[Aztlan] WikiProject Mesoamerica

[ECOLING at aol.com]

With apologies...

Wikipedia is co-operatively developed, 
but it is supposed to contain reliable information,
not special pleadings or spin.

Those who have an axe to grind (are pushing their pet interest)
should *not* be trying to foist that onto Wikipedia.
Doing so imposes a large burden on the community of
those with knowledge in the field, to then remove statements
which cannot be backed up with facts, and to be fair at
the same time.   

So self-restraint is far more necessary than it is for contributions
to a discussion group like Aztlan (even in its current form, moderated).
Aztlan is OK with speculation.   Wikipedia is not.

By contrast,
someone who has an overview of a realm of discussion,
who can *objectively* evaluate what has been said
without confusing mere ideas with facts
(not even if they be called "hypotheses" to make them sound more impressive)
is in a much better position to contribute usefully to Wikipedia.

Remember, the responsibility of contributors to Wikipedia
is to the worldwide community, for accuracy.

This is in no way to discourage individuals from contributing,
just urging that none of us muddy the waters with our personal fixations.   

Many individuals have reliable factual information
which it will be great to have more easily accessible.

Wikipedia is just not the place for wild fantasies or cutting-edge ideas, 
not until there is very substantial factual support available,
at which point they are usually no longer cutting-edge.
(In exceedingly rare cases, very new findings may be strongly supported
by facts.
But even in medicine, for example, the newest studies of drug effects
are often overturned because of hidden assumptions invalidating them,
assumptions which neither investigators nor analysts were aware of at first.)

I may have overstated things slightly in this message,
but the general drift of it is at least right.

Best wishes,

Lloyd Anderson
Ecological Linguistics
PO Box 15156
Washington DC 20003
ecoling at aol.com
202-547-7683



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