Wikipedia's "lamest edit wars"...sez who?

Why do some people look askance at Wikis in general, and at Wikipedia, the 800-pound gorilla of the Wiki world, in particular? This project page, entitled Wikipedia: Lamest edit wars, reveals the human frailties that tend to weaken the credibility of what should be a valuable social media tool.

Free and open debate is a vital part of the search for truth, but is that what we're seeing here? When it comes to certain hot-button issues, the search for truth among the Wikipedia community (such as it is) degenerates into a welter of animosity, politicking, ego-tripping, spin-doctoring, and ad hominem arguments. Evidently, the Wikipedians who wrote this project page saw no alternative but to give up on the possibility of making any further progress toward resolving these issues. Instead, they labeled these edit wars "lame," characterized all of the participants as equally unreasonable and contemptible, and held the entire process up to ridicule.

The character flaws that give rise to such ugly disputes are, sadly, part of the human condition. All too often, they are encountered not only among independent researchers, but also among those in academia, government, and the corporate world. But it's a matter of degree. In cyberspace, without traditions or established systems in place for resolving such things in a civil manner, incivility often runs rampant under cover of anonymity, and the interaction readily devolves into a flame war.

The problem is that incivility erodes credibility. Discussion and debate have a vital place in the process of building and supporting a wiki. But honest debate has nothing to do with bullying, manipulation, or spin-doctoring. Nor is there any room for the mistaken concept that truth can be arrived at simply by putting the matter up to a vote! For the wiki to earn the respect of the public, this debate must be conducted with respect for the other participants, for the readership, and, most of all, for the truth.

Stumble It!

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It's new, it's by William A. Whittle, and it's worth reading now

If you aren't familiar with William A. Whittle and the Eject!Eject!Eject! website, you're missing one of the best writers on current trends from an historical perspective. His understanding of the issues of war and defense is spot on.

You Are Not Alone, Part 1 and Part 2 is a long article, but so thought-provoking, and, dare I say, inspiring, that it is worth dropping whatever else you are doing to take the time to read it now.

Read it, think about it for awhile, and read some of the other articles on Whittle's site. He has an intriguing, and I believe correct, comprehension of the real purpose behind, and need for, those efforts and struggles that so often seem lonely and futile.

Comments are open, both here and on Whittle's site.

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How Daily Kos members try to hide the neo-Nazism on their site

For those who have the courage to face a few uncomfortable facts, this article on littlegreenfootballs (LGF) highlights some very disturbing passages in comments posted on Daily Kos.

It is unfortunate that so many people are afraid to look at anything on LGF. The fact is that LGF is making a valid point by highlighting those passages. LGF is doing us a service by keeping this material in public view for the rest of us to evaluate.

These highlighted, and disturbing, comments reveal that the members of Kos are unconcerned about the intrinsic evil of neo-Nazism on their site. Instead, the Kos members are concerned only about hiding this evil from outside observers. By the way, if you think that these comments represent an isolated instance of anti-Semitism at Daily Kos, you would be mistaken. Anti-Semitism pervades the site. But some people at Kos want to rein in the open expression of anti-Semitism just short of the point of overt neo-Nazism, solely because of the risk of drawing unwanted attention.

It is sad that some people still dare to mislabel LGF as a "hate site" simply because LGF has the courage to confront the hatred that festers elsewhere. The bearers of this hatred obviously want to keep the rest of us unaware of their intentions...at least for the time being.

We should be grateful to LGF for revealing these people at Kos for who they are, and for showing us that Kos is a site that condones covert neo-Nazism.

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AutoVantage poll says South Florida's drivers are the rudest

For the second consecutive year, an AutoVantage poll has rated South Florida's drivers the nation's rudest. Some people dispute the findings, saying that the poll's margin for error is too high. But others say the results comport with what they see every day, ranging from ordinary discourtesy to road rage and everything in between: slamming on brakes, running traffic signals, and reading while driving (which 1389 has seen).

Evidently, there is a problem here, and surely not all of it can be blamed on out-of-town drivers with poor driving habits who are unfamiliar with the area. So what's making people so angry? Are people frustrated or misrouted because of too many road-construction blockages, too few alternative through streets, confusing or missing signage, or faulty highway design? Or is it a cultural issue? Comment here if you have any ideas!

