About me
I am not an administrator. I am a regular Wikipedia user.
I am from the South, and thus can provide insight to Southern topics, including Southern history, geography, and culture (with particular emphasis on the eastern half of the South - Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as well as the eastern half of Alabama).
I can contribute extensively to many topics including ceiling fans, pipe organs, Sacred Harp, Independent Fundamental Baptist churches, Jargon of The Rush Limbaugh Show, various Ford trucks, red clay soil, shellac, single-pane windows, historically-accurate Victorican-through-Art Deco-era Southern building restoration and interior decoration, wood finishing, gun rights, the Confederacy, segregation, racism, the U.S. government/civics, and a handful of other random things.
In order to retain some online privacy, and because there are plenty of bigoted editors here who will judge the validity of my arguments based on my personal attributes and physical apperance instead of their content, there are no other personal details I will divulge about myself. So no userboxes here!
My Wiki philosophy
I am a big fan of the "Ignore All Rules" policy, and feel it is not interpreted or applied broadly enough - there are a lot of little policy-nazis here on Wikipedia, who operate with their heads in the sand, can't see the forest for the trees, and miss the big picture...they think we're here to create a monument to policy, regardless of whether strict and unyielding adherence to written policies means that the articles suffer as the result. I believe that the purpose of Wikipedia is to help the average man, by providing the sum of the world's practical knowledge -- and thus to censor useful knowledge just so we can pat ourselves on the back about how good we are at adhering to policy, is a horrific tragedy and could very well lead to the disuse and eventual downfall of the Wiki (not to mention, it hurts people's knowledge-quest in the process). I believe that if adding a statement would help the average "man on the street", it should be added - and that anyone who would fight doing so, just so they can adhere to policy, should ask themselves what they're really doing here.
In short, it's time that some autonomy and pragmatism are brought to Wikipedia, instead of dogmatic "rat-in-a-maze"-like stubborn adherence to the letter of the law, in the interest of the spirit of the project and the desire to help one's fellow man.
Disputes
I never argue just to hear myself talk - when I'm wrong, I have no problem admitting it. But if I know I'm right, I have no problem engaging with you. I am blunt and to-the-point, and refuse to engage in the " social contract dance" of acting like I love you and your ideas when what I actually think is that you're a moron and your ideas are crap. If you can't handle defending your ideas, don't stay here on the Internet - the world's most public forum. I can handle defending myself, so feel free to be honest and direct in your criticisms of my edits. I don't expect you to pull your punches when I won't pull mine. But don't try the sissy route of hiding behind policy (specifically "no personal attacks") just because you don't like the fact that I'm willing to go toe-to-toe with you...only an evil person attempts to use police-power to silence their critics, and you won't have won. "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."
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About me
I am not an administrator. I am a regular Wikipedia user.
I am from the South, and thus can provide insight to Southern topics, including Southern history, geography, and culture (with particular emphasis on the eastern half of the South - Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as well as the eastern half of Alabama).
I can contribute extensively to many topics including ceiling fans, pipe organs, Sacred Harp, Independent Fundamental Baptist churches, Jargon of The Rush Limbaugh Show, various Ford trucks, red clay soil, shellac, single-pane windows, historically-accurate Victorican-through-Art Deco-era Southern building restoration and interior decoration, wood finishing, gun rights, the Confederacy, segregation, racism, the U.S. government/civics, and a handful of other random things.
In order to retain some online privacy, and because there are plenty of bigoted editors here who will judge the validity of my arguments based on my personal attributes and physical apperance instead of their content, there are no other personal details I will divulge about myself. So no userboxes here!
My Wiki philosophy
I am a big fan of the "Ignore All Rules" policy, and feel it is not interpreted or applied broadly enough - there are a lot of little policy-nazis here on Wikipedia, who operate with their heads in the sand, can't see the forest for the trees, and miss the big picture...they think we're here to create a monument to policy, regardless of whether strict and unyielding adherence to written policies means that the articles suffer as the result. I believe that the purpose of Wikipedia is to help the average man, by providing the sum of the world's practical knowledge -- and thus to censor useful knowledge just so we can pat ourselves on the back about how good we are at adhering to policy, is a horrific tragedy and could very well lead to the disuse and eventual downfall of the Wiki (not to mention, it hurts people's knowledge-quest in the process). I believe that if adding a statement would help the average "man on the street", it should be added - and that anyone who would fight doing so, just so they can adhere to policy, should ask themselves what they're really doing here.
In short, it's time that some autonomy and pragmatism are brought to Wikipedia, instead of dogmatic "rat-in-a-maze"-like stubborn adherence to the letter of the law, in the interest of the spirit of the project and the desire to help one's fellow man.
Disputes
I never argue just to hear myself talk - when I'm wrong, I have no problem admitting it. But if I know I'm right, I have no problem engaging with you. I am blunt and to-the-point, and refuse to engage in the " social contract dance" of acting like I love you and your ideas when what I actually think is that you're a moron and your ideas are crap. If you can't handle defending your ideas, don't stay here on the Internet - the world's most public forum. I can handle defending myself, so feel free to be honest and direct in your criticisms of my edits. I don't expect you to pull your punches when I won't pull mine. But don't try the sissy route of hiding behind policy (specifically "no personal attacks") just because you don't like the fact that I'm willing to go toe-to-toe with you...only an evil person attempts to use police-power to silence their critics, and you won't have won. "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."
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