Revision as of 06:36, 15 January 2021 editSaflieni (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users586 edits Adding to the problem is not helpful← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 17:42, 7 January 2025 edit undoLowercase sigmabot III (talk | contribs)Bots, Template editors2,302,381 editsm Archiving 2 discussion(s) to Misplaced Pages:No original research/Noticeboard/Archive 52) (bot | ||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Misplaced Pages:No original research/Noticeboard/Header}}{{User:MiszaBot/config | |||
|maxarchivesize = 250K | |maxarchivesize = 250K | ||
|counter = |
|counter = 52 | ||
|algo = old(28d) | |algo = old(28d) | ||
|archive = Misplaced Pages:No original research/Noticeboard/Archive %(counter)d | |archive = Misplaced Pages:No original research/Noticeboard/Archive %(counter)d | ||
}}]] |
}}]] | ||
] | |||
__TOC__ __NEWSECTIONLINK__ | |||
{{Archives |auto= short|search= yes |index= /Archive index |bot= MiszaBot |age= 28 |collapsible=yes}} | {{Archives |auto= short|search= yes |index= /Archive index |bot= MiszaBot |age= 28 |collapsible=yes}} | ||
== Potential SYNTH violation on "video games considered the best" list article == | |||
== SYNTH, NPOV == | |||
The article on ] is set up to determine "games considered the best" by "The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from different publications (inclusive of all time periods, platforms, and genres)". After a lengthy discussion on the talk page, I'm still convinced it fails ], specifically "{{gt|Do not combine material from multiple sources to state or imply a conclusion not explicitly stated by any of the sources}}" and ] ("{{gt|"Avoid original or arbitrary criteria that would synthesize a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources.}}") While I think an article on acclaimed media to be interesting and valid, I feel that the approach taken applies arbitrary criteria ("had to appear on six lists") that is not widespread among any video game academia, criticism, or even fans to make to capture the subject on hand. Thoughts? ] (]) 00:16, 9 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
] - I'm requesting input regarding what appears to me to be a classic case of noncompliance with WP:NOR (SYNTH), and WP:NPOV. I am also of the mind that if one issue is resolved, the other with possibly self-correct. I'm going to focus on a single paragraph from a rather lengthy and detailed lead in a topic area I just know all editors and admins love to edit. You can thank me later. 😎 | |||
::{{talk quote|Contrary to a ]<ref name="Blake_1/2/2018">{{cite web | last=Blake | first=Aaron | title=Republicans' Steele dossier conspiracy theory was dealt a big blow this weekend | website=] | date=January 2, 2018 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/01/02/republicans-steele-dossier-conspiracy-theory-was-dealt-a-big-blow-this-weekend/ | access-date=November 6, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Shear_Benner_Fandos_8/17/2018">{{Cite news | first1=Michael D. |last1=Shear |first2=Katie |last2=Benner |first3=Nicholas |last3=Fandos | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/us/politics/trump-conspiracy-bruce-nellie-ohr.html | title=Embracing Conspiracy Theory, Trump Escalates Attack on Bruce Ohr | date=August 17, 2018 | newspaper=] }}</ref> pushed by Trump,<ref name="Kruzel_7/23/2018">{{cite web | last=Kruzel | first=John | title=Trump falsely says Steele dossier triggered Russia probe | publisher=] | date=July 23, 2018 | url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/jul/23/donald-trump/donald-trump-falsely-says-new-carter-page-document/ | access-date=April 12, 2019}}</ref> Fox News,<ref name="Rupar_03/22/2019">{{cite web | last=Rupar | first=Aaron | title=Fox News has normalized a lie about the origins of the Russia investigation | website=] | date=March 22, 2019 | url=https://www.vox.com/2019/3/22/18277089/fox-news-steele-dossier-lie-trump-witch-hunt | access-date=March 23, 2019}}</ref> and many of Trump's congressional supporters, the dossier was not the trigger for the opening of the FBI's ] counterintelligence investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election campaign.<ref name="Mueller_March_2019">{{cite web |last=Mueller, III |first=Robert S. |date=March 2019 |title=Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election | publisher=] |url=https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf |accessdate=April 20, 2019 }}</ref><ref name="Goldman_Savage_11/22/2019">{{cite web | last1=Goldman | first1=Adam | last2=Savage | first2=Charlie | title=Russia Inquiry Review Is Said to Criticize F.B.I. but Rebuff Claims of Biased Acts | website=] | date=November 22, 2019 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/us/politics/russia-investigation-inspector-general-report.html | access-date=November 23, 2019}}</ref> It did play a central role in the seeking of ] warrants on ]<ref name="OIG_12/9/2019">{{cite web | author=Office of the Inspector General U.S. Department of Justice | date=December 9, 2019 | title=Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation | website=justice.gov | url=https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf | accessdate=December 9, 2019 | author-link=United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General }}</ref> in terms of establishing FISA's low bar<ref name="Sanchez_12/11/2019">{{cite web | last=Sanchez | first=Julian | title=The Crossfire Hurricane Report's Inconvenient Findings | publisher=] | date=December 11, 2019 | url=https://www.justsecurity.org/67691/the-crossfire-hurricane-reports-inconvenient-findings/ | access-date=December 23, 2019}}</ref> for ].<ref name="Herridge_Hymes_Segers_Quinn_12/9/2019">{{cite web | last=Herridge | first=Catherine | last2=Hymes | first2=Clare | last3=Segers | first3=Grace | last4=Quinn | first4=Melissa | title=Justice Department watchdog releases report on origins of Russia investigation | publisher=] | date=December 9, 2019 | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ig-report-release-justice-department-watchdog-report-origins-russia-investigation-today-2019-12-09-live-updates/ | access-date=December 10, 2019}}</ref>}} | |||
:There's certainly an argument that it's combining different claims in a way that's ] to create a "definitive" list. There's also an argument that all of those sources support "greatest" as required by ] and we're just requiring it to be heavily supported and represent the consensus among sources as required by ]. Either way, this has repeatedly been brought up and settled. This isn't the answer you want to hear, but at a certain point ] that most of the community feels the latter argument is stronger. If you're looking to fight OR, there are plenty of easier targets to sink your teeth into. ] (]) 00:58, 9 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
I realize we can state several facts in a single sentence citing different sources as long as we don't ''reach or imply a conclusion not explicitly stated by any of the sources''; however, the various sources that were cited in that paragraph were used to not only form an absolute conclusion but to justify stating it in WikiVoice, which is not only SYNTH, it is noncompliant with NPOV. | |||
::I have no argument that this is a way to get some information to define "greatness". The issue is only applying a self-imposed rule that states "The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists" which does not seem congruent with ]'s "{{gt|Avoid original or arbitrary criteria}} that would synthesize a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources.". The bigger issue is I do not understand how including only six items is acceptable with the "avoid original or arbitrary criteria". So I appreciate you chiming in {{ping|Thebiguglyalien}}, but your response does not address the problem I'm trying to bring up. ] (]) 20:05, 9 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
::: Are you interpreting the phrase "a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources" to mean "reliable sources have to have described/written about standards for evaluating whether something belongs on a particular list". If so, in this case, that would require RSes to have written about why, how, or that people use being on six separate "all time best" lists to determine whether a video game is considered to belong on a "considered the best" list. I'm spelling this out because I'm not 100% sure myself how to interpret what "plainly verifiable in reliable sources" means as applied to this situation -- or what you think it means or how you are interpreting it.] (]) 03:08, 10 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
::::I'm totally aware I may be misinterpreting it. The content in the sources is definitely the items listed. But, there is no standard in any source to apply that we be a numeric ranking and I'm not sure that applying a rule that only selects a small amount of items is not applying "arbitrary criteria" as it makes us pick and choose what from the sources is valid and what is not. I apologize if any of this comes off as antagonistic, but I'm trying to clarify this {{ping|Novellasyes}}. If I'm misinterpreting, I think I might understand by an example of how this does not apply. ] (]) 06:29, 10 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
::::: I don't fully understand exactly what the phrase "a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources" means and that's why I asked, and tried to express one possible interpretation of it. I wasn't trying to suggest that you don't understand it. ] (]) 13:17, 10 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::::::::Fair. Sorry misunderstood. Hopefully some others can chime in. ] (]) 13:53, 10 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
{{outdent|:::::::::}} | |||
My understanding of this list's approach is basically as follows: A game is theoretically eligible for inclusion on Misplaced Pages's list if a reliable source lists it as among the best or greatest games of all time. However, there are two drawbacks to including every game that has appeared even once on such a list: (1) it may be ] to describe a game as "considered the best" if only one source from a large pool of options does so, and (2) the Misplaced Pages list would rapidly balloon to an impractical ] if so many games were included. Thus, it seems like sensible practice to forestall those drawbacks by establishing a higher threshold than "appears at least once". To the best of my knowledge, reliable sources don't do "meta-analysis" of best-games lists that we could use to source "games must appear on X number of lists"—but we still need to choose ''some'' number to be the boundary, and so six seems as good as any. (As to whether it's SYNTH to set a higher threshold in the first place, I would say not. When it comes to the reception of media, there's plenty of precedent that it's acceptable to attribute an opinion to critics in the aggregate if references are supplied to show that several critics have expressed that view, and this list's threshold seems to extend from that same practice.) ] (] • ]) 16:32, 11 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:Thank you for your response {{ping|ModernDayTrilobite}}. Would it not be more appropriate to follow ] (specifically {{gt|Long stand-alone list articles are split into subsequent pages alphabetically, numerically, or subtopically.}} to cover the latter issue? While I understand your point of view on six, more lists like this will be published, and I feel like adjusting the number to keep a list to be a balanced scale still becomes "iffy" at least per SYNTH rules, but if we separated the list out. I see you linked to some specific rules, but if you could quote which ones you are referring to, it would help me understand where you are coming from a bit more. ] (]) 17:53, 11 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
The CBS News report that was cited for "probable cause" in the last sentence of the above paragraph also states: {{xt|"However, the Horowitz report is not the final word on the origins of the investigation. U.S. Attorney John Durham is leading a separate review of the FBI's investigation, and after Horowitz released his findings, Durham also questioned the conclusions."}} There is no mention of this important fact. It is also a known fact that the IG is limited in both scope and reach outside the department which the IG report and Horowitz himself admitted - again, no mention. Durham's probe is a criminal investigation, and it includes information from outside the Justice Department, to include testimony from witnesses outside the US. There is also the published by PBS News Hour that corroborates the information, and like the CBS report, is neutral and presents all relevant sides, which is what WP articles are supposed to do. | |||
::How would this not just recreate the issue on a greater number of pages? If we split the list into subpages, WP:DUE would still apply, and would still likely create situations where, to determine what is due weight, editors require a game to be featured by "multiple" sources. Let's say multiple is taken to mean three--you've recreated the exact same arbitrary standard, according to you, just at a different place. I don't quite understand your sentence {{tqq|While I understand your point of view on six, more lists like this will be published, and I feel like adjusting the number to keep a list to be a balanced scale still becomes "iffy" at least per SYNTH rules, but if we separated the list out.}} Were you missing a final clause after "but if we separated the list out"? But yes, by and large, I think you need to take this six sources requirement as a requirement per DUE, not a violation of SYNTH. ] ''(]·])'' 18:12, 11 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
{{sources-talk}} | |||
:::I mean, its a rule we are supposed to follow regardless of how it effects another rule for one. Second, to address ], i'd propose simply listing numerically the amount of lists found. This would give a reader a clearer point of view of how the game stands within publications. Currently, the list also features excessive data such game genre, publishers and "original system" which do not appear to be some sources regardless. ] (]) 18:17, 11 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
<!-- add comments below the source template, please --> | |||
::::Well, I guess the other editors involved don't believe it violates a rule then. Or at minimum, we are trusting our readers to understand that we aren't saying "only when a game is called 'the best' by six separate publications does it then become Objectively True that the game is the best of all time". Your second point does not actually solve the issue of whether or not we include a game ''at all'' if, say, it has only been called "the best" by a single publication. I would argue that given the amount of sourcing we have on this issue, it is a clear violation of DUE weight to include, say, '']'' equal on a list to ''Ocarina of Time'' just because it was put on by Gamespot. Is that inclusion verifiable? Yes. Does that inclusion accurately represent the breadth of sourcing and discussion about either ''California Games'' itself or the general list of games considered the greatest ever? Clearly no. (Of course, according to the ''CG'' article it made it onto another list in 1996, but that opens up another can of worms about DUE--how should we value inclusion on a single list in 1996? Does that accurately represent the breadth of sourcing and discussion about ''California Games's'' legacy or the modern understanding of games considered the greatest ever? Again, I'd argue clearly no.) Based on these points about DUE, it seems that you ''have'' to increase the standard for sourcing, and that overwhelmingly outweighs some soft SYNTH concerns. ] ''(]·])'' 20:33, 11 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
#Is it SYNTH? | |||
:::::Yes sorry, I'm not saying any of my ideas are necessarily the way to go, I'm just spit balling. Trying to define greatness from appearing on an amount of lists is also problematic for the reasons you stated {{ping|Alyo}}. While I also have faith that readers can read the instructions, this would read like an article called List of horses then suddenly says within the lead its only a list of war horses because of list of horses would be too long or we couldn't apply weight for some breeds of horses over others. | |||
#Is it compliant with NPOV? <!-- Template:Unsigned --><small class="autosigned">— Preceding ] comment added by ] (] • ]) 18:19, January 12, 2020 (UTC)</small> | |||
:::::That said, with horses, there are scientific standards you can apply, which is why the horse list is | |||
===Discussion=== | |||
:::::The issue with our list here as you said, it multifold. Perhaps the no original research board is the wrong place to discuss this, The problem with making the lists rules more "strict" for weight can be expanded on similarly as does for film. They note that best-of lists, with various rules applied to them "negate the function of serious film reviewing and criticism" and that a best of poll describes nothing more than "the best American commercial narrative films viewed by 20 critics who seem primarily familiar with American commercial narrative films." This can be seen on the lists that applied various limiting rules. | |||
:::::''The Age'' says their list is based on " while GameSpot in 2000 included such games () The claim of it coming from the editorial staff is also faulty, as says their list is solicited opinions from game developers and "selected expert gamers". IGN said . Applying all of these as a balanced choice is misleading to audience when we just say "critics listed these as great" when we are not open that some games just are not applicable on terms that lists are static, and obviously become outdated, or even a contemporary one can't see the future. | |||
:::::With the above suggestion, while I see that it might be a good idea to make a stricter list to follow weight, I can't imagine anything that would make most people say that works because by definition, all the lists are talking about different things. Whether they apply unique rules, or are instantly dated to the static nature of magazines or years of lists. I'm not sure anything would satisfy it. ] (]) 23:47, 11 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
