Hello, Professor Pelagic, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few links to pages you might find helpful:
You may also want to take the Wikipedia Adventure, an interactive tour that will help you learn the basics of editing Wikipedia. You can visit The Teahouse to ask questions or seek help.
Please remember to sign your messages on talk pages by typing four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or to ask for help on your talk page, and a volunteer should respond shortly. Again, welcome! Gap9551 ( talk) 02:39, 24 October 2015 (UTC)
Hi Professor Pelagic. Please could you tell me the IP address you were editing from previously. Thanks.DrChrissy (talk) 14:20, 24 October 2015 (UTC)
Greeting Professor Pelagic. Would you please state whether or not you have a conflict of interest when editing Pain in fish. It is fine if you do have a COI, but if you have you should disclose what it is. Thanks. -- Epipelagic ( talk) 11:40, 25 October 2015 (UTC)
I'm sure we can get to where is needed - I've only been a casual contributor to wikipedia for around 5 years - don't know the finer points of editing but decided I'm going to have to learn - but because this fish welfare stuff comes through local committees and meetings I have to attend, I have a pretty good grasp of the history of the research on the subject, even reviewed some of the papers themselves, which should help. In the past I was just sitting in the background updating the page when new research came along, but with recent developments I became concerned that there seems to be no history of my edits as an IP between 2010 and 2014, so the only option seemed to be to bite the bullet, finally listen to wikipedia's suggestions and become a registered member, so that things can be done transparently. Sounds like we can just do it bit by bit, which will eventually make the fish pain page a much better/more informative resource for people, then I might even contribute to other pages, but I want to learn the ropes properly first so thanks for the tips and olive branch. Not sure whether you do two colons for a double indent following an indented paragraph, or just indent every alternative paragraph, I am assuming the latter. Professor Pelagic ( talk) 20:53, 25 October 2015 (UTC)
You would make faster progress if you assume good faith with other editors instead of indulging in inaccurate personal observations, and if you propose specific edits you want to see (as you have been repeatedly asked) instead of posting walls of text that do not address the central point. Though we have been discussing issues for only a short time, you have acknowledged yourself that we have already made progress. A process like this needs needs patience, and if you trust the process and hang in there you will probably be very satisfied with the final result. However you seem to be seeking a dramafest instead. On Wikipedia that often just brings busybodies with no background in the content area to the table, and things will go downhill. Is that what you want? -- Epipelagic ( talk) 22:55, 28 October 2015 (UTC)
Well it seems you are not willing to assume good faith and discuss your issues here. I'm tired of your insinuations that DrChrissy and I have biased agendas and are too stupid to assess literature in this area. My own position was that the work of Rose and Key should be fully represented in the article, and by the end of the day I would have made sure that was the case. Your personal attacks are way off the mark.
However I was puzzled when, shortly after I posted this overview you seemed to spit the dummy and made this dramatic appeal for outside intervention. I would have thought you would be interested in the overview if you had a genuine interest in the topic. Particularly as my opening comment was: "Influential philosophers like Dennett and Caruthers argue it is likely that animals lack the phenomenal consciousness necessary to experience pain". I would have thought that was exactly the sort of thing you were looking for. But then I noticed my final comment: "If, for example, fish feel pain, then there are ethical and welfare consequences running across huge commercial enterprises. But that is really the main point to make here. Details of just what the ethical and welfare issues are don't belong in the pain articles". And the penny dropped.
You disclosed elsewhere that you work on animal welfare committees and that you were "basically forced to know the literature on this topic". This suggests that you are involved with the topic, not because you are interested in it, but because you are paid to take a position on it. As you say above, you have "the unfortunate experience at work dealing with animal rights activists on this topic". No wonder you got upset at my final comment above, and decided to see if you could seek muscle elsewhere. It also explains why you are so unconvincing arguing your case, why your discussion of methodology lacks any nuance, and why you throw up dust instead by posting walls of text. You can't argue your case eloquently because it doesn't really interest you.
I asked you above if you have a conflict of interest because other circumstances indicate that you might well have. You assured me that you don't. I find that hard to square with your subsequent behaviour. -- Epipelagic ( talk) 04:21, 29 October 2015 (UTC)
Please read WP:tendentious.DrChrissy (talk) 21:28, 29 October 2015 (UTC)
I am a little confused about your editing experience. You claim here [2] that you have been editing for several years, but here [3] you state "I was simply following Wikipedia guidelines for new reviewers which suggest seeking third party guidance on such topics" (my emphasis). Furthermore, your history of editing as User:124.170.97.78 (prior to you becoming Professor Pelagic) seems to only go back to Oct 13th, 2015. Would you care to explain these apparent discrepancies? DrChrissy (talk) 21:53, 29 October 2015 (UTC)
Dear Professor Pelagic,
Hello.
