[Wikipedia-l] (no subject)

Sat Nov 23 18:25:49 UTC 2002

Eclectiology wrote:
>> Scientific method is asymptotic to truth, and I would also extend that
assertion to NPOV.  That a particular view is held by a significant
majority (either of the general public or of experts) does not magically
convert that opinion into fact.  Scientific method very fairly allows
for the possibility that eccentric views may ultimately be found valid;
nevertheless, these allowances only represent distant hopes.  Poker
players are not dealt royal flushes very frequently. <<

Just a short response to one point here: that majority opinion is fact
simply isn't the policy.  I think the current policy makes this clear.
"Fact" can be given the perfectly innocuous definition, "what everyone
believes" (note, "everyone" does not mean "a significant majority")
leaving "opinion" to stand for "a position on an issue about which there
is significant disagreement."

Yes, there's vagueness here: when is a disagreement "significant"?  What
if *one person* still believes the world is flat?  But I think we can work
out problem cases like these on an individual basis and use our judgment;
the upshot of policy has proven to be clear enough to be quite useful, I
think.

Larry
-- 
"We have now sunk to a depth at which the re-statement of the obvious is
the first duty of intelligent men." --George Orwell