Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 21:32, 27 December 2012

Welcome!

Hello, Ken McRitchie, and welcome to Misplaced Pages! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Misplaced Pages:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! Benon 00:21, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

Thoughts on astrology box design

Hi Ken As someone who recently gave thoughts on the project boxes - would you mind checking this and giving me your thoughts?

Thanks http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Astrology#Proposed_change_for_astrology_box — Preceding unsigned comment added by Zachariel (talk • contribs) 22:26, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

Done, Thanks. Ken McRitchie (talk) 17:25, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

Psychological Astrology

Hi Ken, thank you for comments on psychological astrology on the Astrology Discussion Page. I just want to let you know that I am currently editing the Misplaced Pages page on Psychological Astrology. The page needs serious editing and improved citation and any suggestions or edits would be most welcome. Robert Currey talk 17:38, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for notifying me Robert Currey. I'll have a look later to offer clarifications or suggestions. Ken McRitchie (talk) 17:31, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

MakeSense64 AN/I

Ken, thank you for your support in connection with my complaint. This is to let you know that I have since seen a more constructive side to this user and being an optimist, I have decided not to take the issue any further for the time being. Robert Currey talk 16:56, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

No problem, it seems to be working out and you seem to have a better knowledge of the the more obscure rules and nuances than I do. There is no doubt that MakeSense64 has kept me on my toes and has motivated me to work ever harder, and that is not a bad thing. I enjoy a good discussion and that's why I find astrology so interesting. I've been studying astrology for over 30 years, though I'm not a professional astrologer. To me it's all about dispelling ignorance. Ken McRitchie (talk) 23:57, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

To have editors representing both sides of an argument is important to get a good article about a controversial topic. To label an editor as 'constructive' whenever he agrees with you, and 'disruptive' when he has a different opinion, that does not assume good faith WP:AGF and points to an editor who thinks he is always right about everything.

Editing WP should not be about 'dispelling ignorance'. All we are supposed to do is report in a neutral way about what we can find and verify about the topic. That's why editors on all sides of the topic are needed to get a result that represents all sides and thus approaches NPOV.

It is of course not making sense that I am being blamed for the problems on the page. I have only put it on my watchlist a month ago or so, and obviously that article has had problems for years already. The recent discussions on the Talk page have only served to burn out and remove most or all editors that are not pro-astrology. The straw poll was flawed..

So, editors like Peter Strempel are throwing in the towel, and others including me are now mostly sitting back and watching the parade. This gives some editors what they want, but for how long? A page on WP is never finished and other editors will come along.. MakeSense64 (talk) 08:14, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

MakeSense64, The "dispelling ignorance" has a lot to do with verifying the references and including key missing references. Ken McRitchie (talk) 17:45, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Great work

		The Original Barnstar
		You did great work on the Astrology page! -- Zac Δ 21:09, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

Let me know when you're back. Hope your trip went well. -- Zac Δ 21:10, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

Proposed edit for Astrology

I am making all recent contributors to the Astrology article and its discussion page aware of a proposed amendment to the text which discusses the 1976 'Objections to astrology' and the relevance of Carl Sagan's reaction. This is in response to the comments, criticisms and suggestions that have been made on the published text, with the hope of finding a solution acceptable to all. Your opinion would be very welcome.

The proposal is here.

Thanks, -- Zac Δ 15:39, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

Astrology edit summary

Hi Ken,

I just wanted to let you know that there is in fact such a thing as a good faith edit, and in fact, "Revert Good faith Edit by..." is one of two default edit summaries when using WP:TWINKLE to WP:ROLLBACK. Also, the edit summary should comment on the content of the edit, not the previous edit summary used in a change. I would not have reverted you either way, but it's best to use a content based edit summary so that I and others can understand the reasoning for the edit. Thanks. Nformation 20:09, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

November 2011

Your recent editing history at Astrology shows that you are in danger of breaking the three-revert rule, or that you may have already broken it. An editor must not perform more than three reverts on a single page within a 24-hour period. Undoing another editor's work—whether in whole or in part, whether involving the same or different material each time—counts as a revert. Breaking the three-revert rule often leads to a block. If you wish to avoid being blocked, instead of reverting, please use the article's talk page to discuss the changes; work towards a version that represents consensus among editors. You can post a request for help at a relevant noticeboard or seek dispute resolution. In some cases, you may wish to request temporary page protection. You may still be blocked for edit warring even if you do not exceed the technical limit of the three-revert rule if your behavior indicates that you intend to continue to revert repeatedly. Yobol (talk) 22:58, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

Edit warring

For continued edit warring, I have notified administrators here despite the warning to not edit war. Yobol (talk) 23:14, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

Template:Z10

The Arbitration Committee has permitted administrators to impose discretionary sanctions (information on which is at Misplaced Pages:Arbitration Committee/Discretionary sanctions) on any editor who is active on pages broadly related to pseudoscience. Discretionary sanctions can be used against an editor who repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Misplaced Pages, any expected standards of behavior, or any normal editorial process. If you engage in further inappropriate behavior in this area, you may be placed under sanctions, which can include blocks, a revert limitation, or an article ban. The Committee's full decision can be read in the Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/Pseudoscience#Final decision section of the decision page. Please familiarise yourself with the information page at Misplaced Pages:Arbitration Committee/Discretionary sanctions, with the appropriate sections of Misplaced Pages:Arbitration Committee/Procedures, and with the case decision page.