I read your message on my talk page. It is an interesting problem you have with fish pain.
You have been engaged in what us Wikipedians call a " content dispute".
I can see that you have been quite frustrated in dealing with other editors in this matter. Perhaps I can be of assistance by guiding you through our relevant policies and guidelines, and providing some advice acquired through experience.
Speaking of experience, I have been editing Wikipedia since 2005. I have contributed over 600 articles, and I've made over 100,000 edits across thousands of pages.
The first thing you should keep in mind when you feel like others are slowing you down, was summed up perfectly in a grook by Piet Hein:
T.T.T.
Put up in a place
where it's easy to see
the cryptic admonishment
T.T.T.When you feel how depressingly
slowly you climb,
it's well to remember that
Things Take Time.
From the outside looking in, it is easy to see that the contention between you and the others is due to not operating under the same set of assumptions. For example, the way you contacted me violates our canvassing guideline, and was rather shocking. Canvassing for input is allowed, but there are appropriate and inappropriate ways of doing it. Understanding what works and doesn't work around here is called "the clue", which includes knowing that canvassing usually isn't necessary when patient conscientious discussion takes place to reach consensus.
The clue is the essence of the Wikipedia Community, which is a cluocracy. Wikipedia should never become a battlefield. But acquiring the clue takes time.
Sometimes, in order to speed up, you first need to slow down. You could shorten your learning curve considerably by spending some time studying the assumptions under which we operate: Wikipedia's policies and guidelines.
Disputes can be over content issues, but don't forget that disputing itself is a not very pleasant behavior. Therefore, we have policies and guidelines concerning content and behaviors aimed at producing an accurate representation of the facts in a cordial manner.
The easiest way to prevent content disputes is to understand and follow Wikipedia's content policies and guidelines, starting with Wikipedia's core content policies. The breaking of one or more of these is usually at the heart of a dispute.
The easiest way to avoid stressful confrontations and get along with other editors is to understand and follow Wikipedia's code of conduct.
Don't worry, the encyclopedia won't disappear while you are studying. The subjects you wish to work on will still exist when you have mastered our policies. And then...
After you have bent over backwards to comply with Wikipedia's main policies, and you still find yourself at odds with other editors, then it is time for dispute resolution and canvassing.
I hope you find this advice helpful.
If you have any questions about Wikipedia's rules or how Wikipedia operates, please feel free to ask.
Sincerely, The Transhumanist 10:37, 1 November 2015 (UTC)
Hello, Professor Pelagic, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few links to pages you might find helpful:
You may also want to take the Wikipedia Adventure, an interactive tour that will help you learn the basics of editing Wikipedia. You can visit The Teahouse to ask questions or seek help.
Please remember to sign your messages on talk pages by typing four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or to ask for help on your talk page, and a volunteer should respond shortly. Again, welcome! Gap9551 ( talk) 02:39, 24 October 2015 (UTC)
Hi Professor Pelagic. Please could you tell me the IP address you were editing from previously. Thanks.DrChrissy (talk) 14:20, 24 October 2015 (UTC)
Greeting Professor Pelagic. Would you please state whether or not you have a conflict of interest when editing Pain in fish. It is fine if you do have a COI, but if you have you should disclose what it is. Thanks. -- Epipelagic ( talk) 11:40, 25 October 2015 (UTC)
I'm sure we can get to where is needed - I've only been a casual contributor to wikipedia for around 5 years - don't know the finer points of editing but decided I'm going to have to learn - but because this fish welfare stuff comes through local committees and meetings I have to attend, I have a pretty good grasp of the history of the research on the subject, even reviewed some of the papers themselves, which should help. In the past I was just sitting in the background updating the page when new research came along, but with recent developments I became concerned that there seems to be no history of my edits as an IP between 2010 and 2014, so the only option seemed to be to bite the bullet, finally listen to wikipedia's suggestions and become a registered member, so that things can be done transparently. Sounds like we can just do it bit by bit, which will eventually make the fish pain page a much better/more informative resource for people, then I might even contribute to other pages, but I want to learn the ropes properly first so thanks for the tips and olive branch. Not sure whether you do two colons for a double indent following an indented paragraph, or just indent every alternative paragraph, I am assuming the latter. Professor Pelagic ( talk) 20:53, 25 October 2015 (UTC)
You would make faster progress if you assume good faith with other editors instead of indulging in inaccurate personal observations, and if you propose specific edits you want to see (as you have been repeatedly asked) instead of posting walls of text that do not address the central point. Though we have been discussing issues for only a short time, you have acknowledged yourself that we have already made progress. A process like this needs needs patience, and if you trust the process and hang in there you will probably be very satisfied with the final result. However you seem to be seeking a dramafest instead. On Wikipedia that often just brings busybodies with no background in the content area to the table, and things will go downhill. Is that what you want? -- Epipelagic ( talk) 22:55, 28 October 2015 (UTC)
Well it seems you are not willing to assume good faith and discuss your issues here. I'm tired of your insinuations that DrChrissy and I have biased agendas and are too stupid to assess literature in this area. My own position was that the work of Rose and Key should be fully represented in the article, and by the end of the day I would have made sure that was the case. Your personal attacks are way off the mark.
However I was puzzled when, shortly after I posted this overview you seemed to spit the dummy and made this dramatic appeal for outside intervention. I would have thought you would be interested in the overview if you had a genuine interest in the topic. Particularly as my opening comment was: "Influential philosophers like Dennett and Caruthers argue it is likely that animals lack the phenomenal consciousness necessary to experience pain". I would have thought that was exactly the sort of thing you were looking for. But then I noticed my final comment: "If, for example, fish feel pain, then there are ethical and welfare consequences running across huge commercial enterprises. But that is really the main point to make here. Details of just what the ethical and welfare issues are don't belong in the pain articles". And the penny dropped.
You disclosed elsewhere that you work on animal welfare committees and that you were "basically forced to know the literature on this topic". This suggests that you are involved with the topic, not because you are interested in it, but because you are paid to take a position on it. As you say above, you have "the unfortunate experience at work dealing with animal rights activists on this topic". No wonder you got upset at my final comment above, and decided to see if you could seek muscle elsewhere. It also explains why you are so unconvincing arguing your case, why your discussion of methodology lacks any nuance, and why you throw up dust instead by posting walls of text. You can't argue your case eloquently because it doesn't really interest you.
I asked you above if you have a conflict of interest because other circumstances indicate that you might well have. You assured me that you don't. I find that hard to square with your subsequent behaviour. -- Epipelagic ( talk) 04:21, 29 October 2015 (UTC)
Please read WP:tendentious.DrChrissy (talk) 21:28, 29 October 2015 (UTC)
I am a little confused about your editing experience. You claim here [2] that you have been editing for several years, but here [3] you state "I was simply following Wikipedia guidelines for new reviewers which suggest seeking third party guidance on such topics" (my emphasis). Furthermore, your history of editing as User:124.170.97.78 (prior to you becoming Professor Pelagic) seems to only go back to Oct 13th, 2015. Would you care to explain these apparent discrepancies? DrChrissy (talk) 21:53, 29 October 2015 (UTC)
Dear Professor Pelagic,
Hello.
I read your message on my talk page. It is an interesting problem you have with fish pain.
You have been engaged in what us Wikipedians call a " content dispute".
I can see that you have been quite frustrated in dealing with other editors in this matter. Perhaps I can be of assistance by guiding you through our relevant policies and guidelines, and providing some advice acquired through experience.
Speaking of experience, I have been editing Wikipedia since 2005. I have contributed over 600 articles, and I've made over 100,000 edits across thousands of pages.
The first thing you should keep in mind when you feel like others are slowing you down, was summed up perfectly in a grook by Piet Hein:
T.T.T.
Put up in a place
where it's easy to see
the cryptic admonishment
T.T.T.When you feel how depressingly
slowly you climb,
it's well to remember that
Things Take Time.
From the outside looking in, it is easy to see that the contention between you and the others is due to not operating under the same set of assumptions. For example, the way you contacted me violates our canvassing guideline, and was rather shocking. Canvassing for input is allowed, but there are appropriate and inappropriate ways of doing it. Understanding what works and doesn't work around here is called "the clue", which includes knowing that canvassing usually isn't necessary when patient conscientious discussion takes place to reach consensus.
The clue is the essence of the Wikipedia Community, which is a cluocracy. Wikipedia should never become a battlefield. But acquiring the clue takes time.
Sometimes, in order to speed up, you first need to slow down. You could shorten your learning curve considerably by spending some time studying the assumptions under which we operate: Wikipedia's policies and guidelines.
Disputes can be over content issues, but don't forget that disputing itself is a not very pleasant behavior. Therefore, we have policies and guidelines concerning content and behaviors aimed at producing an accurate representation of the facts in a cordial manner.
The easiest way to prevent content disputes is to understand and follow Wikipedia's content policies and guidelines, starting with Wikipedia's core content policies. The breaking of one or more of these is usually at the heart of a dispute.
The easiest way to avoid stressful confrontations and get along with other editors is to understand and follow Wikipedia's code of conduct.
Don't worry, the encyclopedia won't disappear while you are studying. The subjects you wish to work on will still exist when you have mastered our policies. And then...
After you have bent over backwards to comply with Wikipedia's main policies, and you still find yourself at odds with other editors, then it is time for dispute resolution and canvassing.
I hope you find this advice helpful.
If you have any questions about Wikipedia's rules or how Wikipedia operates, please feel free to ask.
Sincerely, The Transhumanist 10:37, 1 November 2015 (UTC)