Re: Norman Wikipedia: dialect silliness


Jens S. Larsen wrote:
dylanwhsung@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx skrev:

If you were trying to support your argument in
some matter by referring to Wiki, then one day, it will agree with you,
and some time later, the wording will be different and whatever it was
you wanted from it, has been excised or rewritten or the nuance has
changed.

Again, that's not different from paper encyclopedias, except for the
speed.

'Except for the speed'? You make it sound as if it's a minor, almost
cosmetic difference. In fact the speed of responsiveness and feedback
into the system is crucial - it's what gives wikipedia almost all its
unique characteristics. The gradual and long-drawn-out nature of the
equivalent process in the case of paper encyclopedias cannot simply be
the same process in slow-motion, because it is not the case that all
the elements in the system (readers' views, experiences, thought
processes) are proportionally slowed down. The longer gestation period
for paper encyclopedias inevitably irons out ephemeral variations.
Wikipedia's mismatch with a true or total representation of knowledge
is not, perhaps, greater than that of trad encyclopedias, but it is
rather different.

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