NW (Talk) 03:48, 6 November 2011 (UTC)

It takes two to edit war. Were all the edit warriors blocked? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 14:31, 6 November 2011 (UTC)

Sometimes you need to press a point. For the record, here is the clarification, in conformance with WP:NPOV, WP:FRINGE, WP:UNDUE, WP:WEIGHT, and WP:PARITY that certain editors wanted to censor from the article:

Criticisms of Carlson's study have been published in astrological and other fringe journals. These arguments range from faulty design and conclusion by Professor Hans Eysenck (1986) and Professor Joseph Vidmar (2008) to claims that the data provides statistically significant evidence favoring the astrologers by Professor Suitbert Ertel (2009).

Professor Eysenck in particular was a major contributor to the type scientific factor analysis used in the CPI, which Carlson, a physics student with no background in psychology, used in his famous experiment. This makes Eysenck an authority and his criticism of the experiment and its conclusions worthy of inclusion and the interest of WP users. http://en.wikipedia.org/Two-factor_models_of_personality "Hans Eysenck (1916–1997) was one of the first psychologists to analyze personality differences using a psycho-statistical method (factor analysis)." Ken McRitchie (talk) 21:15, 6 November 2011 (UTC)

RfC on Astrology

Because you have participated in a related RfC on this article, or have recently contributed to it, you are hereby informed that your input would be highly appreciated on the new RfC here: ]. Thank you! Dominus Vobisdu (talk) 16:58, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

Changing policy to suit himself

I think I've had my fill of Misplaced Pages - too much twisted and unpleasant stuff going on here, but I saw your comments in the Addey and Houlding discussion and thought you might want to notice that the proposing editor has now edited the WP:Fringe policy guidelines to suit his own argument on what they should apply to. Regards Logical 1 (talk) 23:28, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

Wolfie essentially closed a loophole that would technically allow a fringe subject to not fall under the purview of WP:FRINGE because the subject itself may be fringe but not specifically a theory. It's clear that the spirit of fringe is meant to apply to fringe subjects in general but it was written only to apply to the theories themselves. Though I can't imagine an argument that would gain any traction on WP against this idea, after I made this change on August 27 I started a discussion. Throughout the course of the discussion new wording was proposed and edited in by Wolfie on October 7th, further clarifying my wording; note that the page has 230 watchers and afair there were no reverts of the additions after having had ample time to be considered. As an aside, note that a new discussion has been started recently by an editor proclaiming that the wording should be clarified even further. If you have objections you are welcome to join that discussion. Sædon 23:47, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

December 2012

Your recent editing history at Astrology shows that you are currently engaged in an edit war. Being involved in an edit war can result in you being blocked from editing—especially if you violate the three-revert rule, which states that an editor must not perform more than three reverts on a single page within a 24-hour period. Undoing another editor's work—whether in whole or in part, whether involving the same or different material each time—counts as a revert. Also keep in mind that while violating the three-revert rule often leads to a block, you can still be blocked for edit warring—even if you don't violate the three-revert rule—should your behavior indicate that you intend to continue reverting repeatedly.

To avoid being blocked, instead of reverting please consider using the article's talk page to work toward making a version that represents consensus among editors. See BRD for how this is done. You can post a request for help at a relevant noticeboard or seek dispute resolution. In some cases, you may wish to request temporary page protection. You know better than to edit war. Please stop. Sædon 23:12, 25 December 2012 (UTC)

A kitten for you!

Good luck with your editing. If you need any help in the future, feel free to drop by my page. All the best,

  — Jess· Δ♥ 21:32, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

1. Eysenck, H.J. (1986). "Critique of 'A double-blind test of astrology'". Astrological Journal. xviii (3). {{cite journal}}: Text "“The conclusion does not follow from the data”" ignored (help)
2. Vidmar, Joseph (2008). "A Comprehensive Review of the Carlson Astrology Experiments". Correlation. 26 (1).
3. Ertel, Suitbert (2009). "Appraisal of Shawn Carlson's Renowned Astrology Tests" (PDF). Journal of Scientific Exploration. 23 (2): 125–137.