::::::Hmm, I think your horse example is a little flawed, because there's no bait-and-switch happening with the substance of this article. The video games on the list aren't called "the greatest" because they've reached an abstract standard on wikipedia. They're called "the greatest" because ''a source'' called them the greatest. This is exactly what the title of the article promises--we aren't presenting ''different'' content from what the title suggests, only a pared down version of the universe of possible options. The proper analogy is to ], which contains a list of leading Thoroughbred racehorses, but not ''all'' leading Thoroughbred racehorses. The undefeated horses section: "]" The ] arbitrarily stops around 60. The ] section says "The horses who were defeated but had ten or more consecutive race wins include..." ] only includes those above 10, probably just because humans are biased towards powers of ten. Every section in that article has a cut off point, and that cut off point was made by editors, not sources. No source said "only horses with 60 wins get to be considered a leading Thoroughbred", and so editors have substituted their best judgement while basing the substance of the article on the general idea that "most wins" is a valid metric for determining a "leading" racehorse. I see the same thing happening here: the topic is notable, individual entries exist under the topic, and the entries are suitably sourced. Editors just need to determine a cut off point--that isn't SYNTH. Last point: {{tqq|Applying all of these as a balanced choice is misleading to audience...}} may be true about the list, but ''the list is verifiable'', and our requirement is ]. If we tried to use our judgment to counter balance, as you point out yourself, that creates far more SYNTH/OR than we started with. The list may not ever be perfect, but the topic is notable and a consensus has been established that this is the way to cover it. ] ''(]·])'' 02:12, 12 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::::::You see, the Horse thing is a lot more "measurable". Its a sport, you get wins that are very basic measurable metric. I don't know about this subject, but its possible that its common to acknowledge ones that get a certain amount of wins in a season. Regardless, "wins" make more sense to count than something like best. | |||
:::::::Describing a creative work like a video game is not so simple. As you'll notice in those lists as well, they don't have a list of horses "voted the best" is not something a serious critic measures. For example, these quotes apply to film and music, but I feel like they are similar creative mediums we can compare. For example, this (about film to clarify) states best of lists "{{gt|negate the function of serious film reviewing and criticism}}" and that these lists "{{gt|"ignore major bodies of work which the critics are either unfamiliar with or are not interested in."}} While this interview with a few critics on ''NPR'' states lists are interesting to compare, they echo the statement about them having no real "weight" in artistic merit. They state that "when you're ranking things, that kind of adds another layer of, like, taking away from the art itself and trying to assign a specific meaning to this art that is hard to codify because it's art." or "We're often more kind of approaching these things anecdotally, talking about the stuff that really, really matters to us instead of kind of trying to collect a consensus around ranking the best." and "{{gt|how do you measure something that may be aesthetically grandiose in some ways versus something that's quieter and, like, try to put those up against each other? It's like - it's really hard, and it doesn't really make sense.}}" Gaming journalists echo the level of seriousness we should be taking to imply "best" for "best of lists". Hardcore Gaming 101 and Gaming Trends echoes this, stating "" and "{{gt|Nowadays “top X” articles on the internet tend to be seen as clickbait, hastily assembled list determined by some quick democratic polling of staff. the lists tend to be rather insular, usually based on whatever publication or forum assembled them}}" Similarly, HG101 also states their list starts with staffs favourites, and was built from there. The very fact we ignore the criticism on the validity of these lists to be simply taking that "they are the best" its impractical to use them as a form of measurement in terms of quality. | |||
:::::::So as you said Verifiabilty, not truth, True but we also have ] which states "{{gt|Criteria for inclusion should factor in encyclopedic and topical relevance, not just verifiable existence.}}" In this case, yes, these games do appear on "best of" lists, no question. But from the above quotations, is combining them, or even using them explicitly a serious and good way to calculate "best"? | |||
:::::::While I think its interesting to see lists on a unique topic, like, ''Super Mario 64'' "ahh, so the writers of the American company ] and the Japanese critics in ] or British magazine ''Empire'' all voted this game" but from the writing above, it seems to be implying that "if you take the list at face value, you are missing the point" as its a poor way to measure quality in terms of reach of what video games will reach different editors (''IGN'' will write more about popular video games (HG101 writer saying {{gt|"Rock Paper Shotgun, for example, has top 25/50 lists for many genres, but focuses only on games released on the PC. So reading about “best horror” games seems really strange when you’re omitting huge swathes of them, especially Japanese developed games. Similarly, computer RPGs and Japanese RPGs have such different fanbases that they’re almost entirely different genres, so there’s rarely any crossover on “best RPG” lists. IGN and other mainstream sites tend to focus on newer releases at the expense of gaming’s history."}} Not to mention, IGN has published 7 best of lists, and they are all currently used in the article. I think from the above, we can't make serious gamut for measuring or gauging some canon or critical consensus. | |||
:::::::Oh god I wrote an essay, I apologize {{ping|Alyo}}, but I think we're both making good points here and getting somewhere. ] (]) 03:46, 12 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
::::::::Haha no worries at all, it's an interesting topic. I don't have much more to add, because as I flagged above, I think your interpretation here isn't widely held and hypothetical discussions can only go so far without actionable steps. The only place I really disagree with you is in the framing of your sentence, {{tqq|But from the above quotations, is combining them, or even using them explicitly a serious and good way to calculate "best"?}} I don't think that we are calculating "best" by combining sources. I think we are ''summarizing'' the topic of "best games" by listing games that sources have explicitly called "the best". The combination of sources doesn't change the verifiability of sources making that claim. I can completely agree with broad critiques of "best of" lists as they appear in reliable sources, but the end result for our purposes is a valid source that calls something "the best". That's the WP:Verifiability, not truth point--saying "X is a GOAT game" is verifiable, even if you agree with critiques that make that statement not objectively "true". You say {{tqq|The very fact we ignore the criticism on the validity of these lists ... its impractical to use them as a form of measurement in terms of quality}}, but that issue is already presumed/accepted under WP's groundrules. Again, WP:Verifiability, not truth. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Don't think of this article topic as "Games that objectively ''are'' the best of all time". Imagine that the article is actually titled "Games that a certain subset of sources have subjectively described as the best of all time, using different metrics and criteria and with different backgrounds and expertise". Under WP's rules, that's what the article should be including, it's just a lot less pithy. ] ''(]·])'' 05:15, 12 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::::::::Would ] come into play? I feel like "People who read Misplaced Pages have different backgrounds, education and opinions. Make your article accessible and understandable for as many readers as possible." Because I think if we can state information from the sources below within the context of the list, it might help clarify issues. As the lists often discuss their own issues of "Best of" lists, I think this would ease any tensions editors or readers might have with the relatively flat opening. ] (]) 14:09, 12 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
{{outdent|:::::::::}} | |||
Your question about whether to adjust the lede section of the article is a good question to take to the article's talk page. For what it's worth, the lede in my view does a poor job explaining what a reader is going to find in the list itself.] (]) 15:55, 12 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:Second^. I'm not sure that I would integrate commentary into the list itself, but the lead could certainly be expanded. ] ''(]·])'' 17:59, 12 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
== ] == | |||
::No, definitely not into the list itself. Just in the lead or some subsection if necessary. ] (]) 06:33, 13 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
In a discussion on this page, an editor apparently doesn't understand what ] and ] mean. | |||
== Use of rabbinic law literature in article on a Jewish ritual == | |||
The issue at hand is the birthdate of Otto Hitler, a sibling of Adolf Hitler who lived for only a few days after birth. Numerous reliable sources (], ], and ], for instance, give the year 1887 as the date of birth. In 2016, a headmaster in that area of Austria, who has an interest in local history but no credentials as an historian, was said to have found a birth certificate which shows a birth date of 17 June 1892, after, rather than before, Adolf Hitler's birth. | |||
I'm doing a GA review of the article on ], a Jewish ritual that has relatively little coverage in secondary journalistic or academic sources. | |||
The "discovery" was reported in a local regional newspaper, and the story was picked up by Reuters. However, no other news sources have repeated the story, and there are no scholarly papers which discuss the new date or the provenance or legitimacy of the document. (The links to all these are available in the discussion on the talk page.) In other words, to my knowledge, there are no reliable sources which support this new birth date. | |||
The article had relied largely on '''rabbinic law sources''', including standard codes of religious law. These are primary sources. Nonetheless, much of the usage might meet ], such as: reputably published, used for statements of fact, not interpreting the facts, not the basis for the entire article. Many of these sources are in Hebrew and not available in translation afaik. | |||
Several editors have attempted to insert the new date in the article. I have explained -- numerous times -- that as of the moment, the "fact" has not been validated by subject experts, and there is no known consensus among them that the new birth date is correct. Until we have that consensus, through published reliable sources, we cannot add that formation or change the birth date. | |||
As a significant improvement, the article now makes extensive use of an article in the '''] (ET)''' -- about 25 citations. While the ET assumes an Orthodox Jewish standpoint, it is a highly regarded secondary source and aims to present a variety of (Orthodox) views. The ET is also in Hebrew (afaik there's an English translation but I don't have access). | |||
I have asked -- again, numerous times -- for any reliable sources which support the supposed change of birth date. Finally, one editor posted a long comment, the nub of which was if you look at so-and-so document than it will show you -- if interpreted in such a way -- the new date. I have tried to explain that this is original research, and that not only are we, as Misplaced Pages editors, not qualified to interpret a document that we can see by way of a digital scan, but we are not '''''allowed''''' to do so. | |||
Questions: | |||
The editor does not accept either contention, that we need reliable sources from experts to confirm the new date,or that we are not allowed to evaluate documents on our own. | |||
# Are there any WP:RS objections to using '''Encyclopedia Talmudit''' extensively in this article? (There are sufficient other sources for notability, etc.) | |||
# Is it acceptable to use '''rabbinic law sources''', as long as the WP:PRIMARY conditions (above) are fulfilled? | |||
# Is it acceptable to use '''multiple citations''' for specific sentences, so the reader can see both the ET article as well as the specific rabbinic sources that the ET mentions? (I think this will be helpful to many readers.) | |||
Here's a question that's not about WP:RS, but related: For the rabbinic law sources, may Misplaced Pages citations rely on the standard format? Even in many academic texts, the citations do not mention the specific publisher or (re-)publication date of rabbinic sources. | |||
I'm filing this because, in an attempt to perhaps alleviate the dispute, I added a footnote to the article recounting, with sources, the story of the "discovery" and the limited reporting of it. The editor -- although unwilling to accept that their interpreting a document is original research -- appears to think that my footnote is original research, although everything in it is supported by citations to reliable sources. It's likely that they will be heading this way to file a complaint, and I thought it would be better to explain the underlying circumstance before they did, because I have no faith in their willingness to do so fairly, so strongly do they believe in the validity of the new birth date. ] (]) 06:44, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
Thanks for your consideration and responsiveness. ] (]) 20:57, 12 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:*It's a tiny more complicated than that, but basically you are correct. The editor claims that the new date is accepted by a new biography of Hitler by an Austrian historian, which is in German. The problem is that many more existing reliable sources accept the established date, so there is no consensus of subject experts who accept the new date. The only other sources I could find were the single Reuters report -- which, in this context -- cannot really be called a reliable source, as it's all written in the "it's been reported that" voice, not in Reuter's voice, and it clearly relies on the report in the local Austrian regional newspaper. The Reuters story has absolutely no detail.{{pb}} In their edits to the article and , the editor claims that the information is "well sourced", but their references are to the Reuters report, the document itself, and to the German-language biography I mentioned above. This is not "well-sourced", and it's certainly not sufficient to overcome the existing corpus of reliably sourced information supporting the earlier date. ] (]) 08:12, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
::*I see. Well, Reuters and primary source documents are off the table when we have secondary academic sources. In the disputed edits I'm not see a reference to this new biography. What is it - can we have a reference? ] (]) 08:18, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
::::::*I don't think that the book in question is an "academic source", considering that one of the authors "is an exhibition curator, an advisor for radio broadcasts and TV documentaries and directs scientific research projects. He also teaches at the Department of Contemporary History of the University of Vienna", while the other is " is an Austrian author, cultural scientist and exhibition curator" who studied "theater, media, and art history". These hardly seem like the credentials of a subject experts on either Hitler, Austrian and German history of that period, or documents from that era. Cf. ], who "is an English historian whose work has chiefly focused on the social history of 20th-century Germany. He is regarded by many as one of the world's leading experts on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, and is particularly noted for his biographies of Hitler." Indeed, even the author of the most recent two-volume biography of Hitler, ], wrote in it that Kershaw's 2-volume biography is likely to remain the definitive biography of Hitler for many years to come.{{pb}}When the new date is accepted by people like Kershaw, Ullrich, ] and the like, when there is a consensus about the date and not simply a single outlier book, '''''then''''' I have absolutley no objection to the article being changed. I have no personal attachment to any theory about what Otto Hitler's date of birth was. ] (]) 08:35, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
::::::::Hannes Leidinger is a full historical scholar with ]. You can hardly deny his competence by listing what ''else'' he is, neither because he works with a co-author. --] (]) 09:16, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
:::::::::There's absolutely no indication that he has any expertise in '''''this particular subject area''''', unless you would like to provide some. Anyone can write a book about Hitler -- and many, many have -- but whether the book can be taken seriously or not, or relied on, is a matter of who wrote it and what their qualifications are. These two authors do not seem to have any credentials which qualify them to write about Hitler as '''''experts'''''. Nor do they have -- it appears -- any training in determining the validity and provenance of documents. They must have relied on some other source -- it's unfortunate that the Google books except doesn't include footnote 3, which would presumably have shown what the source of their information was. If it was -- as you attempted to do in the discussion on the article talk page -- simply their looking at the supposed newly discovered document, then the books is completely useless as a source for that information, because just as they don't appear to be experts on Hitler, they '''''certainly''''' aren't experts on validating historical documents.{{pb}}Again, I remind everyone about the history of the ], which were authenticated by ], who then changed his mind, and forensics determined that they were fakes. Nothing like that has been done to this new document -- at least as far as we know, because nothing whatsoever has been reported about them after the initial Reuters report. We simply '''''do not know''''' if they're real, or fake, or don't actually show the information they're supposed to or what, '''''because there are no reliable sources to go by''''', and your personal interpretation of the document (or rather a scan of the document) is as close to the ur-definition of OR as it's possible to get.{{pb}}Frankly, the fact that you're still fighting to get the new date in the article is astounding to me, given the many ways that it just doesn't satisfy our requirements -- and that's something you seem to be unable to understand. ] (]) 09:33, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
:::*Sure, the cite he provided was to on Google Books. ] (]) 08:23, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
:::*(edit conflict) Here it is: {{Google books|FTDSDwAAQBAJ|Hitler - prägende Jahre: Kindheit und Jugend 1889-1914|pg=PT10|text=Otto Hitler}} by Austrian historic scholar ]. --] (]) 08:25, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
