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User talk:Beyond My Ken

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Beyond My Ken (talk | contribs) at 20:36, 17 April 2015 (When I start getting advice on how to edit from incompetent editors, it's time to clear the decks). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 20:36, 17 April 2015 by Beyond My Ken (talk | contribs) (When I start getting advice on how to edit from incompetent editors, it's time to clear the decks)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
It is The Reader that we should consider on each and every edit we make to Misplaced Pages.

(Thanks to Alan Liefting)

When determining what course of action should be taken about a disruptive, tendentious or bothersome editor, the primary concern – more important than precedents, consistency, fairness or even AGF – is which option will best serve the building of an encyclopedia.

Beyond My Ken

" are characterized by personality traits that fall in the so-called Dark Tetrad: Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate and deceive others), narcissism (egotism and self-obsession), psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy), and sadism (pleasure in the suffering of others)."

Chris Mooney
"Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People"
Slate (February 14, 2014)
citing research by Erin E. Buckels, Paul D. Trapnellb and Delroy L. Paulhusc

We all tend to take Misplaced Pages much too seriously. It's certainly important to provide a free first-class online encyclopedia for the public, and no one can dispute how central Misplaced Pages has become to people searching for accurate, unbiased information, but there's little excuse for the bitterness, in-fighting and bitchiness with which many people approach editing here, which makes the experience difficult and unpleasant at times. I am generally in favor of removing the worst of those transgressors permanently, which, of course, leaves me open to the charge of not assuming good faith. Actually, I have little trouble assuming good faith, I simply refuse to keep the assumption alive in the face of evidence of misbehavior.

Beyond My Ken

"Beware of the 'innocent' man who plays his part too well."

Old theatrical proverb
(made up by me)

"Having an open mind doesn't mean you have to let your brains fall out."

James Oberg (paraphrased)
via Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World (1995)

"A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing."

William James (attributed)

"He used . . . sarcasm.
Oh, he knew all the tricks, dramatic irony, metaphor,
bathos, puns, parody, litotes and satire."

"The Piranha Brothers"
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Episode 14, "Face the Press"
(15 September 1970)

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof
is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."

Douglas Adams
Mostly Harmless
(1992)

Misplaced Pages is a project to create and improve an online encyclopedia which is as accurate and as useful to its readers as possible. It is not an MMORPG, a debating society or an experiment to create the ideal online community. Activities which do not, in some direct or closely indirect way, contribute to that goal are a waste of the project's resources and should be minimized as much as possible.

Beyond My Ken

- Learn the lesson that collectively, Misplaced Pages doesn't want to be saved, it's not even very concerned about being fixed. It is quite happy being what it is, flawed or not.

- Most importantly: Stay uninvolved, learn not to care.

Beyond My Ken
excerpt from "A personal prescription for surviving Misplaced Pages"
A bad penny always turns up.

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