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That a binary distinction between "fringe" and "consensus" is nonsense and that trying to have a "debate manual" to argue with people holding "fringe views" is
by constantcrying 1y ago
That a binary distinction between "fringe" and "consensus" is nonsense and that trying to have a "debate manual" to argue with people holding "fringe views" is just ridiculous.
- dwaltrip 1y agoWhat policy would you recommend for something like Wikipedia? Obviously, you can’t let people post whatever they want.
- constantcrying 1y agoMy recommendation is that this is treated on a case by case basis, rather than any determination whether a belief is "fringe", and that if any position is platformed, it is platformed together with how it is viewed by those who advocate for it and against it. In the case of flat earth it should be made clear that it is not a legitimate view, that nobody with any legitimacy or authority believes in it. I also gave the example of purely functional software development, which is also a fringe view. There it should be made clear that it is a legitimate view on software development, even if the majority of academia and industry disagrees with it. I also recommend to not have debate manuals on how to debate people who try to push nonsense into Wikipedia.