::::*The authors of the book are and ]. ] (]) 08:29, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
::::::Very well. --] (]) 08:33, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
*'''<small>Neutral pointers to this discussion have been placed on the talk pages of these WikiProjects: Biography, Austria, Germany. ] (]) 08:15, 13 December 2020 (UTC)</small>''' | |||
*'''<small>A pointer to this discussion has been placed on the Reliable Sources Noticeboard.] (]) 08:15, 13 December 2020 (UTC)</small>''' | |||
*'''<small>Note: The <u>current</u> version of the article with the thread starter's insertion ], which has provoked escalation of the conflict beyond the talk page, is discussed at ]. --] (]) 08:51, 13 December 2020 (UTC)</small>''' | |||
For context: The filing here is Beyond My Ken's <s>reaction</s> <small>(see explanation below)</small> to mine on ], motivated by his highly unneutral and OR-based insertion ] and his about keeping it in this specific POV version. Without those actions, '''no filing anywhere would have been necessary''' and continuation on the talk page would have been possible. --] (]) 08:32, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
:Ah, check the time stamps, please. I filed my report at "06:44, 13 December 2020 (UTC)", and you filed yours at "07:35, 13 December 2020 (UTC)" Please strike out your incorrect contention above.{{pb}} | |||
:It's ridiculous to say that discussion on the talk age could have continued, since you do not appear to understand how OR and RS work, even though they they were explained to you many times. You '''''cannot''''' interpret the document, that's OR, and you '''''must''''' provide reliable sources to show a consensus of subject experts to support your preferred birth date. Without that, the information is ]. The footnote was an attempt to show that there was something of a controversy about the birth date, but that there were no reliable sources to support it, and that's what it did. Every fact was supported by a source: that the "discoverer" is a headmaster, that he has an interest in history but no credentials as an historian, that there is nothing on Google Scholar showing any research into the new date -- all sourced. You don't like it, because it contradicts your '''''personal belief''''' that the new date is factual, and therefore I must be operating out of a non-neutral point of view, so you file a complaint at NPOVN, but I have no point of view about Otto's birthdate, except that if we report a date, it needs to not violate basic policies like OR and RS. My only "pont of view" is that '''''we must follow basic Wikpedia policies, or the whole project comes crashing down around us'''''. ] (]) 08:50, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
::OK. The timeflow was: You pointed me to ] yesterday night. This morning I announced to report your current version of the article on the talk page there. I had to make myself familiar with the rules here and in other places and to do real-life stuff in between. Until I had made up my mind to file a report in ], ompleted at 7:50, you had taken my announcement into your own hands and created the section above at 6:44. Ok, I had missed that, my bad. Still this does not mean your current version is not to be discussed. --] (]) 09:04, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
Citing the policy of ]: | |||
:''"Unless restricted by another policy, primary sources that have been reputably published '''may be used in Misplaced Pages''', but only with care, because it is easy to misuse them. Any interpretation of primary source material requires a reliable secondary source for that interpretation. A primary source may be used on Misplaced Pages only to make straightforward, descriptive statements of facts that can be verified by any educated person with access to the primary source but without further, specialized knowledge. For example, an article about a novel may cite passages to describe the plot, but any interpretation needs a secondary source."'' | |||
:There is somewhere an essay or policy called WP:RELIGIOUSTEXT. I don't remember actually what it's called. (That's a redlink). But I'd say ET looks reliable and good to use, as long as you keep it in mind that it's an Orthodox source so it shouldn't be used to write about secular topics or, may be biased when it comes to Orthodox views of secularism or other opinions that might be stated as fact from an Orthodox POV. But bottom line should be reliable for facts that aren't controversial or political, and for analysis that goes beyond that of a primary source as long as caution is used for potential biases. ''']'''<span style="border:2px solid #073642;background:rgb(255,156,0);background:linear-gradient(90deg, rgba(255,156,0,1) 0%, rgba(147,0,255,1) 45%, rgba(4,123,134,1) 87%);">]</span> 21:04, 12 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
I think that the extraction of the baptismal register I gave in ] is well within that rule, as it is for a "straightforward, descriptive statements of facts that can be verified by any educated person with access to the primary source but without further, specialized knowledge" - only with spending few more seconds than just e.g. reading a single sentence. | |||
::Thanks. So far I've found: ]. Not finding an essay or policy (though I vaguely remember one from long ago). Sounds like you answered my Q1 with support for ET use, which means the page can avoid this template. Any thoughts about q #3? ] (]) 21:19, 12 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
] | |||
:::I agree that ]ing or adding multiple cites to support the analysis with the primary source is a good idea. ''']'''<span style="border:2px solid #073642;background:rgb(255,156,0);background:linear-gradient(90deg, rgba(255,156,0,1) 0%, rgba(147,0,255,1) 45%, rgba(4,123,134,1) 87%);">]</span> 21:23, 12 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
Anyway primary source is even much easier: It's the newspaper ], 25 June 1892, hosted by the ]. In the mid column, you find: | |||
::], perhaps? Or ]? ] (]) 08:38, 13 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::Thanks for those links, @], but these rabbinic law sources are not scripture, so thankfully they've much less interpretive range and they're much easier to paraphrase factually. At this point, most key points based on such primary sources are backed up by ''Encyclopedia Talmudit''. It's true the article depends heavily on Hebrew sources, but that's allowable. I will do a spot check, for GA review, and there are many other Hebrew-reading editors who can correct mistakes, as with any WP article. // Belated @] ping. ] (]) 14:45, 13 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
PS: This is also cited in the mentioned above - so not just by me. --] (]) 13:11, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
== Edits to “Game Science” == | |||
In this case, is it not possible to include the traditionally accepted date in wikivoice but explain that the second date was claimed by the local headmaster based on the Reuters reference and the new book by the German historian?] (]) 20:58, 9 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:The local headmaster is not a subject expert, and the Reuters story is simply reporting his supposed findings. The book is not written by subject experts, and not published by a house known to have the error checking and correcting necessary for reliability. Due to this, there is no reliable source to support the supposed "new" date. ] (]) 07:19, 10 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::I respectfully disagree, a published book is sufficient to establish the existence of a theory, and satisfies notability, assuming it is not self-published. It's not enough to state it as a fact in wikipedia's voice, but it is enough to include it as information, if a user wants to do so. ] (]) 07:36, 10 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::Sorry, that is not the case. Please read ]. Not all books are created equal, and a book written by two non-experts is not a reliable source for historical question. The information is already in the article in a footnote, and that is sufficient. ] (]) 09:02, 10 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::::I've checked out the author, Hannes Leidinger, he's a professor of history who specialises in the period to which the book refers. The publishing house, Residenz Verlag, is respectable and has been in existence since 1956. It's RS, I'm afraid. Like I said, we can't wikivoice it, but inclusion in the article is merited. ] (]) 10:19, 10 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::::::Sorry, your facts are incorrect. I'm not going to repeat what already been discussed to death. Not RS. ] (]) 19:02, 10 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::::::I apologise, I am taking my information from the German wikipedia pages, perhaps you could clarify. Is it not the case that Leidinger is a professional academic historian specialising in the early 20th century? Is Residenz Verlag not a respectable publishing house? If both of these things are true then his book is clearly a reliable source. ] (]) 19:53, 10 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
Discussion regarding ] has grown into an intense deadlock where the other editor insists that I have not read their arguments. I would appreciate your comment at ]. ] (]) 18:50, 13 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
== Repressed memories== | |||
Everything I wrote was substantiated by the article from MedHealthDaily.com. There are many many other articles and publications that firmly, and are from emperically based studies. The ENTRY is OUTDATED. So INACCURATE. | |||
#Forget Me Not: The Persistent Myth of Repressed Memories ... | |||
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/women-who-stray/ ...Oct 2019 | |||
== Jackal (character) == | |||
The article ] seems to consist almost entirely of OR. As of the {{oldid2|1263622722|most recent edit as I'm writing this}}, of the 10 references, 8 are to the original text, 1 is to an article about the movie, and only 1 article actually has any coverage of the character separate from the film/book (though even there it's not even the primary topic). I considered nominating it for deletion, but I paused as the article has existed since 2006. It's hard to differentiate coverage of the character from the film so I'm not sure what the relevant guidelines here would be and would appreciate any advice on how to proceed. This is purely speculative, but it's also possible that there may be some COI editing from the TV network given there is a new series out now about this character. {{oldid2|1263534172|An edit}} I made removing some content that was unsourced and pure OR speculation about the character {{oldid2|1263602067|was reverted}} by an IP with zero edits before that, which came across as very odd to me and reminiscent of confirmed cases of COI editing from studios I've seen previously on other film/TV articles. ] (] • ]) 19:05, 17 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
#Three Myths about Repressed Memories - Beating Trauma | |||
beatingtrauma.com/2019/02/27/three-myths-about... | |||
There is no such thing as repressed memories, so any recovered memories must be false. This is the most blatant myth. And it goes against everything we currently understand about trauma and dissociation. | |||
If a repressed memory is wrong, it could get the victim in big trouble. This myth is based on the threats so many of us received as children. As a young child, I was already aware of False Memory Syndrome and defamation of character. | |||
People who are recovering memories are looking for attention. This myth often started with the invalidation from our childhood too. We learned that the truth was attention seeking so we needed to follow the script and protect the mask. | |||
: There's a guideline for writing about novel plots: ]. I interpret that section to allow Wikipedians to forthrightly describe/state the plot of a novel without citing that out to external sources (other than the novel itself). In other words, it's not considered to be ] to do that. But you have to do it well (as described in that section). The plot summary in the ] could use improvement (and a lot of shortening) but that's a separate issue from whether it is ]. My two cents. ] (]) 22:19, 17 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:It definitely shouldn't be written like this, but there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of articles with sourcing this bad. If OR is removed, then it's the responsibility of the person restoring it to provide a reliable source with it, so you're in the right to challenge their restoration. ] (]) 23:14, 17 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:Plot summaries are meant to be concise, at the moment this is anything but concise. -- <small>LCU</small> ''']''' <small>''«]» °]°''</small> 14:01, 26 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
== SYNTH-edits at Team Seas == | |||
#§The repressed memory concept came into wider public awareness in the 1980s and 1990s followed by a reduction of public attention after a series of scandals, lawsuits, and license revocations. A U.S. District Court accepted repressed memories as admissible evidence in a specific cases. <!-- Template:Unsigned --><span class="autosigned" style="font-size:85%;">— Preceding ] comment added by ] (] • ]) 14:48, December 13, 2020 (UTC)</span> | |||
:First off, you need to tell us what article you're talking about. Second, don't all caps, it's like shouting. — <b>]:<sup>]</sup></b> 21:27, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
::{{reply to|RespressedMemory}}, it is much more helpful to use short, descriptive section titles, not an argument. The only thing I can find that you have edited is ] which is ]. Specifically, Misplaced Pages is ] nor is it for ]. If you want to make suggestions to how the ] article is written, then please click ] and express in concise terms what you think is incorrect and what you think the correct text should be. Remember to present sources that back up your preferred text. I hope that helps. [[User:Eggishorn|<span style="background-color: | |||
#FF7400; color: | |||
#FFFFFF;">Eggishorn</span>]] ] ] 21:42, 13 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
There's an ongoing thread ] on a contested edit to the article. The in question adds the reported amount of marine debris that enters the ocean from a 2015 study (years before Team Seas), and writes out the connection that {{tq|This means that during the entire duration of the fundraiser, at least approximately 18,562,500,000 pounds (8,419,808,368 kg) of debris had entered the ocean (or about 61,875% more than what the fundraiser ended up removing).}} There is clear consensus of a ] violation, as it's inferring a conclusion not explicitly mentioned by the source (that the fundraiser is futile in the grand scheme of things). However, the owning editor has repeatedly argued against the consensus that the others have not adequately shown that it falls under SYNTH, and is assuming bad-faith, stating others are ] any true discussion or being dishonest. Would someone mind reviewing the thread and giving their input? --] (]) 22:28, 27 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
== Regensburg lecture == | |||
:See also ] ] (]) 22:36, 27 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
Requesting attention @ ] | |||
:: Clearly SYNTH; also ] by this point. I've left ], which I hope will help resolve the situation. ] (]) 07:04, 29 December 2024 (UTC) {{nacc}} | |||
:::When challenged provide a direct quote from the source that supports the (amended) proposed edit, it was dismissed with "" They have completely failed to comply with verifiability policy. The discussion has gone endlessly with multiple editors it's SYNTH and the editor responding "I disagree" with increasing patronization. As shown with the above linked ANI, the editor will not ] on their own accord, so would another party kindly review and potentially close the thread? ] (]) 03:56, 30 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
== ] == | |||
Thanks ] (]) 09:15, 21 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
Curious to hear opinions about this from editors who are more versed in what "synthesis" is and isn't on Misplaced Pages. I thought I knew but reading ] from top to bottom I'm not sure anymore. More details on article talk page.] (]) 11:09, 7 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
== Irreversible Damage == | |||
== Excessive out-of-scope information and SYN on Esperance articles re traditional ownership == | |||
Hello. I suspect that there is some OR, and possibly synthesis, in ''].'' Particularly, there seems to be OR in the last sentence in the lead section, which is also repeated in the summary section: | |||
{{tq|"The book has been controversial for its views on transgender identity and its support of the unproven hypothesis of rapid onset gender dysphoria."}} | |||
Editors are invited to comment at {{section link|WT:WA|Excessive out-of-scope information and SYN on Esperance articles re traditional ownership}} on item (2) as to whether the statement that "Merivale are on the traditional land of the Njunga" is synthesis. ] (]) 12:49, 7 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
The two sources for this statement include: | |||
* | |||
* | |||
The sources don't seem to be directly evaluating the book. Thank you. ] (]) 22:31, 21 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
==Is it OR to quote an OSHA report about the death of an employee on the owner of the company who also designed the device that killed?== | |||
I have opened a RfC for ]. We have both a source that quotes the report and the report itself both of which say: “The entire operation was designed by Gary Young President and built on site. The vessels were not built under any consideration to ASME code for pressure vessels. No type of pressure relief device was installed on any of the vessels." Thanks for any help you can give. ] (]) 23:38, 22 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
: Does a source exist for the specific proposition that the ''pressure device'' was itself, in fact, ''designed by Young''? I feel like this discussion has been had four or five times, and every time there turns out to be no source making this more specific claim. ] ] 19:31, 23 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
