TomReagan90

Deeply unconvinced at this stage by the utility of Wikipedia with regards to contemporary political issues - particularly biographies of political or politicized individuals.

Wikipedia editors seem to make scant distinction between notability and notoriousness, fame and infamy, between success in one's given field versus appearances on daytime television, twitter wars, and/or passing mentions in mass media, blogs, tabloids, etc.

Creating enough such articles (on esteemed journalists/academics in their field) to achieve some semblance of balance with the masses of articles on fringe Twitter-famous "journalists", would take many hundreds of hours of unpaid labor. Which I'm beginning to appreciate is a systemic problem - those people who are most qualified to determine who is most worthy of Wiki bios in contentious political areas, are incredibly unlikely to be the same people willing to spend hundreds of hours editing Wikipedia. More importantly, I have been a journalist and researcher for 11 years and I don't write for unreliable/compromised outlets on the principle that doing so would lend them additional credibility. I'm hardly going to devote hundreds of hours of my free time to composing articles as extensive as the one on say, (redacted), when I fear that doing so would put those esteemed journalists/academics on a level pegging with fringe publicity hungry hacks such as her. At this point, it appears to me that it's better that serious journalists not have their reputations sullied by the appearance of a Wikipedia article under their name, less they be mistaken for twitter celebs. TomReagan90 (talk) 02:01, 9 May 2021 (UTC)

I think the project is gone as far as contentious, controversial issues go. There simply needs to be editorial oversight and fact-checkers for articles such as these (and I haven't even begun to look at topics even more sensitive such as various claims and denials of genocide, etc). Otherwise we have absolute messes like this article, which will never be encyclopedic. And there's tonnes of these articles, literally an infinite supply. As soon as someone pops up and goes viral on social media, hits the news, if it's a left/right thing in the US, then immediately an article is produced with greater content and scrutiny than freakin' Montesquieu! Am I the only person who's ever attempted to edit Wikipedia that is bothered by this? Andy Ngo is, according to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, more notable than the guy whose theories literally originated some of the most fundamental principles of the modern constitutional liberal democracy... the freakin' Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu! Unless admins step in, this madness, this slow but steady deterioration of the Wiki Project, will only get worse as mob rule and the "Twitterization" of Wikipedia becomes further entrenched. TomReagan90 (talk) 13:51, 2 July 2021 (UTC)

And I haven't even yet begun to look at the articles about deeply contentious issues themselves (ongoing wars, international territorial disputes, etc). Imagine what fury would be unleashed if I or another new editor who tried to adhere to the most strict principles of editorial objectivity, started to make edits on Chinese politics, or Israel-Palestine? I'm afraid one would get sucked into a rabbit hole that could have a potentially disastrous effect on one's work productivity!.... not to mention sanity.

This user is an academic.

This user has published peer-reviewed articles in academic journals.

This user teaches at a university or other institution of higher education.

BA

This user has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy.

PgD

This user has a Postgraduate diploma in Secondary Education

MA

This user has a Master of Arts degree in World History.

PhD(c)

This user is a doctoral student in History.

This user is an idiot, and (s)he is proud of that.

The New Yorker

This user reads The New Yorker.

LRB

This user reads the London Review of Books.

ACADEMIC JOURNAL

This user has had his/her work published in an academic journal.

This user has had numerous articles published in newspapers and magazines

BOOK

This user is working on publishing a book.

10,000

This user believes in the 10,000 hour rule.

This user studies the Zen Philosophy.

This user is a practicing Stoic.

This user enjoys philosophy.

This user enjoys reading anything.

This user prefers
non-fiction.

This user enjoys classic literature

This user enjoys reading post-apocalyptic fiction.

This user is interested in Gothic literature.

This user likes to read reference books, like encyclopedias and atlases.

This user believes that "all the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players".

This user is addicted to travel.

This user is of Iranian descent.

This user is a Hopeless Philosopher.

~(p&~p)

This user studies the concept of logic.

This user believes in logic.

This user knows that
Facts Matter

This user knows that
Empathy Matters.

