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Just came across an interesting stub called Heim theory. From my brief reading about it, it involves a 6-dimensional hyperspace, accumulation of mass and faster than light travel, amongst other nifty tricks. I think I will spend some time trying to improve it. Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 15:03, 21 March 2022 (UTC)
I'm thinking of Labynkyr Lake for my next stub rewrite - it was on the list and I've never heard of this "lake monster" before. So I went though to see what I could find, worried that most will be in Russian. I've found about three good citations, but they are mostly about the lake monster and not the lake, though I think one of them has a lot of good information about the lake, I hate to over use the one citation. Issue is that when looking for the lake, you get a lot of tourism results. Here is what I have decided on [2], [3] and [4]. This might give me a few more [5]. So I would appreciate it if anyone could help me out with some non-lake monster links, but not overly complicated, I want this to be easily readable for readers. Sgerbic ( talk) 04:57, 21 March 2022 (UTC)
Hey great work @ Gronk Oz on the Secrets of the Psychics show - right up my alley. I removed the TV stub that was hidden at the very bottom of the page. There are a bunch of Randi's books that are on the stub list also if you are so inclined ... hint hint. Sgerbic ( talk) 16:40, 22 March 2022 (UTC)
White lighter myth this was on the stub skepticism page and I'm perplexed. Is it a stub - it looks done. A tiny article can be done completely and not be a stub. On the talk page back in 2018 editor @ Mramoeba stated that there is no RS for this and they are probably right. Once Snopes did the research and found that Bic did not produce a white lighter until after the deaths of the celebs then that is it. Snopes lists three citations - I think they all are showing what was in the pockets of these celebs at their death and they don't contain white lighters. I don't think its a good idea to use those three citations on Wikipedia as that would be us doing original research. So what do you think? Should White lighter myth be on or off the stub list? And OMG just when you think you have heard the weirdest conspiracy theories, along comes White lighter myth. Sgerbic ( talk) 05:59, 23 March 2022 (UTC)
I spent some time fussing on the Lady Sheba page and as you can see from the PROD I just left, there isn't anything I could find. Sad because I was really looking forward to quoting from the find a grave site that says her ashes were mingled with the ashes of one of her books and scattered around the graveyard. [8] I rarely try to delete pages, so please let me know if I did this one wrong. Sgerbic ( talk) 07:10, 12 March 2022 (UTC)
Could you take a look at refining this article? The Ukraine biolabs conspiracy theory article is mostly written out (64 edits), with details about the conspiracy theory and the false claims and aspects of the conspiracy theory + debunking of it. Could you folks from WP:SKEPTICISM take a look? The talk page + edit summaries contains some suggestions on how the wording of the article body text can be improved, and one of the main sources is this Snopes article. Thanks -- Rauisuchian ( talk) 10:08, 26 March 2022 (UTC)
I just finished rewriting the stub Cholera belt which was much more interesting than I would have thought. It's late for me now so I would appreciate others to run your eye over the page and fuss on my prose. Just added this to the SSSPP page [12] and this is number six for me in one month, can I squeeze in one more before March ends? Maybe it is raining hard now and probably will all day tomorrow, so we shall see. Sgerbic ( talk) 07:07, 28 March 2022 (UTC)
Hi everyone, I've just finished my translation of
Mobility transition from
de:Verkehrswende. I'm not sure if this topic falls within the scope of skepticism, but I wanted to run this new article past you anyway, because there is a lot of science involved that is outside my field of expertise as a historian. The term itself is relatively new and has many applications (as the article itself shows), and so mobility transition is sort of an emerging interdisciplinary field of various natural sciences and humanities. I took the liberty of changing some wordings to comply to English Wikipedia's manual of style, such as 'have been [present perfect continuous]' instead of 'is' or some other simple present or simple past tense when referring to processes that have been recently initiated and are still ongoing. More broadly speaking, I have operated under the assume that the mobility transition is already going on, because many of the processes described in the article are already going on (since at least the 1960s and 1970s); the original German Wikipedia article often spoke more hypothetically of 'a mobility transition', as something that might happen in the future but is not yet here, whereas I consider it as a partial fait accompli. Many calculations are difficult to make sense of, and sometimes it's difficult to convert certain units of measurement, or to properly translate certain terms into English (I use British English as my standard, but sometimes I follow American English if the present Wikipedia article title uses an American term rather than a British one, e.g. 'truck' rather than 'lorry'. I use metric units wherever possible). Aside from that, many parts of this article could use examples from other parts of the world; as it was originally written in German, most examples are from Germany (and to a lesser degree Austria, Switzerland and some other European countries), so perhaps
Template:Globalize applies a bit here. I've added some examples from Anglo-Saxon countries and my native Netherlands, feel free to add more. Finally, there are some repetitions in the text (e.g. between 'Inland navigation' and 'Road freight and modal share'), some claims are arguably outdated (although they can still be relevant), and especially the 'Further examples' section is a bit random and unorganised (it seems to have organically grown over time as more and more editors added relevant facts to the list that didn't fit well into existing sections), although I'm not sure how to organise it better. Many examples can't readily be organised according mode of transport, or by kind of intended effect (e.g. energy efficiency, spatial efficiency, financial efficiency, traffic safety etc.), as many of them are interconnected. (I added '
short-haul flight ban' myself, but later decided to make it a separate section with an excerpt template, as it is can be separated from the other issues more easily). In some cases there wasn't a source for a claim, so I tried to find and add one (some citations may still be needed), and in other cases the source didn't seem to say what the text claimed, or wasn't clear to which year or which area (Germany? Europe? The world?) it applied, so I tried to clarify the source. If anyone would like to make suggestions or corrections to improve it further, feel free to do so, or to leave a comment below. :) Cheers,
Nederlandse Leeuw (
talk)
15:22, 31 March 2022 (UTC)
PS: In some cases I've used
Template:Interlanguage link when I estimated that the German Wikipedia entry on a certain topic may be worth translating, or would probably be translated by someone some day. This may never happen though, and it may detract from how well the text looks. In other cases, English Wikipedia does have a Wikipedia article, but it's not on exactly the same subject, so with certain links I might not be properly conveying in English what a German-language Wikipedian was trying to say. In still other cases, such as
inland navigation, our English Wikipedia articles are still very limited. I tried to add some more information about inland navigation that I found along the way, but a lot more is desirable to have. The lack of info on inland navigation on English Wikipedia could be due to the fact that Anglo-Saxon countries are much more focused on sea navigation due to their geography, thereby missing how important inland waterways may be for transportation in landlocked or partially landlocked countries with lots of navigable rivers and canals. E.g. the Rhine may not mean much to Britons and Irish, as they can ship almost anything by sea, but it is of crucial importance to many continental Western Europeans. Language barriers and the average interests of the speakers of certain languages can be an obstacle to providing balanced information about the whole world. And that's before I even start about non-Western countries, about which very little is currently said in the article.
Nederlandse Leeuw (
talk)
15:45, 31 March 2022 (UTC)
I came across this stub about Onychomancy, reading fingernails and I've decided to spruce it up a bit. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Heim theory but that has become a much longer term project. I need to spend more time getting my head around the concepts involved. Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 18:25, 4 April 2022 (UTC)
Okay, not sure I'm going to find a lot on this stub - but I'm going to attempt it. I figure I should post here so I feel obligated start the research. You all nag me if you don't hear anything from me on this over the next few days. Gulf Breeze UFO incident. Sgerbic ( talk) 04:48, 3 April 2022 (UTC)
I have (with the help of others) made a small user script to detect and highlight various links to unreliable sources and predatory journals. Some of you may already be familiar with it, given it is currently the 39th most imported script on Wikipedia. The idea is that it takes something like
John Smith "[https://www.deprecated.com/article Article of things]" ''Deprecated.com''. Accessed 2020-02-14.
)and turns it into something like
It will work on a variety of links, including those from {{ cite web}}, {{ cite journal}} and {{ doi}}.
The script is mostly based on WP:RSPSOURCES, WP:NPPSG and WP:CITEWATCH and a good dose of common sense. I'm always expanding coverage and tweaking the script's logic, so general feedback and suggestions to expand coverage to other unreliable sources are always welcomed.
Do note that this is not a script to be mindlessly used, and several caveats apply. Details and instructions are available at User:Headbomb/unreliable. Questions, comments and requests can be made at User talk:Headbomb/unreliable.
This is a one time notice and can't be unsubscribed from. Delivered by: MediaWiki message delivery ( talk) 16:02, 29 April 2022 (UTC)
You are invited to join the discussion at Talk:Travis Walton UFO incident § Polygraph. Sundayclose ( talk) 00:58, 9 April 2022 (UTC)
The little stub Otto Edler von Graeve caught my attention so I decided to spruce it up a bit. Stretched my non-existent German to the limits. Please feel free to improve it further, and fix mistakes I've introduced (or just let me know). Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 19:03, 5 May 2022 (UTC)
This is sort of a continuation of the top thread of this page (How this WikiProject works), but that was a long-enough thread, last added to long-enough ago, that it felt appropriate to start a new section.
For the purposes of this topic, I'm exactly the kind of potential new contributor to the project, who would be overwhelmed without some basic instructions - but I never expect to find that on the front of a Project, but rather buried in its Main Discussion. So, I ended up reading that page first, and then backtracking to the simplified Overview page that had already been created.
But I still found a level of disorganization and redundancy that was confusing in places, and wanted to suggest an organizational change that might work better. Toward that end, below you will find a recreated version of the "Project Goals." My intention was not to change any information, but to re-organize it for flow and clarity. But I worried that there were spots where I wasn't accurately interpreting the original text, and was hoping to get some feedback on that first.
The goals of this WikiProject are as follows:
- To create new articles, relating to science and reason, under the {{ WikiProject Skepticism}} tag.
- To identify existing articles, related to Scientific skepticism, and add the {{ WikiProject Skepticism}} tag where appropriate.
- To review project-related articles for quality, clarity and scientific accuracy. With a particular focus on the following concerns:
- Identify articles with "Good Article" and "Featured Article" potential, and help to guide them through the appropriate review processes.
- Identify articles which are not presently evidence-based, or suffer from highly fringe POV, and improve them using Project Resources.
- To serve as a nexus and discussion area for editors interested in doing such work.