::This is why I bring the topic up here on this forum. You are essentially saying that unless I can do my own original research, to fact check the quote, to your unusually high evidentiary standard, we can't include a quote with WP:RS and Notability. He is dead so WP:BLP doesn't require us to not mention something he was accused of. The burden is not on me to create the connection. The quote is the quote made by an OSHA inspector and published in WP:RS. But if you really want me to connect dots I can. One of Young's claims to notability is that he designed innovative distillation techniques. It's all over his promotional material, including photos of him with distillers he made. For instance: "Gary's first distillation experiment was welding two pressure cookers together and placing it on top of the kitchen stove."<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=D. Gary Young|url=https://www.dgaryyoung.com/legacy/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026123851/https://www.dgaryyoung.com/legacy/|archive-date=October 26, 2020|access-date=December 25, 2020}}</ref> But again, we don't need to clear this hurdle that you have set up. We can just quote the OSHA inspector and leave it at that. Cheers. ] (]) 22:21, 25 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
::: My request for a source stating the asserted proposition can not reasonably be read as a request that you engage in the above exercise in ]. To be very, very clear, for an assertion that a BLP subject directly caused the death of another person, you can ''not'' "connect dots" and draw your own inferences. You can't say that one source indicating that the subject designed a device in 1991 means that he was the designer of a different device in 2000. In fact, the OSHA report that you cite states at pages 13-14 (pages 47-48 of the PDF) that "Todd Rindlisbaker P.E., WHW Engineering, Inc. ... designed the pressure relief system to be installed on each of the vessels". The source you cite literally contradicts the conclusion that you are attempting to imply. ] ] 15:40, 27 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
::::At no time have I suggested we say that Young directly caused anybody's death. I am trying to include the quote from the Skeptical Inquirer which is itself a quote from the OSHA report. You are going back to the OSHA report to fact check the Skeptical Inquirer that quotes the OSHA report. That seems to me like OR. And the OSHA report does indeed include the above quote. It's on page 47 of the PDF of the OSHA report and is exactly as it appears in the Skeptical Inquirer article minus the expansion of the acronym. But again, I'm not suggesting that I have the authority to interpret the OSHA document, nor should any wikipedia editor. We are in the reliable source and notability business, not the going back to the PDF and scanning the document business. As to my "connecting the dots" above. That goes to notability. Young is notable for building a business based on distilling essential oils. One such distiller killed a man. There is a WP:RS that raises the possibility that the distiller was of his design. And even if it wasn't directly of his design, the fact that a worker was killed by a distiller is notable in and of itself. Young has himself died. We have no reason not to include the quote, unless we raise the evidentiary burden to the level that you suggest. I think your bar is raised to a level that violates policy. Why? Because if we generalize your rule, we would be required to always do OR on all BLP pages. Suppose there's a WP:RS that says x? Well we better go back to primary sources to see if x is true. Suddenly we aren't editors of an encyclopedia, we are investigative journalists or forensic reporters. This would be a systemic problem, and should be of concern to all editors who care about the OR policy. I'd love to hear from some other editors about this. ] (]) 03:05, 28 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
::::: First of all, BLP expressly does not automatically cut off when an article subject dies, because it applies to their surviving family members who may be affected by a claim made against the person. You state that a source "raises the possibility that the distiller was of his design", but the source does not ''say'' this; you are merely interpreting it as such. You state in the header of this section that the "owner of the company... ''also designed the device'' that killed". Not only is this ''not'' stated in the referenced published source, it is ''contradicted'' by the OSHA report that you brought up in the first place. At this point, the header definitively makes a demonstrably false statement, and I am left wondering why you would want to introduce a factually incorrect inference to an article. ] ] 03:49, 28 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
A few points.</p>'''1.''' The policy against original research regards publishing original research in an article. There is no prohibition against conducting anything that may be considered original research during the discussion process, as a way of deciding whether a source is reliable. I am not saying that anyone has conducted original research, but rather, that even bringing up this argument is irrelevant if no one is proposing adding that research to mainspace.<p>'''2.''' It would be best not to make rigid assumptions of the meanings of phrases used in any source, such as "design". To say that Young designed the whole operation does not necessarily mean that he designed each and every individual component. In fact that could be a reasonable way for a source to describe that Young conceived the overall layout of the operation but still had to hire an engineer to figure out the details. And we know that he hired an engineer.<p>'''3.''' Rigid adherence to mimicking what one believes is said by what one believes is a reliable source is neither wise nor ''possible''. If the designation of a source as reliable were thereafter sacrosanct, Misplaced Pages would be filled with unnecessary errors. Sources make mistakes, and sometimes sources are misleading, and sometimes there is nothing wrong with the source at all, but an editor insists on drawing inferences from the text that are not present in the original. There is nothing inappropriate about reviewing primary sources for clarification that the secondary source has left murky. Further, and this is kind of really important and painfully obvious, while we trust secondary sources over primary sources for interpretation and analysis, ''a secondary source cannot be trusted over a primary source about the literal content of that primary source''. If a secondary source says, "according to primary source, X", but the primary source clearly says, "not X", the policy-compliant resolution is simply to decide the secondary source isn't reliable on that point. This isn't hard. But that's not even necessary here. The secondary source states that Young designed something in 1985. And that in 2000 an operation he designed killed someone. It never explicitly states that Young literally designed and built the killer device himself. I'm sure a wording can be found that can describe this event and Young's involvement without turning him into an engineer/machinist. ] (]) 09:18, 28 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
: I feel like we should have something somewhere that codifies your third point, ''If a secondary source says, "according to primary source, X", but the primary source clearly says, "not X", the policy-compliant resolution is simply to decide the secondary source isn't reliable on that point.'' Do we not have anything like that? ] ] 04:38, 29 December 2020 (UTC) | |||
::{{ping|user:Someguy1221}} Thanks Someguy. I stand corrected that OR can be done to check on reliability. It's right there at the top of the OR page so I'm chagrinned. I still worry that down this path lies madness, or at least us becoming more like Snopes than wikipedia. However, in this particular case, the quote is correct. It occurs in the primary source exactly as in the secondary. BD2412 is mistaken that the additional quote he found exonerates Young, because the engineer who is mentioned made modifications to the devices after the accident. We would be doing SYNTH to assume that he designed the devices before the accident. The thing you say that is most exciting to me is "I'm sure a wording can be found that can describe this event and Young's involvement without turning him into an engineer/machinist." Thus far, BD2412 and others are refusing to let the event be mentioned at all. Given that Young built his notability on these devices, whether or not he specifically designed this particular one, it's an important moment in his life that should be on the page. If you have the time to stop by and help us find that wording, or nudged us to find it, I'd be grateful. ] (]) 05:29, 10 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::: You can't just say "it's an important moment in his life" based on your opinion. Is there a source that describes this as having ''any impact'' on the subject's life whatsoever? The OSHA report indicates that the multi-million dollar company under investigation was fined ten thousand dollars, but offers no hint of any significance to the individual subject's life. However, the incident ''is'' described on the page for the company, which is appropriate. As for the engineer, if we had an article on that person, I would ''also'' oppose mention of the incident in that article based on the ambiguity of the report, and the absence of a source describing any impact on the engineer's life. ] ] 05:50, 10 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
{{reflist-talk}} | |||
== Fath Freedom International == | |||
The article on ] (FFI) is thoroughly trimmed down as compared with an . FFI is the site of ], who used to be a secularist critic of Islam, and debated several notable Muslems on his site. Over the years, Sina became more involved in far-right, Islamophobic circles. | |||
I happened to be the author of the "Notable content"-paragraph in the older revision. The debate-part in the article was originally written by someone else, with a longer list of people who debated Sina. However, to prevent violations of ] and ], the only remaining debates are those who also appear in the books and at the sites of Sina's opponents (like the one with ]). | |||
For the articles on FFI, the site provided a list of authors. I looked which authors were notable enough to have their own Misplaced Pages-article, like ] and ]. The next thing to do, was checking if the author's article on FFI had an identical article on the site of the author, or another reliable source. If so, I could add the name of the author on the article, sourced by links to both articles. As such, ], ] and ] were covered. | |||
A few months ago, ] pointed out two problems with this: | |||
*Given the increasingly far-right nature of FFI, and therefor of the features authors the sites I linked to fail spectacularly as a ]. However, I realize that, as ] said in a discussion regarding the article in 2010: I should not use them {{tq|as a source for anything except the most basic details about itself that you can't obtain from anywhere else, and which are harmless.}} Author names fall under this category. | |||
*Going through the Faith Freedom website and citing articles from individuals that have Misplaced Pages pages and then citing written material by the same authors outside of Faith Freedom smacks to me of original research (particularly ]: "Do not combine material from multiple sources to reach or imply a conclusion not explicitly stated by any of the sources"), since Misplaced Pages is still not citing a single reliable source that states something to the effect of "Faith Freedom International includes articles written by these individuals..." | |||
However, unlike that last argument, I believe the sections are completely in the spirit of what ] states: | |||
{{tq|Material about web content that does not qualify for a separate, stand-alone can be preserved by adding it into relevant articles if it:}}<br> | |||
{{tq|* has the appropriate level of detail and significance for that article;}}<br> | |||
{{tq|* avoids self-promotion; and}}<br> | |||
{{tq|* includes information that can be verified through independent sources.}} | |||
On Snuish2's suggestion, I have taken it now to the OR-noticeboard. The question here is: did the Notable Content-section violate WP:OR, or was the section acceptable for including in an encyclopedic article on Misplaced Pages? Best regards, ] (]) 21:14, 1 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:Thanks for bringing the issue to this noticeboard, Jeff. Yes, it's my position that the section was a violation of ]. I'd like to add that I don't think the section of ] you've cited applies to this discussion since we're not debating whether that material is noteworthy enough for inclusion or noteworthy enough for a "separate, stand-alone" article. Even if it were applicable to this discussion, the section would violate the second prong regarding avoiding self-promotion and the third prong regarding verifiability in independent sources. ] (]) 00:33, 2 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::And thank you for joining the discussion! I am not sure if this is the right platform, but I would also like to bring in the ]-article. Here, the episodes-list has any references to establish that those interviews really took place. The same goes for the claimed contributors for the ]-article. There, the unpaid bloggers are mentioned, and only sourced by a link to the Huffpost-site itself. As such, these sections have worse sourcing than the "Notable content"-section of the FFI-article. What should happen with them? Best regards,] (]) 14:27, 2 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
== Drawing "obvious" conclusions which are simply not in the source == | |||
:Hello, I am interested in an opinion/advice in order to check if I'm seeing this wrong: the article is ] and the source used/matter of dispute is | |||
:Nowhere in the source is there a reference about anti-Albanian sentiment, only raw data is presented. The article by Politika gives % of people from one ethnic group which are not willing to live with members of other neighbouring ethnic groups. This is the TP section I've started where. ''']''' ] 20:34, 2 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::The article has discrimination and prejudice as its topic, inclusion of data from it in this article is clearly justified. ] (]) 14:23, 5 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
*Our policy is that we must be extremely careful when using raw data. We can not create any conclusionary statements based on that data unless the source EXPLICITLY states that same conclusion. Does the source you wish to use do this? ] (]) 18:42, 5 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::@]If you read the whole thing, the topic of the article is antipathy to various ethnic groups in Serbia. The term "antisemitism" is used frequently, but the word "distance" is used for all other ethnic groups. ] (]) 08:51, 6 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
*The source translated into English using Google translate says the polling is evidence of "ethnic distance towards Albanians." I imagine that means anti-Albanian sentiment. ] (]) 19:17, 5 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
**That's a tricky stretch that I think does run afoul of OR - I wouldn't consider "not tolerating living among X" to being equal to "anti-X" which implies full non-tolerance, though still implies some racial inequity. I think stating the data from the source gives sufficient ''inference'' to that for the topic at hand, but Wikivoice can't make the logical jump to say that. It's not a "obvious" conclusion here for all purposes. --] (]) 19:27, 5 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::@] The definition of "ethnic distance" in the article is ""In this research, ethnic distance is defined as the tendency for other nations '''to be presented as a potential danger and obstacle, someone to whom it is best to be careful and restrained.'''". The term used instead of "ethnic distance towards jews" is "anti-semitism". This justifies "anti-Albanian sentiment. ] (]) 09:01, 6 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::I don't think "ethnic distance" means just that they don't want to live among Albanians. It means that they don't like Albanians, which is the reason they don't want to live among them. It would be helpful if someone who speaks Serbian could explain what the term means. ] (]) 09:20, 6 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
*{{ping|Blueboar}} The source is not explicitly stating the same conclusion. ''']''' ] 23:51, 5 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:There aren't any conclusions that have been inferred from the poll. Sadko's question relates to whether {{tquote|A survey in Serbia showed that 40% of the Serbian population would not like Albanians to live in Serbia (..)}} is relevant to the article ]. I consider its relevancy obvious. The specific mention of one of wikipedia's descriptive titles - in this case, "Anti-Albanian sentiment" - doesn't define the scope of a subject. It's obvious that the scope of the subject includes the quantitative aspects of prejudice and discrimination towards a social group.--] (]) 02:20, 6 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::Once again, there is only raw data presented in the article and 0% is "obvious", as I have stated before. No context is given. If anybody needs help with additional translation of the article, I can land a hand. cheers, ''']''' ] 02:34, 6 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::The article says: "In this research, ethnic distance is defined as the tendency for other nations '''to be presented as a potential danger and obstacle, someone to whom it is best to be careful and restrained.''' The results showed that there is still the greatest ethnic distance towards Albanians, which 40 percent of respondents are reluctant to see as citizens of Serbia, and as many as 70 percent would refuse to marry them." This is, to my mind, more than enough to justify the term "anti-Albanian sentiment", there is no requirement for a source to use the exact phrase which appears in the title of the article. ] (]) 08:28, 6 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
*''Disclaimer: I do not speak Serbian. This is based on me translating the original article. But I have done so in three languages to confirm the meaning''. As a matter of principle, I do agree that taking raw data presented in a certain context, and inserting it in a completely different context is questionable. However, in this particular case, the data is not taken out of context, because the article ''is about'' discrimination and prejudice. The editor also guaranteed ] by removing the {{tquote|even more}} that is present in the sentence of the article.--] (]) 11:52, 9 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::I am a little unclear as to what we are referring to when we say “the article” (WP article vs Source article)... so let me ask in a different way: is the ''data'' being cited “about” discrimination and prejudice? ] (]) 12:45, 9 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::Sorry, it was indeed unclear : I was referring the source article. I believe that the data cited is about discrimination and prejudice, that it was ''not'' taken out of context and thus that it is ''not'' original research.--] (]) 14:22, 9 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::::Thank you for clarifying. ] (]) 15:02, 9 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
