of science: he is a popularizer, isn't he? --LMS
Joseph, with great respect for your expertise otherwise, I very much doubt you are an expert on this. Am I wrong? In what articles or books have you developed this theory? --LMS
It's not a "recognized term" on Wikipedia at all, as far as I know. If you wish to argue against this view I have, do feel free. I would enjoy the debate--it's a very interesting topic. Please do not imply that I am trying to foist my views onto other Wikipedians without open, free debate.
It has long been my explicitly stated view, both on Nupedia (where a respected classicist actually quit over this issue) and Wikipedia, that we should not be trying to state our own views, or the results of our own research here. In fact, this has come up multiple times before. I think most people have agreed with me about it. --LMS
Chenyu is right that his stuff is not particularly controversial, but I suppose it does have some flavor of commentary to it (indeed, it reads a lot like my own [Myth of the Lone Inventor]), so I could see leaving it out until we find some more relevant specific quotes. --LDC
Really, all I wanted was attribution. Actually, "it's common opinion among historians of science" is good enough for me, and I'm assuming Joseph will tell me that it is indeed common opinion among historians of science (and not just physicists who teach science). So, I'll put the text back in on that assumption! --LMS
Looks good. -- Chenyu
I think that one of the issues here was what I posted was so much of the "common knowledge" among people I've worked with, that asking for an attribution confused me. It was as if someone asked for the source of a statement that George Washington was the first president or that the sun works through nuclear fusion. Off hand, I don't know of any scientific historian, scientist, or scientific educator who would disagree with that statement, and I wouldn't have posted it without extensive revisions if I did.