My initial concern was redundant information and instructions between the Overview paragraphs, the Overview lists and the Where to Start lists, but it seemed vital to make sure the above info was accurate, before anything else. CleverTitania ( talk) 05:07, 6 May 2022 (UTC)
Found this book on Project Guttenberg and decided to add some content to the page. Feel free to continue. Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 16:51, 6 May 2022 (UTC)
I just found this amongst the stub list and since I am not an American and have no interest in politics anywhere, I hadn't heard about this conspiracy theory. The fact that there are 6 references thrown down at the end of a single paragraph got my goat, so I am going to see if I can do anything with this page. Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 15:44, 10 May 2022 (UTC)
Just found the stub Intelligence in Nature and couldn't resist adding a bit from the first chapter, Brainy Birds. The chapter starts out quite normally with a visit to the Amazon jungle, wanders down the path of speculating about learned vs instinctive behaviours and then takes a dive into the deep end by claiming that when shamans go into a trance they speak the language of birds and negotiate with some entity for limits on the exploitation of natural resources AND the entity protects animals and plants from reckless and greedy humans. YIKES! Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 18:16, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
There is a RfC at Talk:Historicity of the Book of Mormon § RfC on category inclusion/exclusion as to whether Historicity of the Book of Mormon should to be included in the "pseudohistory" category. –– FormalDude talk 06:09, 25 May 2022 (UTC)
Sourced to Lulu.com books and NICAP. Could use some help. - LuckyLouie ( talk) 11:35, 15 May 2022 (UTC)
Closed as delete Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Carson Sink UFO incident] Sgerbic ( talk) 17:01, 26 May 2022 (UTC)
Just spent some time on Stephan Riess, geologist and dowser. Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 18:54, 26 May 2022 (UTC)
There is a RfC about how to word the first sentences of the lead at Talk:Astrology#Request for comments: Lead paragraph which may be of interest to the members of this WikiProject. ☿ Apaugasma ( talk ☉) 18:15, 14 June 2022 (UTC)
Today is June 2nd, 2022 and time to revisit this WikiProject. I was instructed by the ArbCom decision that I and GSoW needed to have a more public presence here on Wikipedia. Some felt that I should run a brand new WikiProject but only for GSoW members. Instead what we decided was to revive WikiProject Skepticism and to encourage those people who were listed as members of the project to come back and help us rebuild it.
We have revamped the main page and cleaned out the participant list, I personally sent a message to all 100+ people who remained on the participant list (and cleaned it up). We did see some drop off at that point (a few wished us well) and we have had a few new people join.
I proposed a group project to get us better acquainted and focused on improving skepticism stubs here Wikipedia:WikiProject Skepticism/Skepticism Stub Sub-Project Project (SSSPP).
So that was a three month project March 1st to June 1st, 2022. We rewrote 22 Skepticism stubs, and four editors participated. All four are GSoW editors (including myself), so that wasn't successful at all. All that happened was what GSoW would have been doing anyway. We have had a few conversations here on talk with some suggestions to be involved in other conversations happening on pages that are under discussion. And a bit of conversation here and there about pages that need improvement, some with non-GSoW members.
Now, I'm just not sure where to go from here? If there is very little involvement by people who aren't GSoW then what is the purpose of this group? Without participation from the 100+ people who signed up for WikiProject Skepticism then I might as well just go back to doing what we were doing before?
I think what I'm asking for is some reason, or encouragement that those people who signed up to help on this project please speak up.
I don't think I need to remind this projects participants that now more than ever the world needs to make sure that great information, well written and visually appealing Wikipedia pages (in all languages) need to be the norm. Fringe and magical thinking is prevalent and dangerious. Sgerbic ( talk) 21:16, 2 June 2022 (UTC)
There is a critical discussion at: /info/en/?search=Wikipedia_talk:Neutral_point_of_view#Are_the_only_significant_views_on_pseudoscience_topics_those_of_scientists%3F It would be very bad for the Skepticism project if we allow the Demarcation Problem to become the stalking horse of fringe ideas. You can always rely on philosophers of science to have a wacky idea that, out of context, can be used to diminish the notion of scientific consensus. I actually find all that quite fascinating, but rewriting policy to allow the academic winds to blow freely through the lead section of pages such as Astrology would the start of a trash vortex. Cheers DolyaIskrina ( talk) 20:34, 23 June 2022 (UTC)
There is ongoing
WP:COI and
WP:PROMO activity on this page that could benefit from dispassionate eyes. See
this,
this, and
this from a recently blocked editor who
here claims to be part of a legal team that is interested in ensuring the accuracy of this page
.
JoJo Anthrax (
talk)
20:07, 27 June 2022 (UTC)
I've started what will probably end up being a complete rewrite of the Superstition article. It's important because as another editor pointed out, it's used as reference in other pages to establish what is a superstition and what isn't. It's difficult academic-like work (well difficult for me), but fortunately Stuart Vyse's latest book is a great help and several good pieces are already on the page, they just need to come together in a better text. Going section by section and adding a few more good sources, hopefully we'll get to a text everyone can be comfortable with. Don't hesitate to chip is, bring sources (developing the folklore angle would be really good). Should take the week, will redo the lead last. Robincantin ( talk) 13:37, 3 July 2022 (UTC)
Late 90s Brazilian UFO flap with UFOlogists views, media hype, and publicity, but no discernable WP:FRIND sourcing. A mocking article in the Wall Street Journal appears to cover the basics. However the bulk of Spanish language media cited is WP:SENSATIONAL and credulous. Could use someone familiar with Portuguese or Spanish language to sift through the drek and create a more encyclopedic article. - LuckyLouie ( talk) 16:46, 21 June 2022 (UTC)
I'm coming around to see that apparently this is a big deal in Brazil. That was the key insight I gained from that AfD, and that the numerous and vehement "keep" !voters have apparently done nothing since to improve the article...well, I salute you for your determination. JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 17:25, 21 June 2022 (UTC)
The "incident" is still culturally and historically significant within Brazil and Brazilian culture. I particularly like the girls' description of the "crouching" alien: "there were spots that looked like veins on the skin and some bumps on the head...eyes were two red balls." Paging Dr. Freud! JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 07:08, 23 June 2022 (UTC)
Hello. I would like to share a vision for a real-time fact-checking resource: Wikifact. I hope that the project is of some interest to those who contribute to Wikipedia in this skepticism portal.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikifact
In the not-too-distant future, it may become possible for end-users to fact-check arbitrary portions of documents in word processors and Web browsers simply by selecting content, using context menus, and making use of crowdsourced, collaborative resources such as Wikifact. End-users would be able to select content from social media websites, news articles, digital textbooks, or arbitrary other documents and websites, and then open context menus providing options for exploring, e.g., fact-checking, the content.
I am hoping that more people will express interest on the project proposal’s website. I am hoping to publicize the project proposal. I am hoping to disseminate these ideas.
Please express your support for or opposition to the proposal on the project’s wiki page. We also welcome any of your comments, questions, or feedback with respect to the proposal, in particular ideas for improving it. Please feel free to share any of your ideas in our talk pages.
Thank you, AdamSobieski ( talk) 09:45, 11 July 2022 (UTC)
Editors are invited to comment at the following RfC: Talk:Astrology#RfC about short description. DolyaIskrina ( talk) 01:17, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
I have nominated Vampire for a featured article review here. Please join the discussion on whether this article meets the featured article criteria. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. If substantial concerns are not addressed during the review period, the article will be moved to the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Delist" in regards to the article's featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Z1720 ( talk) 16:46, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
Hi folks, if anyone is interested in countering pseudo-history, there is plenty to do when it comes to the Eighty Years' War. I've recently rewritten the main articles by merging them and splitting them in several period-specific articles (see Talk:Eighty Years' War#Merger proposal if you're interested in the details), and removed a lot of unsourced, pro-Protestant, pro-nationalist, anti-Spanish, anti-Catholic, Orangist or pro-Staatse nonsense/biases etc. stuff in the process. English Wikipedia is often used by native Dutch speakers (most of them hailing from the Netherlands, like me), to write about this war, that is quite central to Dutch/Protestant history/identity/folklore etc., and their ideas about this war are sometimes still rife with outdated views, which shows when you read the texts they write. (To be honest, I used to be very susceptible to incorrect/biased information about this war as well). The kind of incorrect and misleading information that is related to the Black Legend (Spain) is still present in many texts. (Funnily enough, many people expected the Spanish Inquisition to be introduced in the Netherlands, but that never happened; it was just Protestant propaganda to make the Habsburg authorities / Catholic Church look bad through dishonest means.)
In particular, the writings of the American puritan historian John Lothrop Motley, notably his Rise of the Dutch Republic (1856), was hugely popular internationally, and especially amongst Dutch Protestants when it was translated to Dutch as De opkomst van de Nederlandsche Republiek (1857). It remains popular to this day, because Motley provides more details and writes in a more dramatic and moving way than many other books, and is therefore very persuasive. Even today, when history enthusiasts find his work on Google Books or elsewhere, and eagerly refer to it when writing a Wikipedia page here or a sentence there. But Motley was a pseudo-scholar, a pseudo-historian. As I wrote in my new article Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#The Rise of the Dutch Republic by Motley/Bakhuizen, and stated in Talk:Trial of Oldenbarnevelt, Grotius and Hogerbeets#Improvements needed, the works of Motley should be regarded as unreliable, biased and outdated. I have therefore rewritten Siege of Valenciennes (1567) and Battle of Wattrelos and its Dutch equivalents nl:Beleg van Valencijn (1567) and nl:Slag bij Wattrelos (I wrote the Dutch pages myself in 2008, also largely based on Motley before I knew how unreliable his work was), now based on better, modern, more scholary sources. There is no reason/excuse anymore to resort to Motley; his work does not comply to scholarly standards, and hence not to Wikipedia's standards.
