Archive for March, 2007
Communication Projects Group
This week I have signed away another chunk of my life by helping to start up and offering to co-ordinate Wikimedia’s new Communication Projects Group, or comproj. This is great, because I’ve been interested in the Foundation and how it communicates for a while, so this is an excellent opportunity for me to do something useful for Wikimedia and also to learn some new skills. The Communications Committee has been dealing with press issues and the like for some time, however the Foundation’s newly-hired communications manager, Sandra Ordonez, has plans to get this secondary group set up for less time-sensitive tasks and those that require a larger slice of the community. My job is going to be hopping around and trying to keep people organised, which takes some work off the shoulders of Sandy. At the moment it’s all about recruiting, but I think we can start doing some good work very soon.
I think that this, coupled with my work as a member of the e-mail response team, allows me to call myself a volunteer for the Foundation, since I’m working more for Wikimedia than Wikipedia; the latter was where I got started. This is of course not too important, but I think it’s a good idea to have a title when asked for one by real life people, not so much online.
Catalysts
I’d like to spend a little time advocating the catalyst philosophy for resolving disputes on the Internet, and indeed in real life. It’s something that Rob Levin, founder of freenode originally developed (along with others) for IRC and I find it very effective. It’s also extremely valuable for resolving disputes on-wiki, and I try to apply it to pretty much all situations of possible conflict on the Internet. I have a copy pinned on my wall, and have it linked from my user talk pages in the hope that other people might use it too.
At the core of the document is the dedication to use words and gentle nudges rather than force, such as a block or kline. IRC can seem extremely harsh towards new users sometimes and the environment of projects can seem equally dangerous, especially if people read the blocking policy before the civility one. By working with words disputes can avoid spiralling, and overall this promotes a friendlier enviroment – as long as gaming of the system is avoided.
Of course, this philosophy is nothing new, but the famed document is particularly good at giving hints and strategies to those who want to implement the strategy who don’t really know how to do so. It’s inspirational for those who are still using older methods, and I’d really love it if more people who start using it. That’s why I will always promote and link to where I can the catalyst strategy for solving disputes, in order that we can make the Internet a better place.
Wiki-policy links: Assume good faith, civility
freenode links: SportChick’s blog post, catalyst documentation, channel guidelines
Art vs. science
I thought it might be a nice idea to add more philosophical comments to my blog, because attempts at political commentary failed, as you may have noticed. I would therefore like to have a go at discussing art and science: which is more worthwhile? Note that art is first only due to the alphabet.
I am of the opinion that logic is in everything around us and that chaos describes a situation that we haven’t fully understood yet. Even if we know precisely why something appears to be moving chaotically, all it means is that certain forces have been applied in certain ways or whatever may have caused it. For example, take flipping a coin: it is not random, as many forces act on the coin, choosing the outcome. This had led a friend of mine to the conclusion that probability is an illusion and statistics is a waste of time because you apparently cannot accurately define probability – the 50% probability for that coin, for example, is an impossibility.
Many people argue that the renaissance man or polymath concept is the best way to intellectually proceed and develop oneself, and this involves an acceptance of a form of art on top of other things. I have no objection to this, but what I do contend with is the notion that art somehow encompasses both, with is the opposite of my logic theory. Philosophy, on the other hand, is supposed to encompass both of these and on this note I fall down because I am interested in this.
So, should I develop an interest in art (other than the little I have right now) in order to better myself, or is there no reason to?
Surprising comments
I had a comment in real life regarding my last post and it was rather a surprise. I thought I may blog about it further and perhaps explain some related philosophical musings. I’m learning a lot about this kind of thing at the moment and because knowledge is power, I wish to be able to look back on this to consolidate it all, and therefore make the best use of it.
A friend of mine who I have got to know quite well in the dull boredom of ICT recently noted that he was ‘touched’ by my latest post. Evidentally I was shocked due to the fact that so few people read my blog and even less so from real life. We discussed the precise nature of the situation that he described throughout the lesson and, eventually, came to a strange conclusion: he is of the opinion that I am one of the most popular people in the year. My opinion of this has always been that I don’t really care, but for purely factual purposes I (thought I) knew that I was pretty looked down upon, despite the fact I spend a lot of time looking down on the rest of the school. However, as noted in my previous post, this seems to have changed in the past year or so.
He then struck back by saying that he thinks I care about my reputation/what others think of me more than I let on. I think he is probably right here from his perspective, but not right in terms of what I actually think, because I think I give out a rather different picture. Essentially I have very few social inhibitions, and aside from moral principles which are always maintained, I don’t mind making a fool of myself (exceptions are grammatical/factual errors etc.).
But don’t think any of this means I am going to start proactively changing anything! I’m just commenting on what I see happening around me, as it seems to work out for the best.