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Hi,<br>
<br>
I have once made a comparison between the process of adopting a UN
resolution and negotiating terminology or phrasing on Wikipedia (see
attached png file). Maybe I even presented this comparison slide in
Bangalore. Rereading it, I must admit it is not accurate enough, but
the point was to draw the line between two essentially different
decision-making systems that were meant to serve different purposes.
The UN is supposed to be a kind of international parliament, i.e. it is
a political body that reaches politically motivated decisions in a
democratic way. Its methods are far from being perfect, but that's
idea. Wikipedia, on the other hand, set its goal at providing
information, hence democratically deciding upon an article's phrasing
is inadequate. Wikipedia, and similar projects, should practice
pluralism rather than democracy (the two concepts are similar but not
identical).<br>
<br>
Apparently, there is a trend on en-wp to move toward the UN-model. Take
a look here: <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/Israeli_settlements"><b>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/Israeli_settlements<br>
</b></a>The issue is a political mind field. I have been following the
contributions of the editor who opened this discussion, and it is quite
obvious that he is politically motivated. It is therefore unsurprising
that he pied-piped the rest of the debaters into a UN-like discussion.
He presented a statement and called a vote. The voters in favor are
mostly people who frequently cooperate with him. Interestingly enough,
the claim that this method of debating does not serve the purpose of
Wikipedia (whether the initiator of the discussion is right or wrong)
is left quite faint, not endorsed or even argued with by anyone.<br>
<br>
Dror K<br>
<br>
PS - Many people get tired of the ME conflict. I can't blame them, but
it is easier to talk about one's own toothache than about the dental
problems of people on another part of the world. If anyone wants to
respond using a different example from another geopolitical conflict or
from a different field altogether, please do.<br>
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