I'm just using Motley here as an example of the kind of work there is still left to do to bring the contents about this war into balance. I myself also still have my biases and limitations, and I'm not very good at reading Spanish, so there is a lot of primary and secondary literature that I can't really access, but that we need to see a lot of things "through Spanish (and Catholic) eyes". Even my new Historiography of the Eighty Years' War, which has been a major effort to balance things out, is still largely based on Dutch- and English-language sources (a few in French, German and Spanish). If you're good at debunking pseudo-history, and especially if you can read Spanish, and see any issues in Eighty Years' War-related articles, including mine, I would love for you to get involved with my efforts to bring articles about this period into balance. Cheers, Nederlandse Leeuw ( talk) 15:51, 31 July 2022 (UTC)
Well this guy just like Rupert Sheldrake before him seems to have it all figured out. I think we should all throw in the towel. [19] Sgerbic ( talk) 00:47, 16 August 2022 (UTC)
Hello all,
I recently created an article on Bentinho Massaro, who may be of interest to members of this WikiProject.
Any additional eyes on this article would be greatly appreciated. QueenofBithynia ( talk) 21:41, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
With media attention recently ramping up, I created the article for "Queen of Canada" Romana Didulo. I was hoping the rest of the world wouldn't know about her, but now that the cat is out of the bag might as well put some info on wikipedia. I'll revise and do little things later today, but project members are invited to contribute. Robincantin ( talk) 17:06, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
This person and his rants against some of our awesome editors is so sad. They are ripping on @ Alexbrn and @ JzG, just the twitter mentions are nuts! I thought I got a lot of hate from the paranormal community. My heart goes out to Alex and JzG, it's so ugly.(Redacted) they are so misinformed with large platforms and riling people up. One of the phrases they use to talk about what they do is "coming under the narrative" which I assume means "pushing nonsense". They call Jimmy Wales "Jimmy Swales" and they were talking about how they discovered that David Gorski is a "major Wikipedia editor and it's been going on for years" which is nonsense. That dates back to when Gary Null and Rupert Sheldrake were attacking me back in the 2013's all the time, they thought Gorski ran the GSoW and was like Charley from Charley's Angles or something. Anyway, this all just came to my attention. I'm not going to dive too far into it because it's a giant rabbit hole, but just wanted you all to know this was happening. Probably going to get even more pushback on the articles associated with these people. Sending hugs! Sgerbic ( talk) 23:32, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
The Wim Hof page is being turned into WP:PROMO and "how to", using the Wim Hof Method website as a source. It's not WP:MEDRS. Wim himself has edited the page before, but I don't know if the current adamant editor has a COI, but they are definitely a fan who thinks there is no question but that the method will cure all that ails you. Wim's identical twin brother has the same ability to withstand cold that he has. So, like many beauty and fitness scams, you are promised the ability to gain something that really you need to be born with. The research is mostly preliminary and proof of concept, and a few negative studies are being kept off the age. The page is not MOS compliant has a lot of not notable "stunts" and "appearances" by Wim. For instance if you watch the video where he claims to have hung from one finger, he's clearly using a device that enables his entire hand to be involved in supporting his weight. The page has too many titles, authors and technical jargon larded onto the page to make not very impressive n=1 studies seem sciencey and impressive. I'm getting tired of trying to deal with this PROMO WP:FRINGE and WP:PSEUDOSCIENCE, so any help would be appreciated. Remember ice baths are potentially dangerous and hyperventilation before swimming is dangerous. DolyaIskrina ( talk) 17:49, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
Hi folks, I ran into some discussions that seem to have taken place a few months ago about the reliability of Skeptical Inquirer as a source. That apparently led to an RfC in April 2022, which "establishe[d] a reasonably clear consensus to use the Skeptical Inquirer with consideration given to proper usage in consonance with existing sourcing and content policy." I decided to delve a little deeper into the archives (as the historian that I am), and found that editors had drawn pretty much the same conclusions in the past, with some more details that I have summarised as follows: "Previous discussions concluded that content from Skeptical Requirer is usually considered as journalistic articles or expert blogposts that are reliable within their areas of expertise. There is editorial oversight, as articles will not be published without review, but not a rigorous peer-review process as academic journals conduct. Opinion pieces or articles written outside the author's area of expertise are not considered reliable." I added that as an entry to the WP:RSP list because users may find that helpful. Not just editors interested in skepticism that may consider whether to use this or that article from SI as a reliable source or not, such as users in this WikiProject, but also anyone who runs into an article that refers to SI and wonders whether that is a reliable source. I hope this helps people make that decision. I haven't seen similar widespread discussions about the reliability of similar publications such as Skeptic (U.S. magazine) or The Skeptic (UK magazine), but in case these arise, we could make a similar summary for them as well, depending on their respective outcomes. Note that the use of WP:RSP#The Skeptic's Dictionary, which already had an entry on this list, is more contentious, and depends on which information you cite about what or especially whom ( WP:BLPSPS applies). Cheers, Nederlandse Leeuw ( talk) 14:09, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
...a reasonably clear consensus to use the Skeptical Inquirer with consideration given to proper usage in consonance with existing sourcing and content policy.
That can be used with any source.Yeah, that's what I just said. It's a generally reliable source, like many many others which we hold to that standard. It's also had a number of discussions over the years, as pointed out above, all of which seem to have arrived at more or less the same conclusion. Hence why adding it to RSP might be a good idea. Happy ( Slap me) 20:22, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
Moving forward, editors should evaluate the source on a case-by-case basis in line with existing policies such as WP:RSCONTEXT, WP:PARITY, WP:FRINGE, and WP:BLPRS.ScottishFinnishRadish ( talk) 15:24, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
Editors should evaluate the source on a case-by-case basis in line with existing policiesis pretty much the definition of not "generally reliable." I reverted the edits because I do not believe they describe the consensus and results of the community discussions, or respect the prior discussion about adding SI to RSP. If you want to add this to RSP, it should really be discussed first in an appropriate location, and added after there is consensus on the language to use. ScottishFinnishRadish ( talk) 16:49, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
Editors should evaluate the source on a case-by-case basis in line with existing policiesis pretty much the standard we use for any source on Wikipedia, whether unreliable, reliable, or in between. MrOllie ( talk) 17:51, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
I have nominated Vampire for a featured article review here. Please join the discussion on whether this article meets the featured article criteria. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. If substantial concerns are not addressed during the review period, the article will be moved to the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Delist" in regards to the article's featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Z1720 ( talk) 16:46, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
Hello. There is currently an AfD that might be of interest. Here is the link: Articles for deletion − Academic research about UFOs and related phenomena. --- Steve Quinn ( talk) 02:21, 13 September 2022 (UTC)
Well folks - there is a brand new Wikipedia page for the Thomas John (medium) TV show Seatbelt Psychic. It's written like an advertisement. Not sure how notable "Soulmate Twin Flame" actually is, but hey maybe I need to expand my news subscriptions. First thing I noticed was that citation #1 is to the article "Buckle Up- Seatbelt Psychic" article in Skeptical Inquirer, written by Marc Kreidler. Which is odd because I remember writing that article. Citation #14 is "Right Turns Only! Circling Back to Seatbelt Psychic" also from the Skeptical Inquirer written by Alexander Nicaise - no idea who that is, but again, I believe that I wrote that article. Odd.
The editor gives me one little statement in the Reviews area, but I've written extensively about the show.
I would suggest that this page be merged in with the Thomas John page, seems odd to be a standalone page. But then again I can't be counted on to remember if I published under the name Kreidler or Nicaise. Obviously as Thomas John's main critic, I can't touch the editing of the page without someone freaking out. So I leave that to you all esteemed editors. Sgerbic ( talk) 00:09, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
I note here the latest (3 December) posting by Robert Sheaffer at his Bad UFOs site, which contains information relevant to any number of our favorite UFO articles on enWiki. What's that popping sound? JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 17:50, 8 December 2022 (UTC)
Hello all. I left a rewrite proposal on Talk:Momo_Challenge_hoax#Article_rewrite (of which I wrote the first version), to provide a more coherent assessment of what happened, instead of trying to list every story and reaction from authorities. Community feedback most welcome. I think the same could or even should be done with Blue Whale Challenge, but I'll let the editors involved with that one make that determination. Robincantin ( talk) 19:54, 25 October 2022 (UTC)
In examining this page I noted two sections, here and here, that are devoid of sources, and have been tagged for such since 2010. Before I cut them to ribbons, does anyone have any suggestions/comments about potential RS? JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 15:56, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
Could use more detail, but I don't know if there are good mainstream sources on him. The German article uses gullible unreliable sources like Siegbert Lattacher, Mathias Bröckers, Olof Alexandersson and Martina Rodier. -- Hob Gadling ( talk) 19:52, 22 December 2022 (UTC)
Talk:Rapid-onset gender dysphoria controversy has an RFC for possible consensus. A discussion is taking place. If you would like to participate in the discussion, you are invited to add your comments on the discussion page. Thank you. Nil Einne ( talk) 11:06, 8 October 2022 (UTC)
Just published hot off the press from Craig Weiler aka Wikipedia expert! Wikipedia and the Paranormal from the RS Paranormal Daily News. [22] Sgerbic ( talk) 17:55, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
For full transparency - I have written an article for Skeptical Inquirer from my perspective recounting the immense stress I went though in late 2021 and the first months of 2022. [23] As I write in the article, this is a summation of the situation written for a non-Wikipedia editor reader and completely my words. Obviously it was much more complicated than I write here, but I wanted to get my thoughts out into some sort of narrative that explains. I have no idea if other editors will find this reflection helpful, I'm sure I will not make everyone happy with my description of the events, and I'm sure you will find typos that cannot be fixed. I do know that most people are unaware of the nuances of being a Wikipedia editor and hope this explains why the GSoW project appears to have closed ranks and are no longer sharing on social media as before.
I do want to add this bit as I wasn't clear about one thing. Individuals here on Wikipedia were not exposing the personal names of GSoW editors, that would be very bad and clearly against the rules of Wikipedia. But what was happening was I would post on social media a page one of the team had written, and I would mention the editors name, often linking to their social media account, clearly bragging about the work they had completed and asking people to visit the Wikipedia page, one of the reasons for this was to encourage others to become Wikipedia editors or to help out by adding media to WMC. A few Wikipedia editors/admins would go to those posts and look at the history of the page and then know the Wikipedia user name of the now clearly identified GSoW editor and then they would add the user name to a list. That list would grow and these editors would make correlations of who other GSoW editors might be based on their interactions, talk page, history edits and they would go on the list. And sometimes getting it wrong, but still accusing people (and how can you prove you are not?).