This user is a compatibilist who argues that "man can do what he wills, but he cannot will what he wills".

This user is a Minimalist.

{User:One/Userboxes/User skeptic3}}

This user believes science, practiced through the scientific method, is the
most reliable way of determining the
nature of reality.

This user is a naturalist who believes only natural laws and forces operate in the universe.

This user is a freethinker.

This user is an empiricist who believes knowledge is subject to continued revision and falsification.

This user believes in materialism, the belief that everything that exists is made of matter.

This user believes truth is adaequatio intellectus et rei, or something like that.

Grossman Misquote

This user is aware that complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers.

DEATH

This Wikipedian believes that there is nothing after death.

Friedrich Nietzsche has
influenced this user.

This user is influenced by the philosophy of Diogenes.

道

This user uses no way as Way.

This user enjoys classical music.

This user enjoys early music.

This user enjoys sacred music.

This user is a cinephile.

This user thinks Charlize Theron is perfect.

This user is fan of Gal Gadot

For me, Greta Garbo is... divine.

Lynch

This user is a fan of David Lynch's films.

This user is a fan of Quentin Tarantino's films.

This user is a fan of
French films

User:EVula/Userboxes/Indies}}

This user is a history buff.

This user is interested in ancient Egypt.

This user is interested in ancient Canaan.

This user is interested in the Achaemenid Dynastic Empire.

This user is interested in the Median Empire

This user is interested in ancient Persia.

This user is interested in Ancient Greece.

This user is interested in the ancient Celts.

This user is interested in the Roman Republic.

This user is interested in
Hellenistic Greece

This user is interested in the Byzantine Empire

This user is interested in the
Sasanian Dynastic Empire.

This user is interested in the history of the Tang Empire.

This user is interested in the Islamic Caliphates.

This user is interested in the Ottoman Empire.

This user is interested in the
Serbian Empire

This user is interested in the
Safavid dynasty.

This user is interested in the Habsburg Empire.

This user is interested in the Dutch Empire.

This user is interested in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

This user is interested in flags and emblems.

This user is a fan of French football.

This user supports Les Bleus

CFC

This user supports
Celtic FC

This user reminisces of the Politehnica Timişoara.

SM

This user is a Spartak Moscow supporter.

Tom

This user is a Tom Tomsk supporter.

This user supports Orlovi

KL

This user is a Karpaty Lviv supporter.

PSG

This user supports Paris Saint-Germain.

TFC

This user is a Toulouse supporter.

This user supports
FC St. Pauli

This user is interested in the history of the Anarchist Movement.

This user is always fascinated as they search their family history and build a family tree to see what black sheep will turn up next.

This user is interested in Economic History

This user is interested in classical mythology.

This user is interested in the Baroque period.

This user is interested in revolutions.

This user is interested in the
French Revolution

This user is interested in the
Russian Revolution.

This user is interested in the Kronstadt Uprising.

User:Fitzcarmalan/Userboxes/Iranian Revolution

This user is interested in
Human Prehistory

This user is interested in Late Antiquity.

This user is interested in the
Middle Ages

This user is interested in the scientific revolution.

This user is a child of the Enlightenment.

This user is interested in
Russian History

This user is interested in the history of the Cold War.

This user is interested in Jewish Eastern European History

This user is interested in contemporary history.

This user is interested in the life and times of Alexander the Great.

This user is interested in the life and times of Peter the Great.

This user studies the life, works and legacy of José Rizal

This user is very interested in Napoleon.

This user does not support the judgment of historical figures by modern standards.

This user likes Thomas Paine.

This user greatly admires
and respects
Thomas Jefferson
for inspiring revolutions
around the world.

This user greatly admires
Abraham Lincoln.

This user is interested in linguistics.

Majority Usage
=
Correct Grammar

This user recognizes that if most people make the same grammatical "mistake", it ceases to be a mistake and becomes proper grammar, for grammar has no immutable or moral "right" or "wrong" and "correct grammar" is determined by majority usage.