4 ms·
Ask HN: Name of theory, people will not start something but will correct you?
Some months ago I followed a link on HN about a theory/philosophy which said that people in general will not contribute documentation/articles but will be the first to correct you should something be wrong. The article implied this was why Wikipedia was successful.
I am trying to get my team and the greater business to start documenting processes and procedures. I wanted to use this article/theory/principle to motivate my team to start documenting. Problem is I cannot find this article or name of the theory/principle and require your help with the name of the theory?
- applecore 12y agoCunningham's Law: The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer. Named after Ward Cunningham, the inventor of the wiki.
- mmsimanga 12y agoThank you!
- webmaven 12y agoLink: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cunningham's_Law http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cunningham's_Law However, you lose points for not actually posting a wrong answer.
- mmsimanga 12y agoLesson learned :-).
- rubiquity 12y agoIt would have been even more meta if the OP posted "The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is to ask questions."
- gizmo686 12y ago>Ward Cunningham, the inventor of the wiki Given the context, I feel obligated to "correct" you and point out that this is, in fact, correct. I googled it assuming you were deliberatly lieing.
- kromodor 12y agoWorks for me. Yet I also start with a lot of questions. We've tried something similar with one of our sites for digital marketing advice. Yet, maybe because of our delivery, but we didn't provoke engagement.
- pizza 12y agoMight want to check if there's research into armchair theorizing. Maybe start with econometrics papers ;)