These list makers would then start showing up on the Wikipedia pages that had been edited in the past, and users talk pages. Of course any editor is able to visit any Wikipedia page and if they see something to fix they are free to do so. But this was much more than that, it felt like stalking and it was unnerving. They would appear after having no previous relationship with the page and suddenly have a opinion on the edits, taking an ax to parts of the article they didn't feel felt "encyclopedic enough" (a common one was too many quotes). They did drive-by tagging with broad claims of "advertisement" or "resume" or putting them up for AfD mostly without any thoughtful comments on the talk page. (BTW just as an off-side I can't stand drive-by tagging - fix the frickin problem yourself - it's like when you are sweeping the room and someone says "missed a spot" but doesn't tell you where the spot is - it's just rude, use the tag sparely and with much comment when you do). Then it just got uglier and uglier. Cherry-picking though hundreds of edits made by GSoW to showcase one marginal edit and announcing it with fanfare as if they found the golden ticket.
I want to remind people who care, to remember that a human with feelings are behind each and every one of these accounts. People get things wrong all the time, it's not as if understanding the nuances of Wikipedia is so clear. So speak to them, ask questions and assume good faith.
Obviously as it is December 2022 and I'm still talking about this subject, I'm still upset and rattled. The people that caused the most stress did not receive sanctions of any kind and I heard from several senior editors/admins privately that they all knew the trouble makers were clueless, but still nothing was done to them. I hope by writing this article it helps admins understand why we lose good people and the overuse of tech terms and language creates a wall separating new from experienced editors, and it's intimidating people who are not coming to editing with a tech background. We need diversity to make the best Wikipedia possible. What we/I went though was totally unacceptable.
I do believe that we ALL are working on the most important educational project of our time, I know that most of us have the same goals, and I have enjoyed working with many of you.
I'm always happy to answer questions, so please just ask.
Susan Sgerbic ( talk) 23:30, 30 December 2022 (UTC)
Some rules of Wikipedia are interrupted differently by different editors.[24] "Interrupted" should be "interpreted". -- Hob Gadling ( talk) 09:50, 25 January 2023 (UTC)
I made some edits to that page in an effort to reduce the sensationalism just a tad. I recognize that this topic is A Big Deal down in Brazil, so please improve/correct/jettison those edits as you see fit. JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 16:23, 3 February 2023 (UTC)
See Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)#Project-independent quality assessments. This proposes support for quality assessment at the article level, recorded in {{ WikiProject banner shell}}, and inherited by the wikiproject banners. However, wikiprojects that prefer to use custom approaches to quality assessment can continue to do so. Aymatth2 ( talk) 20:49, 6 February 2023 (UTC)
This article has plenty of problematic content, particularly with respect to sourcing. Much of what's there, however, might be notable or otherwise worthy of retention. Extra, discerning eyes would be welcome. JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 17:56, 9 February 2023 (UTC)
I have a pending hoax-related deletion request over at Wikipedia talk:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia if anybody is interested in hearing me out. 100.7.44.80 ( talk) 19:30, 25 March 2023 (UTC)
Quality assessments by Wikipedia editors rate articles in terms of completeness, organization, prose quality, sourcing, etc. Most wikiprojects follow the general guidelines at
Wikipedia:Content assessment, but some have specialized assessment guidelines. A recent
Village pump proposal was approved and has been implemented to add a |class=
parameter to {{
WikiProject banner shell}}, which can display a general quality assessment for an article, and to let project banner templates "inherit" this assessment.
No action is required if your wikiproject follows the standard assessment approach. Over time, quality assessments will be migrated up to {{ WikiProject banner shell}}, and your project banner will automatically "inherit" any changes to the general assessments for the purpose of assigning categories.
However, if your project has decided to "opt out" and follow a non-standard quality assessment approach, all you have to do is modify your wikiproject banner template to pass {{
WPBannerMeta}} a new |QUALITY_CRITERIA=custom
parameter. If this is done, changes to the general quality assessment will be ignored, and your project-level assessment will be displayed and used to create categories, as at present.
Aymatth2 (
talk)
14:12, 13 April 2023 (UTC)
Could someone with access to back issues of Skeptical Inquirer add a few sentences of criticism to the article? Link here: The Unexplained Files–TV Mystery-Mongering, Stephanie Kemmerer, From: Volume 38, No. 1, January / February 2014. Thanks, - LuckyLouie ( talk) 18:04, 2 May 2023 (UTC)
TV show makes numerous supernatural claims. Needs more analysis and critique per WP:PARITY. - LuckyLouie ( talk) 13:40, 3 June 2023 (UTC)
An article was recently created for David Charles Grusch. He just made some shocking claims including that there are governmental programs which study material from alien spacecraft. Thriley ( talk) 21:18, 6 June 2023 (UTC)
I created a draft for Stephen Harrod Buhner, a major figure in the Chronic Lyme disease world. Would be grateful for any help. Thriley ( talk) 16:10, 9 June 2023 (UTC)
Discussion is blowing up on Fringe theories noticeboard. Sgerbic ( talk) 21:03, 12 June 2023 (UTC)
There is currently a discussion as to how to retitle the page October surprise conspiracy theory, which is part of this WikiProject. A prior RFC closed with a consensus to change the name of the page, but those supporting the change were roughly split between two options: 1980 October surprise theory and 1980 October surprise allegations. In a follow-up discussion, the vast majority of editors said that they would prefer either name, but a few expressed an opinion for just one or the other. As such, we are seeking wider community input. Thanks for reading!-- Jerome Frank Disciple 22:14, 20 June 2023 (UTC)
Hello, I've created Draft:HeartMath Institute that I think may be of interest to people here. I'm new to Wikipedia so feel free to edit it or suggest changes as I'm still trying to get a sense of the norms around here. Thanks! Chase Kanipe ( talk) 17:58, 2 July 2023 (UTC)
Brand new article, already with 13 cleanup tags. FRINGE content. I put a review on talk page. Please can someone clean this up? It needs a healthy dose of skepticism. Grorp ( talk) 22:45, 7 July 2023 (UTC)
Hello everyone! There is an ongoing discussion occurring at Talk:Witchcraft#Ridiculous! which focuses on women who identify as a witch, their relationships to the term witchcraft and its practices (both historically and present day, see the short descriptor for a start, ""Practice of malevolent magic"), and whether the article is neutral. Historyday01 ( talk) 17:16, 8 July 2023 (UTC)
( t · c) buidhe 06:17, 16 July 2023 (UTC)
Hollow Moon has been nominated for a good article reassessment. If you are interested in the discussion, please participate by adding your comments to the reassessment page. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, the good article status may be removed from the article. Hog Farm Talk 00:12, 17 July 2023 (UTC)
There's a discussion about moving the article Witchcraft to Witchcraft (classical) and moving Witchcraft (disambiguation) to Witchcraft instead, at Talk:Witchcraft#Requested move 19 July 2023. Esowteric + Talk + Breadcrumbs 21:28, 19 July 2023 (UTC)
I can't help but note that this article is written in such a way that it implies that 'witchcraft' is a real thing. The lead says nothing about the fact that witchcraft is imaginary. Skyerise ( talk) 13:51, 21 July 2023 (UTC)
Philosophy of science has been nominated for a good article reassessment. If you are interested in the discussion, please participate by adding your comments to the reassessment page. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, the good article status may be removed from the article. Onegreatjoke ( talk) 23:17, 21 July 2023 (UTC)
As this is a highly active WikiProject, I would like to introduce you to Credibility bot. This is a bot that makes it easier to track source usage across articles through automated reports and alerts. We piloted this approach at Wikipedia:Vaccine safety and we want to offer it to any subject area or domain. We need your support to demonstrate demand for this toolkit. If you have a desire for this functionality, or would like to leave other feedback, please endorse the tool or comment at WP:CREDBOT. Thanks! Harej ( talk) 18:07, 5 August 2023 (UTC)
This bio came up here on WP:FTN. An obscure psychic whose claim to fame is after-death contact with Elvis. Much crappy tabloid sourcing, but the strangely-written article contains references to 1970s-80s newspaper coverage of his legal troubles. My impression is the bio can't meet WP:BASIC, but I haven't been able to access those old newspaper stories. This may be a good project for someone with access to newspapers.com and a flair for rejuvenating bios of psychics I'm looking at you, FLotGSoWSC . - LuckyLouie ( talk) 16:37, 10 August 2023 (UTC)
The Richard Saunders (skeptic) is in AFD. I added a goodly number of traditional media sources, others should feel free to add more, or improve the article in other ways. Robincantin ( talk) 00:07, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
There is a requested move discussion at Talk:Richard Saunders (skeptic)#Requested move 9 August 2023 that may be of interest to members of this WikiProject. ModernDayTrilobite ( talk • contribs) 13:54, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
Notable court ruling that a house was legally haunted, written in such a way that hauntings and poltergeists are mostly treated credulously in Wikipedia's voice. Could use a copyedit if nothing else, and someone to research if WP:FRIND and skeptical sources are available for inclusion. - LuckyLouie ( talk) 17:21, 1 October 2023 (UTC)
Hello, |
I am uncertain if this topic belongs here, but even if it doesn't perhaps some of you can provide a comment or two. Back in the day Biosphere 2 received substantial media coverage that placed it and its principals squarely within the Weird-But-Interesting-Science category (I note that this was also around the time of the Utah cold fusion hoopla). The sense that something was a bit off, if not actually woo, with the entire Biosphere 2 project colors my memory: the huge amount of money it attracted; the sources of that money; the project goals; the eclectic collection of "biospherians;" the subsequent controversies involving methodology, the biospherians, and Steve Bannon (yes, that Steve Bannon). After the initial burst of attention it faded from media view. The other day I was reminded of it and checked out the WP article. I found an article that is quite long, relies heavily upon primary sources (including sources authored by the project's principals), and carries, to me, a decidedly promotional/endorsement tone delivered in WP voice. But...before editing the article to any significant degree I thought it would be wise to first ask some questions here: Did/does Biosphere 2 fall within the realm of 'skepticism?' Has it previously been discussed here? For those who have worked on that page, how was the experience (i.e., should I avoid the page at all cost lest I be drawn and quartered by True Believers)? Thanks in advance for all comments. JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 09:23, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
I've started a discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Paranormal § Psi hit and sheep-goat effect and would appreciate the assistance of this WikiProject. Daask ( talk) 19:34, 16 October 2023 (UTC)