== ]: Is it SYNTH to say a book describes two events as "comparable in scale and cruelty" when book never does this? == | |||
Requesting advice from experienced editors about using this sentence in an article about a controversial book: "The book describes the RPF crimes against Hutu civilians during the 1990s as a genocide '''comparable in scale and cruelty''' to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi." | |||
You can see a debate about this sentence between me and {{u|Saflieni}} on ] | |||
To summarize my opinion, this sentence is ] because: | |||
# The book never unites the two concepts of "scale and cruelty" and | |||
# The book never compares the scale of the two events. | |||
# Analyzing the for this statement: first is a rough estimate of numbers killed by the RPF in 1994-1996, but makes no mention of cruelty and makes no comparison to the number of Tutsis killed during the three months of the Tutsi genocide; second compares cruelty by two groups of civilians; and the third is an extended description of killings by RPF but draws no equivalence to genocide against Tutsi. So those 3 RS don't support the claim in the sentence. | |||
Saflieni's opinion (just quoting from the talk page, although I hope he will speak for himself as well): | |||
#{{tq|in the RFI interview, Rever claims that the alleged RPF crimes against Hutus are also genocide and she gives a rough estimate of its scale: half a million. This is more or less comparable to the scale of the Tutsi genocide, whether she uses the word "comparable" or not.}} | |||
#{{tq|The appeals to WP:SYNTH and original research are not relevant here. As I've just explained: I've summarized a main theme of the book in a few words. The job of an editor, according to WP:NPOV is to "convey to the reader the information contained in them fairly".}} | |||
I don't consider the sentence to be a fair summary, because it implies something inflammatory but untrue about the book. | |||
It is already controversial that Rever describes RPF killings of Hutus as also a genocide. We should not imply, in Misplaced Pages's voice, that she uses this claim to minimize the 1994 genocide against Tutsis. On the contrary, Rever says (pp 229-230), "There is no part of this book that denies the genocide...between half a million and a million Tutsis were slaughtered in a period of three months—an unfathomable number...Their individual and collective suffering will never be forgotten." | |||
Sorry if this is long, it is late at night when I write this. Please share your own thoughts. ] (]) 03:40, 12 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
*'''Response by Saflieni:''' | |||
:I'm going to be very lengthy too and use quotes to make my point because this issue keeps coming back and I want the facts to be clear once and for all. The sentence fairly represents the book's content and complies with ]: {{tq|... carefully and critically analyzing a variety of reliable sources and then attempting to convey to the reader the information contained in them fairly, proportionately, and as far as possible without editorial bias.}} HouseOfChange mentions three sources but there are in fact many other examples, in the book and in RS, provided by the author herself and by scholars. | |||
:In this interview on CBC , presenter Carol Off and Judi Rever are clearly discussing Rever's double genocide theory in terms of equivalency. | |||
::Judi Rever: {{tq|...at the same time that ethnic Tutsis were being killed in Hutu-controlled zones, his Tutsi troops were killing with equal zeal and organization. And in every zone that the Rwandan Patriotic Front and its army entered, they killed massively and in an organized way.}} | |||
::(...) | |||
::Carol Off: {{tq|And the record is that Hutu Power militias — the Interahamwe as it was called — massacred Tutsis in the numbers of somewhere between 500,000 and a million. What numbers are you saying that the Tutsis kill of Hutus?}} | |||
::Judi Rever: {{tq|Several hundred thousand anyhow. I've spoken to a lot of people, and many of them have said that there are at least 500,000 Hutus who were killed by Kagame’s troops during the genocide and in the months after the genocide. Now, some people have said that figure could be as high as a million. It's very difficult to know in Kagame’s Rwanda without doing studies and investigations of the numbers. But clearly, it's a massive number of people who were targeted.}} | |||
::Carol Off: {{tq|But you're saying you believe you have evidence that shows equivalency — that equal genocides were committed on both sides. Even though ... only the genocide against the Tutsis has been documented... You're saying there is an equivalent genocide that occurred that was absolutely not documented in any way, because your version does not appear in any other books?}} | |||
::Judi Rever: {{tq|No, it doesn't. And this is a real problem that the killing was not investigated — the killing in RPF-controlled zones was not investigated.}} | |||
:In the book's final chapter, Rever gives estimates of both the genocide against the Tutsi: {{tq|between half a million and a million Tutsis were slaughtered in a period of three months}} (p. 227), and the alleged genocide against the Hutu: {{tq|The RPF's victims are estimated to have been between several hundred thousand and a million human beings.}} (p. 232) | |||
:Some specific examples of equivalency from Rever's book (emphases added): | |||
:*{{tq|In areas seized by the RPF or already under its control, '''its soldiers and intelligence agents worked with similar ethnic zeal''', but they were more discreet}} (p. 3) | |||
:*{{tq|Human Rights Watch clearly-and rightfully-found that Hutu militia, military and government officials targeted and exterminated Tutsis and, in some cases, Hutus opposed to their genocidal plan. But it appeared not to have discovered '''a similar ethnic dynamic in zones controlled by the RPF.'''}} (p. 99) | |||
:*{{tq|But a growing body of evidence now shows that '''Tutsi civilians betrayed and killed their Hutu neighbors in the same way that Hutus turned on Tutsis. The dynamic at work was chillingly similar.'''}} (p. 106) | |||
:*{{tq|These Tutsis-both abakada and civilians loyal to the RPF government and army-'''committed unspeakable atrocities against Hutus, crimes comparable to those committed by Hutu civilians and lnterahamwe.'''}} (p. 107) | |||
:*{{tq|After the genocide, Father Simard was appalled to discover that '''the RPF was committing similar atrocities against Hutus in Butare''', and started to make tape recordings of his observations.}} (p. 149) | |||
:*{{tq|Despite the claim by Western human rights organizations and media that there can be no moral equivalence between the two sides, '''Hutus in RPF-controlled areas faced similar risks of annihilation as Tutsis did in Hutu-controlled areas.'''}} (pp. 228, 229) | |||
:*{{tq|That the Hutus "deserved to be massacred" is pure Tutsi hard-line dogma. And Hutu hard-liners employed a similar ideology against Tutsis. '''Hutu extremists called killing Tutsi civilians "work." It is the same word Tutsi extremists used to describe exterminating Hutus.'''}} (p. 230) | |||
:Some examples of scholars commenting: | |||
:*Filip Reyntjens: {{tq|The cruelty shown is almost unbearable for the reader and reminds us of the way the Tutsis were killed. The method is striking: similar mechanisms keep recurring.}} (My translation) | |||
:*Helen Hintjens and Jos van Oijen: {{tq|Rever claimed RPF killings amounted to genocide against the Hutu on an equal scale to the genocide against the Tutsi, in terms of death tolls and cruelty against civilians.}} (This source was already referenced in the article and this sentence is actually what I paraphrase). | |||
:*Gerald Caplan challenges Rever's claim: {{tq|I happen to know many of them ... and not one of them has ever implied that the sins of the RPF were on a scale comparable to the genocide, which they all witnessed from inside.}} | |||
:Rever also uses the word cruelty in relation to the alleged RPF crimes while she was writing the book: {{tq|If the 1994 genocide against Tutsis stands as the most depraved and tragic chapter in Rwanda’s history, its corollary is certainly the three years that followed in which a slower, largely hidden campaign of abject cruelty was meted out against Hutu civilians in Rwanda and the DRC, with barely a whimper of international outcry.}} | |||
:I could go on like this, but I believe that these examples prove that I summed it up fairly and accurately in the brief description taken from my draft. ] (]) 08:52, 12 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:: {{re|Saflieni}} Thanks for your explanation. Just two points: | |||
::# We are discussing the scale of two events--scale relates to proportion, not just to number. Two events may affect similar numbers of people but be very different in scale. | |||
::# Tutsis are a small minority of the Rwanda population, about 15%. 70% of the Tutsi population died in the genocide. If a million Tutsis died in the genocide, then the RPF would have to kill 5 or 6 million Hutus to create a genocide of similar scale. This is probably why you never see the book say there were two events of similar scale. | |||
::# The rate of killing is another large difference of scale. As Rever says, {{tq|..between half a million and a million Tutsis were slaughtered in a period of three months—an unfathomable number}}. When she estimates elsewhere the number of Hutus killed by the RPF, she is talking about killings over a period of two or three years. Again, these are two events on different scales. | |||
::# Hintjens and vanOijen are mistaken to say that {{tq|Rever claimed RPF killings amounted to genocide against the Hutu on an equal scale to the genocide against the Tutsi}}. ] (]) 14:09, 12 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::::: {{tq|Misplaced Pages's content is determined by previously published information rather than by the personal beliefs or experiences of its editors.}} ] If HoC has a novel theory and believes that it challenges the views expressed by the subject matter experts and the author of the book, they might consider writing a paper about it and submit it to a relevant academic journal. In the meantime they should allow others to answer the question they posted.] (]) 15:51, 12 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::::: {{re|Saflieni}} Perhaps this is a clearer way for me to express the opinion that offends you: the Tutsi genocide and the alleged Hutu genocide were events of vastly different scale. That's my opinion, and, as you rightly say, my opinion doesn't matter to what the article says. IPOB never describes them, not even once, as events of "equal scale." That is a fact. Therefore if H and van O were writing in Misplaced Pages, ] and ] would forbid them from making the claim, unsupportable by any text in IPOB, that IPOB describes the two events as "on an equal scale." That is also a fact. ] (]) 20:15, 12 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::::::: It's not very helpful when an editor starts a discussion on this Noticeboard and is simultaneously reporting negatively about it at another Noticeboard. ] (]) 23:55, 12 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::::::: {{re|Saflieni}} I created this discussion to give you an opportunity to demonstrate collegial content-focused editing. If instead you choose to violate WP:CIVIL, that should be reported at the noticeboard now discussing your behavior. ] (]) 01:36, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::::::::: You're framing again, your favorite hobby. My comment was no different, except more appropriate, than what you and Buidhe have told me on the article's Talk page. The difference is that I don't rush to report others for minor issues or no issues at all on the Talk pages of administrators and on Noticeboards every day of the week, which I'm sure you'll do again now.] (]) 03:02, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
*{{re|Saflieni}}, I do not see the concepts of "scale" and "cruelty" in your citations, but the concepts of "way", "dynamic", "mechanism". I would suggest to write that {{tq|The book describes the RPF crimes against Hutu civilians during the 1990s as a genocide comparable {{strikethrough|1=in scale and cruelty}} to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi}} and to add in ] a passage describing Hintjens & van Oijen's review that could read {{tq|Helen Hintjens and Jos van Oijen describe the book as claiming that "RPF killings amounted to genocide against the Hutu on an equal scale to the genocide against the Tutsi, in terms of death tolls and cruelty against civilians."}}--] (]) 15:13, 12 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:: Thank you, ] for your compromise suggestion. The concepts "scale" and "cruelty" are in the examples of secondary sources I mentioned: cruelty in Reyntjens and in Hintjens; scale in Caplan and in Hintjens. On CBC they spoke of "equal genocides" which covers all aspects and they specify the scale (in this context, "scale" usually if not always means "death toll"). I hope you'll agree that it's their interpretations, not my original research. In ] I read: {{tq|The best practice is to research the most reliable sources on the topic and summarize what they say in your own words, with each statement in the article attributable to a source that makes that statement explicitly. Source material should be carefully summarized or rephrased without changing its meaning or implication.}} Unless I'm mistaken, the policy does not say: "Use the exact same phrases as the primary source." ] (]) 23:55, 12 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::{{U|Saflieni}}, my personal interpretation of ] is that you should not add any information that is not explicitly stated in the source: you should just restate what the source says. And it is true that you are ''ever so slightly'' merging the wording of each source to arrive at your result ({{tq|1.comparable 2. in scale and 3. cruelty}}, expressed together as one statement). However, here we are bordering on various ] points, such as ] and ]. I truly think you and {{U|HouseOfChange}} could work out a compromise, because it's just one problematic sentence, and no-one has criminally breached the policies.--] (]) 00:32, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
{{od}} {{u|JBchrch}} I appreciate your time spent on this very much. If you are looking for a compromise solution, here is what I would consider a compromise that respects the spirit of WP:OR : "The book gives details of many RPF crimes against Hutu civilians, comparing their cruelty in some cases to that inflicted on Tutsis during the ]." That much is true, and reflects the book very well. | |||
Concerning the numbers of victims killed, even the well-studied and mostly agreed on number for Tutsi deaths (500k - 1M) has a factor of two uncertainty. The number of Hutus killed by the RPF is not just disputed but closely concealed--one can only guess at those numbers. Rever reports a number of guesses from sources, with much less cause for trust and a bigger margin of error (200k - 1M). It would make little sense to compare "numbers of deaths" when both numbers are wildly uncertain, and the book does not, even once, compare them. Therefore, it is wrong for the article to say that Rever compares the numbers, because she does not compare the numbers--and even worse to say that she calls the "scale" "equal," which she never does. ] (]) 01:36, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
* {{u|JBchrch}} HouseOfChange even rejects the main theme of the book according to the majority view among scholars - double genocide - because the book doesn't use that exact phrase.{{tq|Virtually anything can be shoehorned into a broad reading of SYNTH, but the vast majority of it shouldn't be.}} . Remember that I paraphrased a peer reviewed journal article and that all reliable sources say more or less the same thing, including the author of the book, so I'm curious what exactly I'm supposed to have added. ] (]) 02:47, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
**{{re|Saflieni}} Let's discuss the content rather than other editors' alleged beliefs and behaviors, on this noticeboard at least. We are here to try to reach consensus concerning a disputed sentence. I have proposed a compromise, that you could describe a comparison of cruelty with my blessing. If you agree, we have consensus on that part of your sentence. As for the question of "scale," I disagree with 1) including it in the same sentence as "cruelty, 2) using the word "scale" if what you actually mean is "death toll", and 3) saying that Rever compares the scale or compares the death toll of two events, when she never compares them. Now I hope we can reach agreement with help from {{u|JBchrch}} and possibly others at this page. ] (]) 03:03, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
: I've asked you to stop framing. JBchrch was under the impression that this sentence is the only problem. If that were true we would have completed the article two months ago. ] (]) 03:13, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:: {{re|Saflieni}} This one sentence is the problem we are asking people at this noticeboard to help us solve. I have proposed a compromise solution. I look forward to suggestions from you and from others how to proceed to reach consensus concerning the disputed sentence. Am I to understand that your proposal is to keep the exact wording of the sentence despite my objections to it, pulling a word here and a word there from multiple different sources, yet with no actual support from the text in the book, to say that "the '''book'''' describes" two events as "comparable in scale and cruelty"? Sorry, but that is ]: "Do not combine material from multiple sources to reach or imply a conclusion not explicitly stated by any of the sources. Similarly, do not combine different parts of one source to reach or imply a conclusion not explicitly stated by the source." ] (]) 03:29, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::{{u|HouseOfChange}} what is your proposal of a synthesis? ] 07:19, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
* '''Corrections:''' | |||
#I never wrote: {{tq|The book describes ...}}, but {{tq|Rever qualifies ...}} HouseOfChange changed my original sentence: . | |||
#I never wrote: {{tq|... on an equal scale}}, but {{tq|... comparable in scale}}. I did not follow Hintjens and van Oijen here, but Caplan who writes {{tq|a scale comparable to}}. | |||
