Wikipedia’s Green Skies

“If all historians save one say that the sky was green in 1888, our policies require that we write ‘Most historians write that the sky was green, but one says the sky was blue.’ … As individual editors, we’re not in the business of weighing claims, just reporting what reliable sources write.”

— Wikipedia editor quoted in Messer-Kruse (2012): The ‘Undue Weight’ of Truth on Wikipedia in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

You might be an expert on a subject, and you may have the facts and primary documents to back you up, but if the majority of sources (who are clearly wrong) disagree with you then the Wikipedia policy is to go with the majority.

For an openly edited encyclopedia this policy actually makes a lot of sense. Otherwise, anyone who calls themself an expert would be able to install their point of view. The downside, however, is that Wikipedia will trail current research by a significant margin.

It’s a check against the citogenesis process:

Citogenesis by xkcd.com

Food for though when tempted to Wikipedia as a reference.

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