There's an ongoing RfC at Talk:Richard D. Gill#Rfc - Kate Shemirani radio show appearance of relevance to this project. Structuralists ( talk) 21:03, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
An article that you have been involved in editing— Global warming controversy—has been proposed for merging with another article. If you are interested, please participate in the merger discussion. Thank you. Chidgk1 ( talk) 17:57, 7 November 2023 (UTC)
Now trending in Google. I was surprised to see that the opening sentence of the article itself began with Baba Vanga was a Bulgarian mystic, clairvoyant and seer (which I corrected), and even more shocked to know that it was as such since years. The article body is mostly about her alleged abilities, and no clarifications about her pseudoscientific claims. The Doom Patrol ( talk) 08:35, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
This bio could use a cleanup after an WP:SPA is finished adding puffery. - LuckyLouie ( talk) - LuckyLouie ( talk) 20:07, 25 December 2023 (UTC)
Over the years, various supporters of John Ernst Worrell Keely have tried to whitewash the article, removing the statements about fraud, etc. This particular one, though — does it go too far in terms of false balance and neutrality, or is it okay? DS ( talk) 16:57, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
An article related to this WikiProject ( List of fake news websites: 645kb) has content that is proposed to be removed and moved to six other articles. If you are interested, please visit the discussion. Thank you. Mathglot ( talk) 01:15, 17 January 2024 (UTC)
Is there a list of all articles in this project to add to one's watch list to be made aware that a page has been removed from the project? Rp2006 ( talk) 23:04, 6 February 2024 (UTC)
This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 5 | ← | Archive 9 | Archive 10 | Archive 11 |
Just came across an interesting stub called Heim theory. From my brief reading about it, it involves a 6-dimensional hyperspace, accumulation of mass and faster than light travel, amongst other nifty tricks. I think I will spend some time trying to improve it. Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 15:03, 21 March 2022 (UTC)
I'm thinking of Labynkyr Lake for my next stub rewrite - it was on the list and I've never heard of this "lake monster" before. So I went though to see what I could find, worried that most will be in Russian. I've found about three good citations, but they are mostly about the lake monster and not the lake, though I think one of them has a lot of good information about the lake, I hate to over use the one citation. Issue is that when looking for the lake, you get a lot of tourism results. Here is what I have decided on [2], [3] and [4]. This might give me a few more [5]. So I would appreciate it if anyone could help me out with some non-lake monster links, but not overly complicated, I want this to be easily readable for readers. Sgerbic ( talk) 04:57, 21 March 2022 (UTC)
Hey great work @ Gronk Oz on the Secrets of the Psychics show - right up my alley. I removed the TV stub that was hidden at the very bottom of the page. There are a bunch of Randi's books that are on the stub list also if you are so inclined ... hint hint. Sgerbic ( talk) 16:40, 22 March 2022 (UTC)
White lighter myth this was on the stub skepticism page and I'm perplexed. Is it a stub - it looks done. A tiny article can be done completely and not be a stub. On the talk page back in 2018 editor @ Mramoeba stated that there is no RS for this and they are probably right. Once Snopes did the research and found that Bic did not produce a white lighter until after the deaths of the celebs then that is it. Snopes lists three citations - I think they all are showing what was in the pockets of these celebs at their death and they don't contain white lighters. I don't think its a good idea to use those three citations on Wikipedia as that would be us doing original research. So what do you think? Should White lighter myth be on or off the stub list? And OMG just when you think you have heard the weirdest conspiracy theories, along comes White lighter myth. Sgerbic ( talk) 05:59, 23 March 2022 (UTC)
I spent some time fussing on the Lady Sheba page and as you can see from the PROD I just left, there isn't anything I could find. Sad because I was really looking forward to quoting from the find a grave site that says her ashes were mingled with the ashes of one of her books and scattered around the graveyard. [8] I rarely try to delete pages, so please let me know if I did this one wrong. Sgerbic ( talk) 07:10, 12 March 2022 (UTC)
Could you take a look at refining this article? The Ukraine biolabs conspiracy theory article is mostly written out (64 edits), with details about the conspiracy theory and the false claims and aspects of the conspiracy theory + debunking of it. Could you folks from WP:SKEPTICISM take a look? The talk page + edit summaries contains some suggestions on how the wording of the article body text can be improved, and one of the main sources is this Snopes article. Thanks -- Rauisuchian ( talk) 10:08, 26 March 2022 (UTC)
I just finished rewriting the stub Cholera belt which was much more interesting than I would have thought. It's late for me now so I would appreciate others to run your eye over the page and fuss on my prose. Just added this to the SSSPP page [12] and this is number six for me in one month, can I squeeze in one more before March ends? Maybe it is raining hard now and probably will all day tomorrow, so we shall see. Sgerbic ( talk) 07:07, 28 March 2022 (UTC)
Hi everyone, I've just finished my translation of
Mobility transition from
de:Verkehrswende. I'm not sure if this topic falls within the scope of skepticism, but I wanted to run this new article past you anyway, because there is a lot of science involved that is outside my field of expertise as a historian. The term itself is relatively new and has many applications (as the article itself shows), and so mobility transition is sort of an emerging interdisciplinary field of various natural sciences and humanities. I took the liberty of changing some wordings to comply to English Wikipedia's manual of style, such as 'have been [present perfect continuous]' instead of 'is' or some other simple present or simple past tense when referring to processes that have been recently initiated and are still ongoing. More broadly speaking, I have operated under the assume that the mobility transition is already going on, because many of the processes described in the article are already going on (since at least the 1960s and 1970s); the original German Wikipedia article often spoke more hypothetically of 'a mobility transition', as something that might happen in the future but is not yet here, whereas I consider it as a partial fait accompli. Many calculations are difficult to make sense of, and sometimes it's difficult to convert certain units of measurement, or to properly translate certain terms into English (I use British English as my standard, but sometimes I follow American English if the present Wikipedia article title uses an American term rather than a British one, e.g. 'truck' rather than 'lorry'. I use metric units wherever possible). Aside from that, many parts of this article could use examples from other parts of the world; as it was originally written in German, most examples are from Germany (and to a lesser degree Austria, Switzerland and some other European countries), so perhaps
Template:Globalize applies a bit here. I've added some examples from Anglo-Saxon countries and my native Netherlands, feel free to add more. Finally, there are some repetitions in the text (e.g. between 'Inland navigation' and 'Road freight and modal share'), some claims are arguably outdated (although they can still be relevant), and especially the 'Further examples' section is a bit random and unorganised (it seems to have organically grown over time as more and more editors added relevant facts to the list that didn't fit well into existing sections), although I'm not sure how to organise it better. Many examples can't readily be organised according mode of transport, or by kind of intended effect (e.g. energy efficiency, spatial efficiency, financial efficiency, traffic safety etc.), as many of them are interconnected. (I added '
short-haul flight ban' myself, but later decided to make it a separate section with an excerpt template, as it is can be separated from the other issues more easily). In some cases there wasn't a source for a claim, so I tried to find and add one (some citations may still be needed), and in other cases the source didn't seem to say what the text claimed, or wasn't clear to which year or which area (Germany? Europe? The world?) it applied, so I tried to clarify the source. If anyone would like to make suggestions or corrections to improve it further, feel free to do so, or to leave a comment below. :) Cheers,
Nederlandse Leeuw (
talk)
15:22, 31 March 2022 (UTC)
PS: In some cases I've used
Template:Interlanguage link when I estimated that the German Wikipedia entry on a certain topic may be worth translating, or would probably be translated by someone some day. This may never happen though, and it may detract from how well the text looks. In other cases, English Wikipedia does have a Wikipedia article, but it's not on exactly the same subject, so with certain links I might not be properly conveying in English what a German-language Wikipedian was trying to say. In still other cases, such as
inland navigation, our English Wikipedia articles are still very limited. I tried to add some more information about inland navigation that I found along the way, but a lot more is desirable to have. The lack of info on inland navigation on English Wikipedia could be due to the fact that Anglo-Saxon countries are much more focused on sea navigation due to their geography, thereby missing how important inland waterways may be for transportation in landlocked or partially landlocked countries with lots of navigable rivers and canals. E.g. the Rhine may not mean much to Britons and Irish, as they can ship almost anything by sea, but it is of crucial importance to many continental Western Europeans. Language barriers and the average interests of the speakers of certain languages can be an obstacle to providing balanced information about the whole world. And that's before I even start about non-Western countries, about which very little is currently said in the article.
Nederlandse Leeuw (
talk)
15:45, 31 March 2022 (UTC)
I came across this stub about Onychomancy, reading fingernails and I've decided to spruce it up a bit. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Heim theory but that has become a much longer term project. I need to spend more time getting my head around the concepts involved. Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 18:25, 4 April 2022 (UTC)
Okay, not sure I'm going to find a lot on this stub - but I'm going to attempt it. I figure I should post here so I feel obligated start the research. You all nag me if you don't hear anything from me on this over the next few days. Gulf Breeze UFO incident. Sgerbic ( talk) 04:48, 3 April 2022 (UTC)
I have (with the help of others) made a small user script to detect and highlight various links to unreliable sources and predatory journals. Some of you may already be familiar with it, given it is currently the 39th most imported script on Wikipedia. The idea is that it takes something like
John Smith "[https://www.deprecated.com/article Article of things]" ''Deprecated.com''. Accessed 2020-02-14.
)and turns it into something like
It will work on a variety of links, including those from {{ cite web}}, {{ cite journal}} and {{ doi}}.
The script is mostly based on WP:RSPSOURCES, WP:NPPSG and WP:CITEWATCH and a good dose of common sense. I'm always expanding coverage and tweaking the script's logic, so general feedback and suggestions to expand coverage to other unreliable sources are always welcomed.
Do note that this is not a script to be mindlessly used, and several caveats apply. Details and instructions are available at User:Headbomb/unreliable. Questions, comments and requests can be made at User talk:Headbomb/unreliable.