#HoC says: {{tq|using the word "scale" if what you actually mean is "death toll}}. "I" don't "mean" anything. Hintjens & v.Oijen write: {{tq|on an equal scale ... in terms of death tolls and cruelty}}. Like I said, most if not all reliable sources refer to death tolls when they use "scale" in this context. Unless HoC can prove otherwise, it is what it is. ] says: {{tq|Articles should rely on secondary sources whenever possible.}} Moreover, even Rever quotes in one of her articles: {{tq|... genocide against Hutus by the RPA whose methodology '''and scale''', he concluded, ('''30,000 massacres)'''...}} - that number being the civilian death toll estimated by Robert Gersony. NB: I forgot this is in the book too, on p. 97.] (]) 15:35, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
#HoC says: {{tq|saying that Rever compares the scale or compares the death toll of two events, when she never compares them.}}. I have provided evidence of scholars interpreting it that way. I have also provided evidence of Rever discussing {{tq|equivalence}} of the genocide(s) in terms of death tolls and comparable or similar {{tq|unspeakable atrocities}}. For a definition of equivalence, see: . For a definition of atrocity, see: . | |||
#HoC says: {{tq|...pulling a word here and a word there from multiple different sources}}. Actually the reliable sources did that. | |||
#HoC says: {{tq|a conclusion not explicitly stated by the source}}. As I've noted, the "source" does state that. Hoc keeps confusing the reliable secondary sources with the book which is a primary source. ] says: {{tq|Material such as an article, book, monograph, or research paper that has been vetted by the scholarly community is regarded as reliable, where the material has been published in reputable peer-reviewed sources or by well-regarded academic presses.}} And aside from being a primary source, the book was not vetted by the scholarly community. Quite the opposite. The fact that Amsterdam University Press published a translation may be confusing, but AUP is a commercial enterprise, independent from the University of Amsterdam. No vetting or fact checking was involved. | |||
#HoC says: {{tq|I don't consider the sentence to be a fair summary, because it implies something inflammatory but untrue about the book.}} And: {{tq|We should not imply, in Misplaced Pages's voice, that she uses this claim to minimize the 1994 genocide against Tutsis. On the contrary, Rever says (pp 229-230) ... etc.}}. This is a) a misleading statement, because in that same chapter Rever shifts the responsibility for planning, igniting, fuelling, perpetuating (and even participating in) the genocide against the Tutsi to the RPF, and b) these conclusions are HoC's POV, not the majority view among RS.] (]) 10:28, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:{{u|Saflieni}} so the question to you would also be the same.. Taking into consideration the objections and your explanations of the objections what would your proposal be? ] 11:15, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
{{u|Saflieni}}, {{u|HouseOfChange}}, please ] down and let's try to solve this dispute amicably. There is ample room for compromise here: the relevant policies do not give a clear answer and it's probably somewhere in between both of your ideas. I agree with {{u|Vincentvikram}}'s idea of you writing down your proposals below to see how we reach consensus.--] (]) 11:56, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
=== Proposals === | |||
{{u|Saflieni}} | |||
* Thank you both. I agreed with the compromise as proposed by JBchrch, but got the feeling we're not on the same wavelength. I would like to make one change though. Ascribing the assessment in the second sentence to Hintjens & v. Oijen would create the false impression that it's particular to them, while others have expressed the same or similar views. We could seperate "scale" and "cruelty" and reference the relevant sources to each concept. My proposal would therefore be something like: {{tq|The book describes the RPF crimes against Hutu civilians during the 1990s as a genocide comparable to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.}} And add in #Reception: {{tq|Several scholars describe the book as claiming that "RPF killings amounted to genocide against the Hutu on an equal scale to the genocide against the Tutsi, in terms of death tolls, and cruelty against civilians.}} After this is settled, I would like to invite scrutiny to the rest of the article as it is now. ] (]) 12:54, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
{{u|HouseOfChange}} | |||
* <your proposal here> | |||
First, a little background: | |||
* I'd like to quote the entire paragraph, with Saflieni's favored quote in context, so that you can see its focus on attacking Judi Rever, not on describing her book in scholarly terms: | |||
<blockquote>A relevant example is a book called ''In Praise of Blood'', by Canadian journalist Judi Rever. 101 The book received quite a bit of media attention around the world, and was claimed to be an exposé of RPF atrocities. Rever claimed RPF killings amounted to genocide against the Hutu on an equal scale to the genocide against the Tutsi, in terms of death tolls and cruelty against civilians. Rever acknowledges the genocide against the Tutsi, but shifts the blame for this event to the RPF, using some familiar implicatory arguments. Her mantra is "infiltration." She repeats this term dozens of times, in order to drive home the idea, first suggested by the Rwandan ministry of defence in 1991, 102 that the RPF was pulling the strings of every organization, even the Interahamwe militias. Allegedly, the RPF deliberately fuelled genocide in order to conquer Rwanda and come to power, instead of trying to stop the genocide as the RPF claims.</blockquote> | |||
* ] is an article about a book, but H and van O is an article about genocide denial, with a section near the end making a case for calling Judi Rever a ], followed by a section criticizing the book's claim of body cremation at ]. (This last part is relevant to the book and hence to the article. And the article already quotes three different statements from this section of H and van O, more material than from any other source cited in the article.) | |||
* If we are going to quote verbatim from peer-reviewed material, we should quote material that describes or criticizes the book IPOB, not material that attacks its author. | |||
* Judi Rever is a non-notable living person, and Misplaced Pages should be cautious about quoting authors, even expert authors, who transform their criticism of the book into attacks on Judi Rever for having written it. | |||
Now, a proposal for material in the article: | |||
* I propose this sentence: "The book describes RPF crimes against Hutu civilians during the 1990s as a "genocide," which has been controversial, particularly with scholars who study the ] against Tutsi civilians." This sentence could introduce a paragraph of reasons scholars advance against the book's using the word "genocide." | |||
* A different sentence, on a different topic, could go in a different paragraph: ""The book gives details of many RPF crimes against Hutu civilians, comparing their cruelty to the atrocities suffered by Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide." Then give a footnote to H and Van O as well as relevant page numbers in IPOB. | |||
* A different sentence, on a different topic. "IPOB gives widely varying estimates for the number of Hutu civilians allegedly killed by the RPF in Rwanda. The lowest number Rever heard from her sources was a few hundred thousand, the highest, from just one person, was a million.(footnotes and page citations) The book's estimate for the number of Tutsis killed in the genocide is the official estimate: "between half a million and a million Tutsis were slaughtered in a period of three months—an unfathomable number." | |||
Thank you {{u|Vincentvikram}} for this opportunity to suggest a compromise that includes the material desired by Saflieni but does not create a SYNTH connection among its parts. ] (]) 15:58, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
{{u|HouseOfChange}}, {{u|Saflieni}}, I think {{u|Saflieni}}'s proposal is adequate and complies with the policies.--] (]) 18:43, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:{{re|JBchrch}} and {{u|Vincentvikram}}, I appreciate the time you have spent on this. I am grateful that JBchrch agreed that the original form of the sentence, even though it was a close paraphrase of H and van O, was inappropriate SYNTH put into Wikivoice. As a slight amendment to what {{u|Saflieni}} is suggesting, however, I prefer JBchrch's original proposal where H and van O are cited as the source for their direct quotation rather than confusingly ascribing it to "several scholars." ] (]) 22:10, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
*{{u|JBchrch}} and {{u|Vincentvikram}}, thank you for your assistance. Meanwhile the article has many other issues, most of which seem to stem from the assumption that scholars who critically analyze Rever's work are not just doing their job but are being hostile or even acting as proxies of the Rwandan government. How should I approach this? If I were to report each example separately we will be debating here till Christmas. Please advise. ] (]) 08:37, 14 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:{{u|Saflieni}} this exercise just proved that by focusing on the content and not the editor it got done! I'm sure this spirit can continue post this as well. Best! ] 11:01, 14 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:: Thanks ], but that's a two way street. HoC and Buidhe reported me on ANI over the very issue that we've just solved here, which they wrapped in a bundle of fake facts that nobody is going to verify. If there really is a spirit to cooperate they'd have dropped that case by now. Btw, if you wish to solve our personal little spat in a peaceful manner, you're welcome to discuss it on my Talk page. I would like to clear the air on that issue.] (]) 15:49, 14 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::{{re|Saflieni}} I (not Buidhe and I) filed , not because of one edit-warring episode but because of multiple BATTLEGROUND episodes, which I enumerated, with links, so that anybody could check my facts. The problem with this dispute, concerning this single sentence, was that you ] explanations that your sentence violated SYNTH. On this NORN page, it took several days, hours of my time, and the help of two other editors to convince you of that fact. A normally collegial Misplaced Pages editor could have solved that problem on the article talk page instead of demanding that the exact wording of one disputed sentence MUST go into the article. It is stressful and time-wasting to work "with" an editor who behaves as you do, and I have no intention of withdrawing the ANI unless you stop creating new PAs such as the above: {{tq|HoC and Buidhe reported me on ANI over the very issue that we've just solved here, which they wrapped in a bundle of fake facts that nobody is going to verify.}} ] (]) 17:49, 14 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::{{re|Saflieni}} Thanks for the offer but I'll pass. It is statements like these which tend to antagonise editors: {{tq|HoC and Buidhe reported me on ANI over the very issue that we've just solved here, which they wrapped in a bundle of fake facts that nobody is going to verify.}} ] 17:59, 14 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::::], It is against Misplaced Pages policy to post falsehoods and insults about someone else, according to ], not "antagonizing" to discuss them. Look at how our compromise is explained by HoC, here and on their ANI: {{tq|The resolution at NORN was that the text he edit-warred to insert did violate WP:SYNTH, just as Buidhe and I multiply explained to him.}} I don't remember that the "resolution" reached states that I violated WP:SYNTH, do you? A fake fact. Also, they edit-warred to remove my contribution from the article, but claim that I edit-warred to "insert" it. Another falsehood. This is everyday reality. ] says: {{tq|This guideline does not require that editors continue to assume good faith in the presence of obvious evidence to the contrary.}} Don't forget that you too have made accusations that are objectively false. ] (]) 21:56, 14 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::::{{re|Saflieni}} I stand by my observations I made then that you tend to bully editors by insulting them during discussions and then use the victim approach when cornered. It is unfortunate that you have not reflected upon your unhealthy approach. Over and out. ] 04:02, 15 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::::: ] I've offered to clear the air on that issue. Facts are facts - I've just specified some of them. Last time on ANI I counted 103 falsehoods, not even counting you echoing a number of them. The current ANI is halfway there again already; I've just pointed out recent examples. The "victim approach"? That's calling me a liar again. Endorsing falsehoods and adding to the pile yourself is not helpful towards resolving the problem. ] (]) 06:36, 15 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
== ] == | |||
'''After the fall, Serbs were subjected to various persecutions, war crimes, oppression and genocide at the hands of Muslims, including the infamous Devsirme system of forced assimilation, various Sharia inequalities, including forced labor, jizya, harsh taxation and slavery. Although their percentage in the overall population decreased, Orthodox Serbs managed to stay a relative majority in their land, and constitute a territorial majority within the territory of contemporary Bosnia, as Orthodox Serbs were traditionally a rural population within Bosnia, while Muslims were more often an urban populace, due to their services as city guards and traders.''' | |||
*This information is from Ottoman rule section. First we have no sources which confirm this information. Second, here are mentioned ''"war crimes"'' and ''"genocide"'' at the hands of Muslims ie ]. Also this information is in context of 15th century and here we have Orthodox Serbs fact, but reading Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina there are only Catholics until the 19th century and not Catholic Croats fact. I wonder if this information all together is original research? ''"War crimes"'' and ''"genocide"'' of Bosnians against Bosnian Serbs fact in my opinion is possible and fringe information because I have never heard or read anything about that. Thanks. ] (]) 20:54, 13 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::It's completely unsourced, mate. You can just change it to whatever RS says about the treatment of Serbs under Turkish rule in the Middle Ages. Find yourself a decent neutral history book or two, and off you go. I would say that you will find evidence of persecution, some of it lethal, and that shouldn't be skipped over, but the picture will be more nuanced than that paragraph. ] (]) 08:37, 14 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::{{ping|Boynamedsue}} I could probably find evidence for persecution of Serbs in that period but I wonder what to do with the rest information in the article? Whether it can be deleted because it is OR, in some parts posible and fringe? What is done in such cases? Or now I have to look for sources to correct this information? Also I do not know that I will find information obouth Bosnian Serbs in the context of the 15th century, possible in Serbian sources, but I don't know how neutral those sources are. ] (]) 09:35, 14 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::::I don't know enough about it myself, I've vaguely read something about an early modern massacre of monks in Croatia in a RS, so I assume bad things happened in Serbia. I would look for an English language history of Serbia, and try from there. There will be bias in anything, but if you are not an expert in evaluating contentious sources, a source from an uninvolved country will tend to be better. The details of religious inequality under the Ottomans might be better displayed as part of a "society" section? ] (]) 10:34, 14 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::::This is article obout Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina not Serbia. Here we have even less sources which mentioning Serbs in context of 15th century. I as editor would delete this information but other editors would keep this information. So it's not very clear situation to me. That's why I ask the wider community what is being done in such cases because there are many such situations. I’m not going to touch this information and that’s it. She is exposed on talk page so that other editors know about that. Thank you. ] (]) 11:12, 14 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
::::::Sorry, I should say a history of Bosnia, the former Yugoslavia or the Balkans. A history of Serbia may also be relevant in some cases, though. If you don't want to touch it, it is going to stay how it is I'm afraid. It's probably biased framing, but unless there were no Serbs in Bosnia at the time (I literally know this little about the subject) then the information may well be relevant the article. Certainly you should tag citation needed all over that paragraph if it is unsourced.] (]) 12:07, 14 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
:::::::Thank you. ] (]) 13:07, 14 January 2021 (UTC) | |||
== ] == | |||
'''Frankish Chronicle of Fredegar mentions Dervan, chieftain of the Serbs, in c. 631, who may be the first Serb mentioned by name in history. Dervan is considered to be the father or, more likely, brother of the nameless prince who led the White Serbs into the Balkans.'''{{sfn|Živković, 2002}}{{sfn|Curta, 2001}} | |||
*This is information based on two sources. Curta in the source speak about ]. As for Živković source I can't ]. I looked for other sources of Živković and I can't find this information ''"Fredegar mentions ], chieftain of the Serbs''" in context of Balkan Serbs. Explaned on talk page. Is this information in context of Balkan Serbs original research. Thanks? ] (]) 21:09, 13 January 2021 (UTC) |
Latest revision as of 17:42, 7 January 2025
Noticeboards | |
---|---|
Misplaced Pages's centralized discussion, request, and help venues. For a listing of ongoing discussions and current requests, see the dashboard. For a related set of forums which do not function as noticeboards see formal review processes. | |
General | |
Articles, content | |
Page handling | |
User conduct | |
Other | |
Category:Misplaced Pages noticeboards |
Welcome to the no original research noticeboard | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||
Additional notes:
| ||||||||||
To start a new request, enter a name (section header) for your request below:
|
Archives |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 |
This page has archives. Sections older than 28 days may be automatically archived by Lowercase sigmabot III. |
Potential SYNTH violation on "video games considered the best" list article