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Digging Negativism

By Analyze

Are Diggers informative, negative, or positive? I wanted to know so I took a recently popular article with the criteria that it must have over 1,000 diggs. My goal was to analyze it using some very powerful text analysis software, SPSS for Text Analysis. I used this article:

VP Cheney, while CEO of Halliburton, was a client of the escort service...

Here's what I found: 76% of the words used in posts were negative such as impeach, criminal, burn, evil, and so forth. Only 24% used positive words such as excellent, positive, better, and so forth.

It was obvious that Diggers are a negative bunch by about 3 to 1. Many diggers could learn from the words of George Washington:

The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it.

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Why do Diggers hate so much?

By Analyze

Today's front page political news on Digg has multiple stories lambasting Bush, Cheney, Republicans, Lott, Giuliani, Rove, and any other deemed Conservative by the Digger elitist. The liberal elite who argue that Fox News is "unfair and unbalanced" are the first to throw fairness and balance out the window. But have you ever wondered why they hate so much?

Consider the comments in those posts. They speak of "murdering idiots," "Bush's daily ass f***ing," and the denigration goes on and on and on. It is an endless diatribe of insults and, yes, violence. Rarely are the posts thoughtful or supported with facts. They are just petulant.

We can find the answer in some research done by Dr. Evan R. Harrington. In his work titled, The Social Psychology of Hatred, he points us to three reason for group hatred to help explain the vitriolic language of liberal Diggers.

The first approach may be thought of as a general model of social influence...The second approach might be termed an interpersonal attitude approach, in the sense that individuals are measured in the degree to which they hold attitudes corresponding to authoritarianism and social dominance, which in turn relate to social hostility and prejudice...The third approach focuses on social cognition or the way in which humans perceive the social world in a biased manner due to limits on the brain’s information processing capacity.

Let me interpret that in laymen's terms for our liberal friends: 1) You follow like lemmings; 2) You have a bad attitude; 3) You are dumb. So now we know. How sad they have come to the point that their social status is dependent on posting some diatribe about Bush et al. that few in society will ever notice or care about. Next time you see those hate-filled posts, just understand they are sadly lost. Those liberal haters on Digg are to be pitied.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe says it best: "Hatred is something peculiar. You will always find it strongest and most violent where there is the lowest degree of culture."

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The Conservative Ghetto

By Analyze

Being a Conservative on Digg is analogous to living in the Warsaw ghettos of Nazi Germany. We have been relegated to one section of Digg (the upcoming stories) and any resistance is met with extreme counteraction.

As a regular contributor of Conservative articles to Digg, I have been repeatedly buried. I've been keeping records for weeks and average 25 "bury hits" per day. Obviously, there is a systematic and organized group who bury Conservative article. If my submissions are not being buried, Conservative comments outside the ghetto are dugg down at the speed of light. Any attempt to move articles or comment outside the ghetto is met with provocation.

If one disagrees to vehemently they are sent off to the gas chamber—banned forever. Not even their remains (i.e., comments, submits) are visible. I can't even begin to count the number of Conservative friends who have met this fate.

In studying the bury brigade, the bury rate is approximately 5-to-1. One bury is worth 5 diggs. So, for every bury one gets, subtract 5. Consider LittleGreenFootballs.com (LGF). They are the ghetto resistance. As a result, they are also hit the hardest. They will get upwards of 50 buries for ONE article. I've seen as many as 276 buries for LGF over the course of 3 hours. Truly amazing! I did a comparative study of LGF to TheDailyKOS.com (KOS) one day. It was a 70-to-1 ratio. For every 70 buries of LGF, there was 1 bury of KOS.

Maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe I should accept my ghetto status. That means we then have to accept that Conservative news will rarely, if ever, make the front pages of Digg and will, therefore, never be seen or discussed openly. Should Conservatives be the muted minority on Digg relegated to the "upcoming news" ghetto? Is that what we truly want to accept?

It is interesting that liberals are quick to espouse free speech and minority rights but when given the power, they become like Nazi Germany. Grant it, most Diggers do not bury but they also don't do anything about it. They are the vast majority of willing accomplices who accept the "rules" without thought. Power in the hands of liberals (at least at this micro level) is dangerous and oppressive. Imagine if they had power at the national level?

Maybe it is time for a ghetto uprising.

Please see the Comments section for this post.

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