This is a one time notice and can't be unsubscribed from. Delivered by: MediaWiki message delivery ( talk) 16:02, 29 April 2022 (UTC)
You are invited to join the discussion at Talk:Travis Walton UFO incident § Polygraph. Sundayclose ( talk) 00:58, 9 April 2022 (UTC)
The little stub Otto Edler von Graeve caught my attention so I decided to spruce it up a bit. Stretched my non-existent German to the limits. Please feel free to improve it further, and fix mistakes I've introduced (or just let me know). Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 19:03, 5 May 2022 (UTC)
This is sort of a continuation of the top thread of this page (How this WikiProject works), but that was a long-enough thread, last added to long-enough ago, that it felt appropriate to start a new section.
For the purposes of this topic, I'm exactly the kind of potential new contributor to the project, who would be overwhelmed without some basic instructions - but I never expect to find that on the front of a Project, but rather buried in its Main Discussion. So, I ended up reading that page first, and then backtracking to the simplified Overview page that had already been created.
But I still found a level of disorganization and redundancy that was confusing in places, and wanted to suggest an organizational change that might work better. Toward that end, below you will find a recreated version of the "Project Goals." My intention was not to change any information, but to re-organize it for flow and clarity. But I worried that there were spots where I wasn't accurately interpreting the original text, and was hoping to get some feedback on that first.
The goals of this WikiProject are as follows:
- To create new articles, relating to science and reason, under the {{ WikiProject Skepticism}} tag.
- To identify existing articles, related to Scientific skepticism, and add the {{ WikiProject Skepticism}} tag where appropriate.
- To review project-related articles for quality, clarity and scientific accuracy. With a particular focus on the following concerns:
- Identify articles with "Good Article" and "Featured Article" potential, and help to guide them through the appropriate review processes.
- Identify articles which are not presently evidence-based, or suffer from highly fringe POV, and improve them using Project Resources.
- To serve as a nexus and discussion area for editors interested in doing such work.
My initial concern was redundant information and instructions between the Overview paragraphs, the Overview lists and the Where to Start lists, but it seemed vital to make sure the above info was accurate, before anything else. CleverTitania ( talk) 05:07, 6 May 2022 (UTC)
Found this book on Project Guttenberg and decided to add some content to the page. Feel free to continue. Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 16:51, 6 May 2022 (UTC)
I just found this amongst the stub list and since I am not an American and have no interest in politics anywhere, I hadn't heard about this conspiracy theory. The fact that there are 6 references thrown down at the end of a single paragraph got my goat, so I am going to see if I can do anything with this page. Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 15:44, 10 May 2022 (UTC)
Just found the stub Intelligence in Nature and couldn't resist adding a bit from the first chapter, Brainy Birds. The chapter starts out quite normally with a visit to the Amazon jungle, wanders down the path of speculating about learned vs instinctive behaviours and then takes a dive into the deep end by claiming that when shamans go into a trance they speak the language of birds and negotiate with some entity for limits on the exploitation of natural resources AND the entity protects animals and plants from reckless and greedy humans. YIKES! Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 18:16, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
There is a RfC at Talk:Historicity of the Book of Mormon § RfC on category inclusion/exclusion as to whether Historicity of the Book of Mormon should to be included in the "pseudohistory" category. –– FormalDude talk 06:09, 25 May 2022 (UTC)
Sourced to Lulu.com books and NICAP. Could use some help. - LuckyLouie ( talk) 11:35, 15 May 2022 (UTC)
Closed as delete Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Carson Sink UFO incident] Sgerbic ( talk) 17:01, 26 May 2022 (UTC)
Just spent some time on Stephan Riess, geologist and dowser. Wyatt Tyrone Smith ( talk) 18:54, 26 May 2022 (UTC)
There is a RfC about how to word the first sentences of the lead at Talk:Astrology#Request for comments: Lead paragraph which may be of interest to the members of this WikiProject. ☿ Apaugasma ( talk ☉) 18:15, 14 June 2022 (UTC)
Today is June 2nd, 2022 and time to revisit this WikiProject. I was instructed by the ArbCom decision that I and GSoW needed to have a more public presence here on Wikipedia. Some felt that I should run a brand new WikiProject but only for GSoW members. Instead what we decided was to revive WikiProject Skepticism and to encourage those people who were listed as members of the project to come back and help us rebuild it.
We have revamped the main page and cleaned out the participant list, I personally sent a message to all 100+ people who remained on the participant list (and cleaned it up). We did see some drop off at that point (a few wished us well) and we have had a few new people join.
I proposed a group project to get us better acquainted and focused on improving skepticism stubs here Wikipedia:WikiProject Skepticism/Skepticism Stub Sub-Project Project (SSSPP).
So that was a three month project March 1st to June 1st, 2022. We rewrote 22 Skepticism stubs, and four editors participated. All four are GSoW editors (including myself), so that wasn't successful at all. All that happened was what GSoW would have been doing anyway. We have had a few conversations here on talk with some suggestions to be involved in other conversations happening on pages that are under discussion. And a bit of conversation here and there about pages that need improvement, some with non-GSoW members.
Now, I'm just not sure where to go from here? If there is very little involvement by people who aren't GSoW then what is the purpose of this group? Without participation from the 100+ people who signed up for WikiProject Skepticism then I might as well just go back to doing what we were doing before?
I think what I'm asking for is some reason, or encouragement that those people who signed up to help on this project please speak up.
I don't think I need to remind this projects participants that now more than ever the world needs to make sure that great information, well written and visually appealing Wikipedia pages (in all languages) need to be the norm. Fringe and magical thinking is prevalent and dangerious. Sgerbic ( talk) 21:16, 2 June 2022 (UTC)
There is a critical discussion at: /info/en/?search=Wikipedia_talk:Neutral_point_of_view#Are_the_only_significant_views_on_pseudoscience_topics_those_of_scientists%3F It would be very bad for the Skepticism project if we allow the Demarcation Problem to become the stalking horse of fringe ideas. You can always rely on philosophers of science to have a wacky idea that, out of context, can be used to diminish the notion of scientific consensus. I actually find all that quite fascinating, but rewriting policy to allow the academic winds to blow freely through the lead section of pages such as Astrology would the start of a trash vortex. Cheers DolyaIskrina ( talk) 20:34, 23 June 2022 (UTC)
There is ongoing
WP:COI and
WP:PROMO activity on this page that could benefit from dispassionate eyes. See
this,
this, and
this from a recently blocked editor who
here claims to be part of a legal team that is interested in ensuring the accuracy of this page
.
JoJo Anthrax (
talk)
20:07, 27 June 2022 (UTC)
I've started what will probably end up being a complete rewrite of the Superstition article. It's important because as another editor pointed out, it's used as reference in other pages to establish what is a superstition and what isn't. It's difficult academic-like work (well difficult for me), but fortunately Stuart Vyse's latest book is a great help and several good pieces are already on the page, they just need to come together in a better text. Going section by section and adding a few more good sources, hopefully we'll get to a text everyone can be comfortable with. Don't hesitate to chip is, bring sources (developing the folklore angle would be really good). Should take the week, will redo the lead last. Robincantin ( talk) 13:37, 3 July 2022 (UTC)
Late 90s Brazilian UFO flap with UFOlogists views, media hype, and publicity, but no discernable WP:FRIND sourcing. A mocking article in the Wall Street Journal appears to cover the basics. However the bulk of Spanish language media cited is WP:SENSATIONAL and credulous. Could use someone familiar with Portuguese or Spanish language to sift through the drek and create a more encyclopedic article. - LuckyLouie ( talk) 16:46, 21 June 2022 (UTC)
I'm coming around to see that apparently this is a big deal in Brazil. That was the key insight I gained from that AfD, and that the numerous and vehement "keep" !voters have apparently done nothing since to improve the article...well, I salute you for your determination. JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 17:25, 21 June 2022 (UTC)
The "incident" is still culturally and historically significant within Brazil and Brazilian culture. I particularly like the girls' description of the "crouching" alien: "there were spots that looked like veins on the skin and some bumps on the head...eyes were two red balls." Paging Dr. Freud! JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 07:08, 23 June 2022 (UTC)
Hello. I would like to share a vision for a real-time fact-checking resource: Wikifact. I hope that the project is of some interest to those who contribute to Wikipedia in this skepticism portal.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikifact
In the not-too-distant future, it may become possible for end-users to fact-check arbitrary portions of documents in word processors and Web browsers simply by selecting content, using context menus, and making use of crowdsourced, collaborative resources such as Wikifact. End-users would be able to select content from social media websites, news articles, digital textbooks, or arbitrary other documents and websites, and then open context menus providing options for exploring, e.g., fact-checking, the content.
I am hoping that more people will express interest on the project proposal’s website. I am hoping to publicize the project proposal. I am hoping to disseminate these ideas.
Please express your support for or opposition to the proposal on the project’s wiki page. We also welcome any of your comments, questions, or feedback with respect to the proposal, in particular ideas for improving it. Please feel free to share any of your ideas in our talk pages.
Thank you, AdamSobieski ( talk) 09:45, 11 July 2022 (UTC)
Editors are invited to comment at the following RfC: Talk:Astrology#RfC about short description. DolyaIskrina ( talk) 01:17, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
I have nominated Vampire for a featured article review here. Please join the discussion on whether this article meets the featured article criteria. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. If substantial concerns are not addressed during the review period, the article will be moved to the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Delist" in regards to the article's featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Z1720 ( talk) 16:46, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
Hi folks, if anyone is interested in countering pseudo-history, there is plenty to do when it comes to the Eighty Years' War. I've recently rewritten the main articles by merging them and splitting them in several period-specific articles (see Talk:Eighty Years' War#Merger proposal if you're interested in the details), and removed a lot of unsourced, pro-Protestant, pro-nationalist, anti-Spanish, anti-Catholic, Orangist or pro-Staatse nonsense/biases etc. stuff in the process. English Wikipedia is often used by native Dutch speakers (most of them hailing from the Netherlands, like me), to write about this war, that is quite central to Dutch/Protestant history/identity/folklore etc., and their ideas about this war are sometimes still rife with outdated views, which shows when you read the texts they write. (To be honest, I used to be very susceptible to incorrect/biased information about this war as well). The kind of incorrect and misleading information that is related to the Black Legend (Spain) is still present in many texts. (Funnily enough, many people expected the Spanish Inquisition to be introduced in the Netherlands, but that never happened; it was just Protestant propaganda to make the Habsburg authorities / Catholic Church look bad through dishonest means.)