The article on List of video games considered the best is set up to determine "games considered the best" by "The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from different publications (inclusive of all time periods, platforms, and genres)". After a lengthy discussion on the talk page, I'm still convinced it fails WP:SYNTH, specifically "Do not combine material from multiple sources to state or imply a conclusion not explicitly stated by any of the sources" and WP:LISTCRITERIA (""Avoid original or arbitrary criteria that would synthesize a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources.") While I think an article on acclaimed media to be interesting and valid, I feel that the approach taken applies arbitrary criteria ("had to appear on six lists") that is not widespread among any video game academia, criticism, or even fans to make to capture the subject on hand. Thoughts? Andrzejbanas (talk) 00:16, 9 December 2024 (UTC)
- There's certainly an argument that it's combining different claims in a way that's WP:SYNTH to create a "definitive" list. There's also an argument that all of those sources support "greatest" as required by WP:V and we're just requiring it to be heavily supported and represent the consensus among sources as required by WP:NPOV. Either way, this has repeatedly been brought up and settled. This isn't the answer you want to hear, but at a certain point we have to accept that most of the community feels the latter argument is stronger. If you're looking to fight OR, there are plenty of easier targets to sink your teeth into. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 00:58, 9 December 2024 (UTC)
- I have no argument that this is a way to get some information to define "greatness". The issue is only applying a self-imposed rule that states "The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists" which does not seem congruent with WP:LISTCRITERIA's "Avoid original or arbitrary criteria that would synthesize a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources.". The bigger issue is I do not understand how including only six items is acceptable with the "avoid original or arbitrary criteria". So I appreciate you chiming in @Thebiguglyalien:, but your response does not address the problem I'm trying to bring up. Andrzejbanas (talk) 20:05, 9 December 2024 (UTC)
- Are you interpreting the phrase "a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources" to mean "reliable sources have to have described/written about standards for evaluating whether something belongs on a particular list". If so, in this case, that would require RSes to have written about why, how, or that people use being on six separate "all time best" lists to determine whether a video game is considered to belong on a "considered the best" list. I'm spelling this out because I'm not 100% sure myself how to interpret what "plainly verifiable in reliable sources" means as applied to this situation -- or what you think it means or how you are interpreting it.Novellasyes (talk) 03:08, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
- I'm totally aware I may be misinterpreting it. The content in the sources is definitely the items listed. But, there is no standard in any source to apply that we be a numeric ranking and I'm not sure that applying a rule that only selects a small amount of items is not applying "arbitrary criteria" as it makes us pick and choose what from the sources is valid and what is not. I apologize if any of this comes off as antagonistic, but I'm trying to clarify this @Novellasyes:. If I'm misinterpreting, I think I might understand by an example of how this does not apply. Andrzejbanas (talk) 06:29, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
- I don't fully understand exactly what the phrase "a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources" means and that's why I asked, and tried to express one possible interpretation of it. I wasn't trying to suggest that you don't understand it. Novellasyes (talk) 13:17, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
- Fair. Sorry misunderstood. Hopefully some others can chime in. Andrzejbanas (talk) 13:53, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
- I don't fully understand exactly what the phrase "a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources" means and that's why I asked, and tried to express one possible interpretation of it. I wasn't trying to suggest that you don't understand it. Novellasyes (talk) 13:17, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
- I'm totally aware I may be misinterpreting it. The content in the sources is definitely the items listed. But, there is no standard in any source to apply that we be a numeric ranking and I'm not sure that applying a rule that only selects a small amount of items is not applying "arbitrary criteria" as it makes us pick and choose what from the sources is valid and what is not. I apologize if any of this comes off as antagonistic, but I'm trying to clarify this @Novellasyes:. If I'm misinterpreting, I think I might understand by an example of how this does not apply. Andrzejbanas (talk) 06:29, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
- Are you interpreting the phrase "a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources" to mean "reliable sources have to have described/written about standards for evaluating whether something belongs on a particular list". If so, in this case, that would require RSes to have written about why, how, or that people use being on six separate "all time best" lists to determine whether a video game is considered to belong on a "considered the best" list. I'm spelling this out because I'm not 100% sure myself how to interpret what "plainly verifiable in reliable sources" means as applied to this situation -- or what you think it means or how you are interpreting it.Novellasyes (talk) 03:08, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
- I have no argument that this is a way to get some information to define "greatness". The issue is only applying a self-imposed rule that states "The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists" which does not seem congruent with WP:LISTCRITERIA's "Avoid original or arbitrary criteria that would synthesize a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources.". The bigger issue is I do not understand how including only six items is acceptable with the "avoid original or arbitrary criteria". So I appreciate you chiming in @Thebiguglyalien:, but your response does not address the problem I'm trying to bring up. Andrzejbanas (talk) 20:05, 9 December 2024 (UTC)
My understanding of this list's approach is basically as follows: A game is theoretically eligible for inclusion on Misplaced Pages's list if a reliable source lists it as among the best or greatest games of all time. However, there are two drawbacks to including every game that has appeared even once on such a list: (1) it may be WP:UNDUE to describe a game as "considered the best" if only one source from a large pool of options does so, and (2) the Misplaced Pages list would rapidly balloon to an impractical WP:SIZE if so many games were included. Thus, it seems like sensible practice to forestall those drawbacks by establishing a higher threshold than "appears at least once". To the best of my knowledge, reliable sources don't do "meta-analysis" of best-games lists that we could use to source "games must appear on X number of lists"—but we still need to choose some number to be the boundary, and so six seems as good as any. (As to whether it's SYNTH to set a higher threshold in the first place, I would say not. When it comes to the reception of media, there's plenty of precedent that it's acceptable to attribute an opinion to critics in the aggregate if references are supplied to show that several critics have expressed that view, and this list's threshold seems to extend from that same practice.) ModernDayTrilobite (talk • contribs) 16:32, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
- Thank you for your response @ModernDayTrilobite:. Would it not be more appropriate to follow WP:SPINOUT (specifically Long stand-alone list articles are split into subsequent pages alphabetically, numerically, or subtopically. to cover the latter issue? While I understand your point of view on six, more lists like this will be published, and I feel like adjusting the number to keep a list to be a balanced scale still becomes "iffy" at least per SYNTH rules, but if we separated the list out. I see you linked to some specific rules, but if you could quote which ones you are referring to, it would help me understand where you are coming from a bit more. Andrzejbanas (talk) 17:53, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
- How would this not just recreate the issue on a greater number of pages? If we split the list into subpages, WP:DUE would still apply, and would still likely create situations where, to determine what is due weight, editors require a game to be featured by "multiple" sources. Let's say multiple is taken to mean three--you've recreated the exact same arbitrary standard, according to you, just at a different place. I don't quite understand your sentence
While I understand your point of view on six, more lists like this will be published, and I feel like adjusting the number to keep a list to be a balanced scale still becomes "iffy" at least per SYNTH rules, but if we separated the list out.
Were you missing a final clause after "but if we separated the list out"? But yes, by and large, I think you need to take this six sources requirement as a requirement per DUE, not a violation of SYNTH. Alyo (chat·edits) 18:12, 11 December 2024 (UTC)- I mean, its a rule we are supposed to follow regardless of how it effects another rule for one. Second, to address WP:WEIGHT, i'd propose simply listing numerically the amount of lists found. This would give a reader a clearer point of view of how the game stands within publications. Currently, the list also features excessive data such game genre, publishers and "original system" which do not appear to be some sources regardless. Andrzejbanas (talk) 18:17, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
- Well, I guess the other editors involved don't believe it violates a rule then. Or at minimum, we are trusting our readers to understand that we aren't saying "only when a game is called 'the best' by six separate publications does it then become Objectively True that the game is the best of all time". Your second point does not actually solve the issue of whether or not we include a game at all if, say, it has only been called "the best" by a single publication. I would argue that given the amount of sourcing we have on this issue, it is a clear violation of DUE weight to include, say, California Games equal on a list to Ocarina of Time just because it was put on a single list by Gamespot. Is that inclusion verifiable? Yes. Does that inclusion accurately represent the breadth of sourcing and discussion about either California Games itself or the general list of games considered the greatest ever? Clearly no. (Of course, according to the CG article it made it onto another list in 1996, but that opens up another can of worms about DUE--how should we value inclusion on a single list in 1996? Does that accurately represent the breadth of sourcing and discussion about California Games's legacy or the modern understanding of games considered the greatest ever? Again, I'd argue clearly no.) Based on these points about DUE, it seems that you have to increase the standard for sourcing, and that overwhelmingly outweighs some soft SYNTH concerns. Alyo (chat·edits) 20:33, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
- Yes sorry, I'm not saying any of my ideas are necessarily the way to go, I'm just spit balling. Trying to define greatness from appearing on an amount of lists is also problematic for the reasons you stated @Alyo:. While I also have faith that readers can read the instructions, this would read like an article called List of horses then suddenly says within the lead its only a list of war horses because of list of horses would be too long or we couldn't apply weight for some breeds of horses over others.
- That said, with horses, there are scientific standards you can apply, which is why the horse list is
- The issue with our list here as you said, it multifold. Perhaps the no original research board is the wrong place to discuss this, The problem with making the lists rules more "strict" for weight can be expanded on similarly as this article does for film. They note that best-of lists, with various rules applied to them "negate the function of serious film reviewing and criticism" and that a best of poll describes nothing more than "the best American commercial narrative films viewed by 20 critics who seem primarily familiar with American commercial narrative films." This can be seen on the lists that applied various limiting rules.
- The Age says their list is based on "restrictions such as "games have been judged on their entertainment value today rather than their impact when released." while GameSpot in 2000 included such games ("There were no restrictions on gaming genre, platform or age. Any game that appeared on a home gaming platform before January 1st 2000 was deemed eligible.") The claim of it coming from the editorial staff is also faulty, as GameSpy says their list is solicited opinions from game developers and "selected expert gamers". IGN said they did not want Mario and Zelda to show up too many times in their list. Applying all of these as a balanced choice is misleading to audience when we just say "critics listed these as great" when we are not open that some games just are not applicable on terms that lists are static, and obviously become outdated, or even a contemporary one can't see the future.
- With the above suggestion, while I see that it might be a good idea to make a stricter list to follow weight, I can't imagine anything that would make most people say that works because by definition, all the lists are talking about different things. Whether they apply unique rules, or are instantly dated to the static nature of magazines or years of lists. I'm not sure anything would satisfy it. Andrzejbanas (talk) 23:47, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
- Hmm, I think your horse example is a little flawed, because there's no bait-and-switch happening with the substance of this article. The video games on the list aren't called "the greatest" because they've reached an abstract standard on wikipedia. They're called "the greatest" because a source called them the greatest. This is exactly what the title of the article promises--we aren't presenting different content from what the title suggests, only a pared down version of the universe of possible options. The proper analogy is to List of leading Thoroughbred racehorses, which contains a list of leading Thoroughbred racehorses, but not all leading Thoroughbred racehorses. The undefeated horses section: "The list is not comprehensive for otherwise unnotable horses with five or fewer starts." The most wins arbitrarily stops around 60. The successive wins section says "The horses who were defeated but had ten or more consecutive race wins include..." Most wins in a season only includes those above 10, probably just because humans are biased towards powers of ten. Every section in that article has a cut off point, and that cut off point was made by editors, not sources. No source said "only horses with 60 wins get to be considered a leading Thoroughbred", and so editors have substituted their best judgement while basing the substance of the article on the general idea that "most wins" is a valid metric for determining a "leading" racehorse. I see the same thing happening here: the topic is notable, individual entries exist under the topic, and the entries are suitably sourced. Editors just need to determine a cut off point--that isn't SYNTH. Last point:
Applying all of these as a balanced choice is misleading to audience...
may be true about the list, but the list is verifiable, and our requirement is WP:Verifiability, not truth. If we tried to use our judgment to counter balance, as you point out yourself, that creates far more SYNTH/OR than we started with. The list may not ever be perfect, but the topic is notable and a consensus has been established that this is the way to cover it. Alyo (chat·edits) 02:12, 12 December 2024 (UTC)- You see, the Horse thing is a lot more "measurable". Its a sport, you get wins that are very basic measurable metric. I don't know about this subject, but its possible that its common to acknowledge ones that get a certain amount of wins in a season. Regardless, "wins" make more sense to count than something like best.
- Describing a creative work like a video game is not so simple. As you'll notice in those lists as well, they don't have a list of horses "voted the best" is not something a serious critic measures. For example, these quotes apply to film and music, but I feel like they are similar creative mediums we can compare. For example, this this article (about film to clarify) states best of lists "negate the function of serious film reviewing and criticism" and that these lists ""ignore major bodies of work which the critics are either unfamiliar with or are not interested in." While this interview with a few critics on NPR states lists are interesting to compare, they echo the statement about them having no real "weight" in artistic merit. They state that "when you're ranking things, that kind of adds another layer of, like, taking away from the art itself and trying to assign a specific meaning to this art that is hard to codify because it's art." or "We're often more kind of approaching these things anecdotally, talking about the stuff that really, really matters to us instead of kind of trying to collect a consensus around ranking the best." and "how do you measure something that may be aesthetically grandiose in some ways versus something that's quieter and, like, try to put those up against each other? It's like - it's really hard, and it doesn't really make sense." Gaming journalists echo the level of seriousness we should be taking to imply "best" for "best of lists". Hardcore Gaming 101 and Gaming Trends echoes this, stating "How could anyone possibly create a definitive list of gaming’s greatest accomplishments when there’s such a wildly large variety of games to choose from?" and "Nowadays “top X” articles on the internet tend to be seen as clickbait, hastily assembled list determined by some quick democratic polling of staff. the lists tend to be rather insular, usually based on whatever publication or forum assembled them" Similarly, HG101 also states their list starts with staffs favourites, and was built from there. The very fact we ignore the criticism on the validity of these lists to be simply taking that "they are the best" its impractical to use them as a form of measurement in terms of quality.
