[Novalug] OT - Wikipedia and the art of censorship

[Pete Nuwayser]

On 8/19/07, gregory pryzby <greg at pryzby.org> wrote:

<...>

> You don't know 'the rest of the story'(tm) in most situations. In the
> case if Wikipedia, it is possible to hear the opposing side, or maybe
> it is someone with an 'axe to grind'.

It allows for the variations to be easily added without causing
political problems for the publisher (in theory, I guess) or a
reprint.  Not everybody agrees on the name of what many refer to as
the American Civil War, but (a) there is a whole section on the
different names and (b) if you look up "War of Northern Aggression"
there is a disambiguity (sp?) section, because that phrase is used to
describe not only the American Civil War but also the Mexican-American
war.

> What is truth?

Word.  I think an important new question is, "what are truths?"  How
does a society account for, publish, absorb and digest the
(possibility of) multiple truths about the same thing?  When you have
figured that out, how does something like this affect tolerance and
harmony?

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Muhammad&action=history

Pete



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