Do you think the point of adding nuclear close calls isn’t to move public policy into a direction that’s less likely to produce a nuclear accident? That’s a political purpose. It’s not party political but it’s political.
Of course I believe it serves that purpose. I also believe that the most recent edit in all of Wikipedia at my time of writing, deleting a paragraph from the article on Leanna Cavanagh (a character from some British TV show I’d never heard of) serves to decrease the prominence of that TV show, which will weaken whatever message or themes it carries (such as bringing attention to Yorkshire, where the show is set).
So, this is an empty criticism.
Similarly, I don’t know who “the account behind the edit you point to” is since I linked to two different revisions both of which cover edits by multiple authors, but I checked the edit history of one of them, user Simfish (whose real life identity I shan’t reveal at this moment). He has a bunch of edits on the “Timeline of Nordstrom” article, and I don’t know what that has to do with EA.
I’m not sure this conversation has any more productive purpose. You keep on harping on a specific defense of Wikipedia culture that any hostility encountered by my peers is justified because we were a paid special interest group. I’ve stated several reasons why those justifications did not apply at the time hostility was first encountered. I see you continuing to try to find ways to make those criticisms apply. Needless to say, this is a silly battle since I’m the one with all the details.
I can say that this experience is not leaving me any more desirous of editing Wikipedia, so I’m at least one person with whom you’ve not yet succeeded in your original goal.
Edit: Okay, I just found Simfish (and his real name) on a list of people whom Vipul paid, and found that Vipul Naki’s timeframe overlapped with the FLI group. I have to partly retract the details behind my thesis above. I can still make it because I do not recognize anyone else on Vipul’s list having a Boston/FLI connection.
Edit 2: Neither of these articles appear on the list of articles sponsored by Vipul.
I also believe that the most recent edit in all of Wikipedia at my time of writing, deleting a paragraph from the article on Leanna Cavanagh (a character from some British TV show I’d never heard of) serves to decrease the prominence of that TV show, which will weaken whatever message or themes it carries (such as bringing attention to Yorkshire, where the show is set).
While bringing less attention to Yorkshire might be an effect of the edit, it’s not the purpose of the edit. Purpose is about intent. FLI is an organization that has a mission. Part of that mission is to get governments to act better in regards towards X-risk.
So, this is an empty criticism.
My point here isn’t criticism. It’s understanding why the thing that happened happened.
I personally have no problem with either what Vipul did or what FLI did here. If you however want to understand why there was the opposition that’s there and edit in a way that’s less likely to face opposition it makes sense to understand why the scenario played out the way it did.
Edit 2: Neither of these articles appear on the list of articles sponsored by Vipul.
“Your edit can be rejected because of collateral damage from some conflict you are not a party to” is an instance of “benign edits are rejected for arcane reasons”, not a refutation of it.
“Edits may be rejected for reasons that are not reasonably predictable by the editor and unrelated to the quality of the edit” is, in fact, a model of how edits are treated. And it’s useful in deciding whether editing is likely to work.
There are two things here. The first one is that I’m asking people to voice their opinion on talk pages which is a different category of action then making edits to Wikipedia articles directly.
If an EA organization wants to edit Wikipedia, understanding the relationship between the EA community overall and Wikipedia is something that’s achieveable and that then allows predicting the related effects.
Of course I believe it serves that purpose. I also believe that the most recent edit in all of Wikipedia at my time of writing, deleting a paragraph from the article on Leanna Cavanagh (a character from some British TV show I’d never heard of) serves to decrease the prominence of that TV show, which will weaken whatever message or themes it carries (such as bringing attention to Yorkshire, where the show is set).
So, this is an empty criticism.
Similarly, I don’t know who “the account behind the edit you point to” is since I linked to two different revisions both of which cover edits by multiple authors, but I checked the edit history of one of them, user Simfish (whose real life identity I shan’t reveal at this moment). He has a bunch of edits on the “Timeline of Nordstrom” article, and I don’t know what that has to do with EA.
I’m not sure this conversation has any more productive purpose. You keep on harping on a specific defense of Wikipedia culture that any hostility encountered by my peers is justified because we were a paid special interest group. I’ve stated several reasons why those justifications did not apply at the time hostility was first encountered. I see you continuing to try to find ways to make those criticisms apply. Needless to say, this is a silly battle since I’m the one with all the details.
I can say that this experience is not leaving me any more desirous of editing Wikipedia, so I’m at least one person with whom you’ve not yet succeeded in your original goal.
Edit: Okay, I just found Simfish (and his real name) on a list of people whom Vipul paid, and found that Vipul Naki’s timeframe overlapped with the FLI group. I have to partly retract the details behind my thesis above. I can still make it because I do not recognize anyone else on Vipul’s list having a Boston/FLI connection.
Edit 2: Neither of these articles appear on the list of articles sponsored by Vipul.
While bringing less attention to Yorkshire might be an effect of the edit, it’s not the purpose of the edit. Purpose is about intent. FLI is an organization that has a mission. Part of that mission is to get governments to act better in regards towards X-risk.
My point here isn’t criticism. It’s understanding why the thing that happened happened.
I personally have no problem with either what Vipul did or what FLI did here. If you however want to understand why there was the opposition that’s there and edit in a way that’s less likely to face opposition it makes sense to understand why the scenario played out the way it did.
That doesn’t mean they weren’t collateral damage.
“Your edit can be rejected because of collateral damage from some conflict you are not a party to” is an instance of “benign edits are rejected for arcane reasons”, not a refutation of it.
It sounds to me like you are interested into judgement while I’m interested in useful mental models to engage in action.
“Edits may be rejected for reasons that are not reasonably predictable by the editor and unrelated to the quality of the edit” is, in fact, a model of how edits are treated. And it’s useful in deciding whether editing is likely to work.
There are two things here. The first one is that I’m asking people to voice their opinion on talk pages which is a different category of action then making edits to Wikipedia articles directly.
If an EA organization wants to edit Wikipedia, understanding the relationship between the EA community overall and Wikipedia is something that’s achieveable and that then allows predicting the related effects.