- So as you said Verifiabilty, not truth, True but we also have WP:LISTCRITERIA which states "Criteria for inclusion should factor in encyclopedic and topical relevance, not just verifiable existence." In this case, yes, these games do appear on "best of" lists, no question. But from the above quotations, is combining them, or even using them explicitly a serious and good way to calculate "best"?
- While I think its interesting to see lists on a unique topic, like, Super Mario 64 "ahh, so the writers of the American company IGN and the Japanese critics in Famitsu or British magazine Empire all voted this game" but from the writing above, it seems to be implying that "if you take the list at face value, you are missing the point" as its a poor way to measure quality in terms of reach of what video games will reach different editors (IGN will write more about popular video games (HG101 writer saying "Rock Paper Shotgun, for example, has top 25/50 lists for many genres, but focuses only on games released on the PC. So reading about “best horror” games seems really strange when you’re omitting huge swathes of them, especially Japanese developed games. Similarly, computer RPGs and Japanese RPGs have such different fanbases that they’re almost entirely different genres, so there’s rarely any crossover on “best RPG” lists. IGN and other mainstream sites tend to focus on newer releases at the expense of gaming’s history." Not to mention, IGN has published 7 best of lists, and they are all currently used in the article. I think from the above, we can't make serious gamut for measuring or gauging some canon or critical consensus.
- Oh god I wrote an essay, I apologize @Alyo:, but I think we're both making good points here and getting somewhere. Andrzejbanas (talk) 03:46, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
- Haha no worries at all, it's an interesting topic. I don't have much more to add, because as I flagged above, I think your interpretation here isn't widely held and hypothetical discussions can only go so far without actionable steps. The only place I really disagree with you is in the framing of your sentence,
But from the above quotations, is combining them, or even using them explicitly a serious and good way to calculate "best"?
I don't think that we are calculating "best" by combining sources. I think we are summarizing the topic of "best games" by listing games that sources have explicitly called "the best". The combination of sources doesn't change the verifiability of sources making that claim. I can completely agree with broad critiques of "best of" lists as they appear in reliable sources, but the end result for our purposes is a valid source that calls something "the best". That's the WP:Verifiability, not truth point--saying "X is a GOAT game" is verifiable, even if you agree with critiques that make that statement not objectively "true". You sayThe very fact we ignore the criticism on the validity of these lists ... its impractical to use them as a form of measurement in terms of quality
, but that issue is already presumed/accepted under WP's groundrules. Again, WP:Verifiability, not truth. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Don't think of this article topic as "Games that objectively are the best of all time". Imagine that the article is actually titled "Games that a certain subset of sources have subjectively described as the best of all time, using different metrics and criteria and with different backgrounds and expertise". Under WP's rules, that's what the article should be including, it's just a lot less pithy. Alyo (chat·edits) 05:15, 12 December 2024 (UTC)- Would WP:AUDIENCE come into play? I feel like "People who read Misplaced Pages have different backgrounds, education and opinions. Make your article accessible and understandable for as many readers as possible." Because I think if we can state information from the sources below within the context of the list, it might help clarify issues. As the lists often discuss their own issues of "Best of" lists, I think this would ease any tensions editors or readers might have with the relatively flat opening. Andrzejbanas (talk) 14:09, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
- Haha no worries at all, it's an interesting topic. I don't have much more to add, because as I flagged above, I think your interpretation here isn't widely held and hypothetical discussions can only go so far without actionable steps. The only place I really disagree with you is in the framing of your sentence,
- Hmm, I think your horse example is a little flawed, because there's no bait-and-switch happening with the substance of this article. The video games on the list aren't called "the greatest" because they've reached an abstract standard on wikipedia. They're called "the greatest" because a source called them the greatest. This is exactly what the title of the article promises--we aren't presenting different content from what the title suggests, only a pared down version of the universe of possible options. The proper analogy is to List of leading Thoroughbred racehorses, which contains a list of leading Thoroughbred racehorses, but not all leading Thoroughbred racehorses. The undefeated horses section: "The list is not comprehensive for otherwise unnotable horses with five or fewer starts." The most wins arbitrarily stops around 60. The successive wins section says "The horses who were defeated but had ten or more consecutive race wins include..." Most wins in a season only includes those above 10, probably just because humans are biased towards powers of ten. Every section in that article has a cut off point, and that cut off point was made by editors, not sources. No source said "only horses with 60 wins get to be considered a leading Thoroughbred", and so editors have substituted their best judgement while basing the substance of the article on the general idea that "most wins" is a valid metric for determining a "leading" racehorse. I see the same thing happening here: the topic is notable, individual entries exist under the topic, and the entries are suitably sourced. Editors just need to determine a cut off point--that isn't SYNTH. Last point:
- Well, I guess the other editors involved don't believe it violates a rule then. Or at minimum, we are trusting our readers to understand that we aren't saying "only when a game is called 'the best' by six separate publications does it then become Objectively True that the game is the best of all time". Your second point does not actually solve the issue of whether or not we include a game at all if, say, it has only been called "the best" by a single publication. I would argue that given the amount of sourcing we have on this issue, it is a clear violation of DUE weight to include, say, California Games equal on a list to Ocarina of Time just because it was put on a single list by Gamespot. Is that inclusion verifiable? Yes. Does that inclusion accurately represent the breadth of sourcing and discussion about either California Games itself or the general list of games considered the greatest ever? Clearly no. (Of course, according to the CG article it made it onto another list in 1996, but that opens up another can of worms about DUE--how should we value inclusion on a single list in 1996? Does that accurately represent the breadth of sourcing and discussion about California Games's legacy or the modern understanding of games considered the greatest ever? Again, I'd argue clearly no.) Based on these points about DUE, it seems that you have to increase the standard for sourcing, and that overwhelmingly outweighs some soft SYNTH concerns. Alyo (chat·edits) 20:33, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
- I mean, its a rule we are supposed to follow regardless of how it effects another rule for one. Second, to address WP:WEIGHT, i'd propose simply listing numerically the amount of lists found. This would give a reader a clearer point of view of how the game stands within publications. Currently, the list also features excessive data such game genre, publishers and "original system" which do not appear to be some sources regardless. Andrzejbanas (talk) 18:17, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
- How would this not just recreate the issue on a greater number of pages? If we split the list into subpages, WP:DUE would still apply, and would still likely create situations where, to determine what is due weight, editors require a game to be featured by "multiple" sources. Let's say multiple is taken to mean three--you've recreated the exact same arbitrary standard, according to you, just at a different place. I don't quite understand your sentence
Your question about whether to adjust the lede section of the article is a good question to take to the article's talk page. For what it's worth, the lede in my view does a poor job explaining what a reader is going to find in the list itself.Novellasyes (talk) 15:55, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
- Second^. I'm not sure that I would integrate commentary into the list itself, but the lead could certainly be expanded. Alyo (chat·edits) 17:59, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
- No, definitely not into the list itself. Just in the lead or some subsection if necessary. Andrzejbanas (talk) 06:33, 13 December 2024 (UTC)
Use of rabbinic law literature in article on a Jewish ritual
I'm doing a GA review of the article on Kiddush levana, a Jewish ritual that has relatively little coverage in secondary journalistic or academic sources.
The article had relied largely on rabbinic law sources, including standard codes of religious law. These are primary sources. Nonetheless, much of the usage might meet the WP:PRIMARY policy conditions, such as: reputably published, used for statements of fact, not interpreting the facts, not the basis for the entire article. Many of these sources are in Hebrew and not available in translation afaik.
As a significant improvement, the article now makes extensive use of an article in the Encyclopedia Talmudit (ET) -- about 25 citations. While the ET assumes an Orthodox Jewish standpoint, it is a highly regarded secondary source and aims to present a variety of (Orthodox) views. The ET is also in Hebrew (afaik there's an English translation but I don't have access).
Questions:
- Are there any WP:RS objections to using Encyclopedia Talmudit extensively in this article? (There are sufficient other sources for notability, etc.)
- Is it acceptable to use rabbinic law sources, as long as the WP:PRIMARY conditions (above) are fulfilled?
- Is it acceptable to use multiple citations for specific sentences, so the reader can see both the ET article as well as the specific rabbinic sources that the ET mentions? (I think this will be helpful to many readers.)
Here's a question that's not about WP:RS, but related: For the rabbinic law sources, may Misplaced Pages citations rely on the standard format? Even in many academic texts, the citations do not mention the specific publisher or (re-)publication date of rabbinic sources. Thanks for your consideration and responsiveness. ProfGray (talk) 20:57, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
- There is somewhere an essay or policy called WP:RELIGIOUSTEXT. I don't remember actually what it's called. (That's a redlink). But I'd say ET looks reliable and good to use, as long as you keep it in mind that it's an Orthodox source so it shouldn't be used to write about secular topics or, may be biased when it comes to Orthodox views of secularism or other opinions that might be stated as fact from an Orthodox POV. But bottom line should be reliable for facts that aren't controversial or political, and for analysis that goes beyond that of a primary source as long as caution is used for potential biases. Andre🚐 21:04, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks. So far I've found: Template:Religious text primary. Not finding an essay or policy (though I vaguely remember one from long ago). Sounds like you answered my Q1 with support for ET use, which means the page can avoid this template. Any thoughts about q #3? ProfGray (talk) 21:19, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
- I agree that WP:CITEBUNDLEing or adding multiple cites to support the analysis with the primary source is a good idea. Andre🚐 21:23, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
- WP:RSPSCRIPTURE, perhaps? Or WP:RNPOV? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 08:38, 13 December 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks for those links, @Gråbergs Gråa Sång, but these rabbinic law sources are not scripture, so thankfully they've much less interpretive range and they're much easier to paraphrase factually. At this point, most key points based on such primary sources are backed up by Encyclopedia Talmudit. It's true the article depends heavily on Hebrew sources, but that's allowable. I will do a spot check, for GA review, and there are many other Hebrew-reading editors who can correct mistakes, as with any WP article. // Belated @Dovidroth ping. ProfGray (talk) 14:45, 13 December 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks. So far I've found: Template:Religious text primary. Not finding an essay or policy (though I vaguely remember one from long ago). Sounds like you answered my Q1 with support for ET use, which means the page can avoid this template. Any thoughts about q #3? ProfGray (talk) 21:19, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
Edits to “Game Science”
Discussion regarding Game Science has grown into an intense deadlock where the other editor insists that I have not read their arguments. I would appreciate your comment at Talk:Game Science#Interview-based edits. Aaron Liu (talk) 18:50, 13 December 2024 (UTC)
Jackal (character)
The article Jackal (The Day of the Jackal) seems to consist almost entirely of OR. As of the most recent edit as I'm writing this, of the 10 references, 8 are to the original text, 1 is to an article about the movie, and only 1 article actually has any coverage of the character separate from the film/book (though even there it's not even the primary topic). I considered nominating it for deletion, but I paused as the article has existed since 2006. It's hard to differentiate coverage of the character from the film so I'm not sure what the relevant guidelines here would be and would appreciate any advice on how to proceed. This is purely speculative, but it's also possible that there may be some COI editing from the TV network given there is a new series out now about this character. An edit I made removing some content that was unsourced and pure OR speculation about the character was reverted by an IP with zero edits before that, which came across as very odd to me and reminiscent of confirmed cases of COI editing from studios I've seen previously on other film/TV articles. 🌸wasianpower🌸 (talk • contribs) 19:05, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
- There's a guideline for writing about novel plots: Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Novels#Plot. I interpret that section to allow Wikipedians to forthrightly describe/state the plot of a novel without citing that out to external sources (other than the novel itself). In other words, it's not considered to be WP:OR to do that. But you have to do it well (as described in that section). The plot summary in the Jackal (The Day of the Jackal) could use improvement (and a lot of shortening) but that's a separate issue from whether it is WP:OR. My two cents. Novellasyes (talk) 22:19, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
- It definitely shouldn't be written like this, but there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of articles with sourcing this bad. If OR is removed, then it's the responsibility of the person restoring it to provide a reliable source with it, so you're in the right to challenge their restoration. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 23:14, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
- Plot summaries are meant to be concise, at the moment this is anything but concise. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested «@» °∆t° 14:01, 26 December 2024 (UTC)
SYNTH-edits at Team Seas
There's an ongoing thread Talk:Team Seas#Re: the ocean pollution additions on a contested edit to the article. The edit in question adds the reported amount of marine debris that enters the ocean from a 2015 study (years before Team Seas), and writes out the connection that This means that during the entire duration of the fundraiser, at least approximately 18,562,500,000 pounds (8,419,808,368 kg) of debris had entered the ocean (or about 61,875% more than what the fundraiser ended up removing).
There is clear consensus of a WP:SYNTH violation, as it's inferring a conclusion not explicitly mentioned by the source (that the fundraiser is futile in the grand scheme of things). However, the owning editor has repeatedly argued against the consensus that the others have not adequately shown that it falls under SYNTH, and is assuming bad-faith, stating others are WP:STONEWALLING any true discussion or being dishonest. Would someone mind reviewing the thread and giving their input? --ThomasO1989 (talk) 22:28, 27 December 2024 (UTC)
- See also this recent discussion at ANI. MrOllie (talk) 22:36, 27 December 2024 (UTC)
- Clearly SYNTH; also bludgeoning by this point. I've left this edit, which I hope will help resolve the situation. Mathglot (talk) 07:04, 29 December 2024 (UTC) (Non-administrator comment)
- When challenged provide a direct quote from the source that supports the (amended) proposed edit, it was dismissed with "I linked it, you can read it yourself." They have completely failed to comply with verifiability policy. The discussion has gone endlessly with multiple editors it's SYNTH and the editor responding "I disagree" with increasing patronization. As shown with the above linked ANI, the editor will not WP:DROPIT on their own accord, so would another party kindly review and potentially close the thread? ThomasO1989 (talk) 03:56, 30 December 2024 (UTC)
- Clearly SYNTH; also bludgeoning by this point. I've left this edit, which I hope will help resolve the situation. Mathglot (talk) 07:04, 29 December 2024 (UTC) (Non-administrator comment)
Marxism–Leninism–Maoism
Curious to hear opinions about this from editors who are more versed in what "synthesis" is and isn't on Misplaced Pages. I thought I knew but reading WP:NOR from top to bottom I'm not sure anymore. More details on article talk page.Prezbo (talk) 11:09, 7 January 2025 (UTC)
Excessive out-of-scope information and SYN on Esperance articles re traditional ownership
Editors are invited to comment at WT:WA § Excessive out-of-scope information and SYN on Esperance articles re traditional ownership on item (2) as to whether the statement that "Merivale are on the traditional land of the Njunga" is synthesis. Mitch Ames (talk) 12:49, 7 January 2025 (UTC)
Categories: