[Wikipedia-l] Wikipedia moderators and moral authority

Mon Nov 11 22:48:59 UTC 2002

Ed Poor wrote:

> If a school principal requires a student to remove
> graffiti which says "Aron 151" from other students'
> lockers in the hallway, does this harm the student?

It is harmful to the student in many ways.

First, it causes the destruction of the "Aron 151"
embelishment, which was presumably of value to the
student.

Second, the time the student wastes removing the
graffiti in question is time that could have been more
valuably spent by painting "Aron 151" tags in other
places.

Third, it can cause there to be a perception that the
principal has greater "authority" than the student.

> Enforcing a "do not harm others" rule is not
> inherently harmful.

The rule *may* be reasonable, but who defines "harm"? 

Ed Poor

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