In particular, the writings of the American puritan historian John Lothrop Motley, notably his Rise of the Dutch Republic (1856), was hugely popular internationally, and especially amongst Dutch Protestants when it was translated to Dutch as De opkomst van de Nederlandsche Republiek (1857). It remains popular to this day, because Motley provides more details and writes in a more dramatic and moving way than many other books, and is therefore very persuasive. Even today, when history enthusiasts find his work on Google Books or elsewhere, and eagerly refer to it when writing a Wikipedia page here or a sentence there. But Motley was a pseudo-scholar, a pseudo-historian. As I wrote in my new article Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#The Rise of the Dutch Republic by Motley/Bakhuizen, and stated in Talk:Trial of Oldenbarnevelt, Grotius and Hogerbeets#Improvements needed, the works of Motley should be regarded as unreliable, biased and outdated. I have therefore rewritten Siege of Valenciennes (1567) and Battle of Wattrelos and its Dutch equivalents nl:Beleg van Valencijn (1567) and nl:Slag bij Wattrelos (I wrote the Dutch pages myself in 2008, also largely based on Motley before I knew how unreliable his work was), now based on better, modern, more scholary sources. There is no reason/excuse anymore to resort to Motley; his work does not comply to scholarly standards, and hence not to Wikipedia's standards.
I'm just using Motley here as an example of the kind of work there is still left to do to bring the contents about this war into balance. I myself also still have my biases and limitations, and I'm not very good at reading Spanish, so there is a lot of primary and secondary literature that I can't really access, but that we need to see a lot of things "through Spanish (and Catholic) eyes". Even my new Historiography of the Eighty Years' War, which has been a major effort to balance things out, is still largely based on Dutch- and English-language sources (a few in French, German and Spanish). If you're good at debunking pseudo-history, and especially if you can read Spanish, and see any issues in Eighty Years' War-related articles, including mine, I would love for you to get involved with my efforts to bring articles about this period into balance. Cheers, Nederlandse Leeuw ( talk) 15:51, 31 July 2022 (UTC)
Well this guy just like Rupert Sheldrake before him seems to have it all figured out. I think we should all throw in the towel. [19] Sgerbic ( talk) 00:47, 16 August 2022 (UTC)
Hello all,
I recently created an article on Bentinho Massaro, who may be of interest to members of this WikiProject.
Any additional eyes on this article would be greatly appreciated. QueenofBithynia ( talk) 21:41, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
With media attention recently ramping up, I created the article for "Queen of Canada" Romana Didulo. I was hoping the rest of the world wouldn't know about her, but now that the cat is out of the bag might as well put some info on wikipedia. I'll revise and do little things later today, but project members are invited to contribute. Robincantin ( talk) 17:06, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
This person and his rants against some of our awesome editors is so sad. They are ripping on @ Alexbrn and @ JzG, just the twitter mentions are nuts! I thought I got a lot of hate from the paranormal community. My heart goes out to Alex and JzG, it's so ugly.(Redacted) they are so misinformed with large platforms and riling people up. One of the phrases they use to talk about what they do is "coming under the narrative" which I assume means "pushing nonsense". They call Jimmy Wales "Jimmy Swales" and they were talking about how they discovered that David Gorski is a "major Wikipedia editor and it's been going on for years" which is nonsense. That dates back to when Gary Null and Rupert Sheldrake were attacking me back in the 2013's all the time, they thought Gorski ran the GSoW and was like Charley from Charley's Angles or something. Anyway, this all just came to my attention. I'm not going to dive too far into it because it's a giant rabbit hole, but just wanted you all to know this was happening. Probably going to get even more pushback on the articles associated with these people. Sending hugs! Sgerbic ( talk) 23:32, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
The Wim Hof page is being turned into WP:PROMO and "how to", using the Wim Hof Method website as a source. It's not WP:MEDRS. Wim himself has edited the page before, but I don't know if the current adamant editor has a COI, but they are definitely a fan who thinks there is no question but that the method will cure all that ails you. Wim's identical twin brother has the same ability to withstand cold that he has. So, like many beauty and fitness scams, you are promised the ability to gain something that really you need to be born with. The research is mostly preliminary and proof of concept, and a few negative studies are being kept off the age. The page is not MOS compliant has a lot of not notable "stunts" and "appearances" by Wim. For instance if you watch the video where he claims to have hung from one finger, he's clearly using a device that enables his entire hand to be involved in supporting his weight. The page has too many titles, authors and technical jargon larded onto the page to make not very impressive n=1 studies seem sciencey and impressive. I'm getting tired of trying to deal with this PROMO WP:FRINGE and WP:PSEUDOSCIENCE, so any help would be appreciated. Remember ice baths are potentially dangerous and hyperventilation before swimming is dangerous. DolyaIskrina ( talk) 17:49, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
Hi folks, I ran into some discussions that seem to have taken place a few months ago about the reliability of Skeptical Inquirer as a source. That apparently led to an RfC in April 2022, which "establishe[d] a reasonably clear consensus to use the Skeptical Inquirer with consideration given to proper usage in consonance with existing sourcing and content policy." I decided to delve a little deeper into the archives (as the historian that I am), and found that editors had drawn pretty much the same conclusions in the past, with some more details that I have summarised as follows: "Previous discussions concluded that content from Skeptical Requirer is usually considered as journalistic articles or expert blogposts that are reliable within their areas of expertise. There is editorial oversight, as articles will not be published without review, but not a rigorous peer-review process as academic journals conduct. Opinion pieces or articles written outside the author's area of expertise are not considered reliable." I added that as an entry to the WP:RSP list because users may find that helpful. Not just editors interested in skepticism that may consider whether to use this or that article from SI as a reliable source or not, such as users in this WikiProject, but also anyone who runs into an article that refers to SI and wonders whether that is a reliable source. I hope this helps people make that decision. I haven't seen similar widespread discussions about the reliability of similar publications such as Skeptic (U.S. magazine) or The Skeptic (UK magazine), but in case these arise, we could make a similar summary for them as well, depending on their respective outcomes. Note that the use of WP:RSP#The Skeptic's Dictionary, which already had an entry on this list, is more contentious, and depends on which information you cite about what or especially whom ( WP:BLPSPS applies). Cheers, Nederlandse Leeuw ( talk) 14:09, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
...a reasonably clear consensus to use the Skeptical Inquirer with consideration given to proper usage in consonance with existing sourcing and content policy.
That can be used with any source.Yeah, that's what I just said. It's a generally reliable source, like many many others which we hold to that standard. It's also had a number of discussions over the years, as pointed out above, all of which seem to have arrived at more or less the same conclusion. Hence why adding it to RSP might be a good idea. Happy ( Slap me) 20:22, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
Moving forward, editors should evaluate the source on a case-by-case basis in line with existing policies such as WP:RSCONTEXT, WP:PARITY, WP:FRINGE, and WP:BLPRS.ScottishFinnishRadish ( talk) 15:24, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
Editors should evaluate the source on a case-by-case basis in line with existing policiesis pretty much the definition of not "generally reliable." I reverted the edits because I do not believe they describe the consensus and results of the community discussions, or respect the prior discussion about adding SI to RSP. If you want to add this to RSP, it should really be discussed first in an appropriate location, and added after there is consensus on the language to use. ScottishFinnishRadish ( talk) 16:49, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
Editors should evaluate the source on a case-by-case basis in line with existing policiesis pretty much the standard we use for any source on Wikipedia, whether unreliable, reliable, or in between. MrOllie ( talk) 17:51, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
I have nominated Vampire for a featured article review here. Please join the discussion on whether this article meets the featured article criteria. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. If substantial concerns are not addressed during the review period, the article will be moved to the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Delist" in regards to the article's featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Z1720 ( talk) 16:46, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
Hello. There is currently an AfD that might be of interest. Here is the link: Articles for deletion − Academic research about UFOs and related phenomena. --- Steve Quinn ( talk) 02:21, 13 September 2022 (UTC)
Well folks - there is a brand new Wikipedia page for the Thomas John (medium) TV show Seatbelt Psychic. It's written like an advertisement. Not sure how notable "Soulmate Twin Flame" actually is, but hey maybe I need to expand my news subscriptions. First thing I noticed was that citation #1 is to the article "Buckle Up- Seatbelt Psychic" article in Skeptical Inquirer, written by Marc Kreidler. Which is odd because I remember writing that article. Citation #14 is "Right Turns Only! Circling Back to Seatbelt Psychic" also from the Skeptical Inquirer written by Alexander Nicaise - no idea who that is, but again, I believe that I wrote that article. Odd.
The editor gives me one little statement in the Reviews area, but I've written extensively about the show.
I would suggest that this page be merged in with the Thomas John page, seems odd to be a standalone page. But then again I can't be counted on to remember if I published under the name Kreidler or Nicaise. Obviously as Thomas John's main critic, I can't touch the editing of the page without someone freaking out. So I leave that to you all esteemed editors. Sgerbic ( talk) 00:09, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
I note here the latest (3 December) posting by Robert Sheaffer at his Bad UFOs site, which contains information relevant to any number of our favorite UFO articles on enWiki. What's that popping sound? JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 17:50, 8 December 2022 (UTC)
Hello all. I left a rewrite proposal on Talk:Momo_Challenge_hoax#Article_rewrite (of which I wrote the first version), to provide a more coherent assessment of what happened, instead of trying to list every story and reaction from authorities. Community feedback most welcome. I think the same could or even should be done with Blue Whale Challenge, but I'll let the editors involved with that one make that determination. Robincantin ( talk) 19:54, 25 October 2022 (UTC)
In examining this page I noted two sections, here and here, that are devoid of sources, and have been tagged for such since 2010. Before I cut them to ribbons, does anyone have any suggestions/comments about potential RS? JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 15:56, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
Could use more detail, but I don't know if there are good mainstream sources on him. The German article uses gullible unreliable sources like Siegbert Lattacher, Mathias Bröckers, Olof Alexandersson and Martina Rodier. -- Hob Gadling ( talk) 19:52, 22 December 2022 (UTC)
Talk:Rapid-onset gender dysphoria controversy has an RFC for possible consensus. A discussion is taking place. If you would like to participate in the discussion, you are invited to add your comments on the discussion page. Thank you. Nil Einne ( talk) 11:06, 8 October 2022 (UTC)
Just published hot off the press from Craig Weiler aka Wikipedia expert! Wikipedia and the Paranormal from the RS Paranormal Daily News. [22] Sgerbic ( talk) 17:55, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
For full transparency - I have written an article for Skeptical Inquirer from my perspective recounting the immense stress I went though in late 2021 and the first months of 2022. [23] As I write in the article, this is a summation of the situation written for a non-Wikipedia editor reader and completely my words. Obviously it was much more complicated than I write here, but I wanted to get my thoughts out into some sort of narrative that explains. I have no idea if other editors will find this reflection helpful, I'm sure I will not make everyone happy with my description of the events, and I'm sure you will find typos that cannot be fixed. I do know that most people are unaware of the nuances of being a Wikipedia editor and hope this explains why the GSoW project appears to have closed ranks and are no longer sharing on social media as before.
I do want to add this bit as I wasn't clear about one thing. Individuals here on Wikipedia were not exposing the personal names of GSoW editors, that would be very bad and clearly against the rules of Wikipedia. But what was happening was I would post on social media a page one of the team had written, and I would mention the editors name, often linking to their social media account, clearly bragging about the work they had completed and asking people to visit the Wikipedia page, one of the reasons for this was to encourage others to become Wikipedia editors or to help out by adding media to WMC. A few Wikipedia editors/admins would go to those posts and look at the history of the page and then know the Wikipedia user name of the now clearly identified GSoW editor and then they would add the user name to a list. That list would grow and these editors would make correlations of who other GSoW editors might be based on their interactions, talk page, history edits and they would go on the list. And sometimes getting it wrong, but still accusing people (and how can you prove you are not?).
These list makers would then start showing up on the Wikipedia pages that had been edited in the past, and users talk pages. Of course any editor is able to visit any Wikipedia page and if they see something to fix they are free to do so. But this was much more than that, it felt like stalking and it was unnerving. They would appear after having no previous relationship with the page and suddenly have a opinion on the edits, taking an ax to parts of the article they didn't feel felt "encyclopedic enough" (a common one was too many quotes). They did drive-by tagging with broad claims of "advertisement" or "resume" or putting them up for AfD mostly without any thoughtful comments on the talk page. (BTW just as an off-side I can't stand drive-by tagging - fix the frickin problem yourself - it's like when you are sweeping the room and someone says "missed a spot" but doesn't tell you where the spot is - it's just rude, use the tag sparely and with much comment when you do). Then it just got uglier and uglier. Cherry-picking though hundreds of edits made by GSoW to showcase one marginal edit and announcing it with fanfare as if they found the golden ticket.
I want to remind people who care, to remember that a human with feelings are behind each and every one of these accounts. People get things wrong all the time, it's not as if understanding the nuances of Wikipedia is so clear. So speak to them, ask questions and assume good faith.
Obviously as it is December 2022 and I'm still talking about this subject, I'm still upset and rattled. The people that caused the most stress did not receive sanctions of any kind and I heard from several senior editors/admins privately that they all knew the trouble makers were clueless, but still nothing was done to them. I hope by writing this article it helps admins understand why we lose good people and the overuse of tech terms and language creates a wall separating new from experienced editors, and it's intimidating people who are not coming to editing with a tech background. We need diversity to make the best Wikipedia possible. What we/I went though was totally unacceptable.
I do believe that we ALL are working on the most important educational project of our time, I know that most of us have the same goals, and I have enjoyed working with many of you.
I'm always happy to answer questions, so please just ask.
Susan Sgerbic ( talk) 23:30, 30 December 2022 (UTC)
Some rules of Wikipedia are interrupted differently by different editors.[24] "Interrupted" should be "interpreted". -- Hob Gadling ( talk) 09:50, 25 January 2023 (UTC)
I made some edits to that page in an effort to reduce the sensationalism just a tad. I recognize that this topic is A Big Deal down in Brazil, so please improve/correct/jettison those edits as you see fit. JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 16:23, 3 February 2023 (UTC)
See Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)#Project-independent quality assessments. This proposes support for quality assessment at the article level, recorded in {{ WikiProject banner shell}}, and inherited by the wikiproject banners. However, wikiprojects that prefer to use custom approaches to quality assessment can continue to do so. Aymatth2 ( talk) 20:49, 6 February 2023 (UTC)
This article has plenty of problematic content, particularly with respect to sourcing. Much of what's there, however, might be notable or otherwise worthy of retention. Extra, discerning eyes would be welcome. JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 17:56, 9 February 2023 (UTC)
I have a pending hoax-related deletion request over at Wikipedia talk:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia if anybody is interested in hearing me out. 100.7.44.80 ( talk) 19:30, 25 March 2023 (UTC)
Quality assessments by Wikipedia editors rate articles in terms of completeness, organization, prose quality, sourcing, etc. Most wikiprojects follow the general guidelines at
Wikipedia:Content assessment, but some have specialized assessment guidelines. A recent
Village pump proposal was approved and has been implemented to add a |class=
parameter to {{
WikiProject banner shell}}, which can display a general quality assessment for an article, and to let project banner templates "inherit" this assessment.
No action is required if your wikiproject follows the standard assessment approach. Over time, quality assessments will be migrated up to {{ WikiProject banner shell}}, and your project banner will automatically "inherit" any changes to the general assessments for the purpose of assigning categories.
However, if your project has decided to "opt out" and follow a non-standard quality assessment approach, all you have to do is modify your wikiproject banner template to pass {{
WPBannerMeta}} a new |QUALITY_CRITERIA=custom
parameter. If this is done, changes to the general quality assessment will be ignored, and your project-level assessment will be displayed and used to create categories, as at present.
Aymatth2 (
talk)
14:12, 13 April 2023 (UTC)
Could someone with access to back issues of Skeptical Inquirer add a few sentences of criticism to the article? Link here: The Unexplained Files–TV Mystery-Mongering, Stephanie Kemmerer, From: Volume 38, No. 1, January / February 2014. Thanks, - LuckyLouie ( talk) 18:04, 2 May 2023 (UTC)
TV show makes numerous supernatural claims. Needs more analysis and critique per WP:PARITY. - LuckyLouie ( talk) 13:40, 3 June 2023 (UTC)
An article was recently created for David Charles Grusch. He just made some shocking claims including that there are governmental programs which study material from alien spacecraft. Thriley ( talk) 21:18, 6 June 2023 (UTC)
I created a draft for Stephen Harrod Buhner, a major figure in the Chronic Lyme disease world. Would be grateful for any help. Thriley ( talk) 16:10, 9 June 2023 (UTC)
Discussion is blowing up on Fringe theories noticeboard. Sgerbic ( talk) 21:03, 12 June 2023 (UTC)
There is currently a discussion as to how to retitle the page October surprise conspiracy theory, which is part of this WikiProject. A prior RFC closed with a consensus to change the name of the page, but those supporting the change were roughly split between two options: 1980 October surprise theory and 1980 October surprise allegations. In a follow-up discussion, the vast majority of editors said that they would prefer either name, but a few expressed an opinion for just one or the other. As such, we are seeking wider community input. Thanks for reading!-- Jerome Frank Disciple 22:14, 20 June 2023 (UTC)
Hello, I've created Draft:HeartMath Institute that I think may be of interest to people here. I'm new to Wikipedia so feel free to edit it or suggest changes as I'm still trying to get a sense of the norms around here. Thanks! Chase Kanipe ( talk) 17:58, 2 July 2023 (UTC)
Brand new article, already with 13 cleanup tags. FRINGE content. I put a review on talk page. Please can someone clean this up? It needs a healthy dose of skepticism. Grorp ( talk) 22:45, 7 July 2023 (UTC)
Hello everyone! There is an ongoing discussion occurring at Talk:Witchcraft#Ridiculous! which focuses on women who identify as a witch, their relationships to the term witchcraft and its practices (both historically and present day, see the short descriptor for a start, ""Practice of malevolent magic"), and whether the article is neutral. Historyday01 ( talk) 17:16, 8 July 2023 (UTC)
( t · c) buidhe 06:17, 16 July 2023 (UTC)
Hollow Moon has been nominated for a good article reassessment. If you are interested in the discussion, please participate by adding your comments to the reassessment page. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, the good article status may be removed from the article. Hog Farm Talk 00:12, 17 July 2023 (UTC)
There's a discussion about moving the article Witchcraft to Witchcraft (classical) and moving Witchcraft (disambiguation) to Witchcraft instead, at Talk:Witchcraft#Requested move 19 July 2023. Esowteric + Talk + Breadcrumbs 21:28, 19 July 2023 (UTC)
I can't help but note that this article is written in such a way that it implies that 'witchcraft' is a real thing. The lead says nothing about the fact that witchcraft is imaginary. Skyerise ( talk) 13:51, 21 July 2023 (UTC)
Philosophy of science has been nominated for a good article reassessment. If you are interested in the discussion, please participate by adding your comments to the reassessment page. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, the good article status may be removed from the article. Onegreatjoke ( talk) 23:17, 21 July 2023 (UTC)
As this is a highly active WikiProject, I would like to introduce you to Credibility bot. This is a bot that makes it easier to track source usage across articles through automated reports and alerts. We piloted this approach at Wikipedia:Vaccine safety and we want to offer it to any subject area or domain. We need your support to demonstrate demand for this toolkit. If you have a desire for this functionality, or would like to leave other feedback, please endorse the tool or comment at WP:CREDBOT. Thanks! Harej ( talk) 18:07, 5 August 2023 (UTC)
This bio came up here on WP:FTN. An obscure psychic whose claim to fame is after-death contact with Elvis. Much crappy tabloid sourcing, but the strangely-written article contains references to 1970s-80s newspaper coverage of his legal troubles. My impression is the bio can't meet WP:BASIC, but I haven't been able to access those old newspaper stories. This may be a good project for someone with access to newspapers.com and a flair for rejuvenating bios of psychics I'm looking at you, FLotGSoWSC . - LuckyLouie ( talk) 16:37, 10 August 2023 (UTC)
The Richard Saunders (skeptic) is in AFD. I added a goodly number of traditional media sources, others should feel free to add more, or improve the article in other ways. Robincantin ( talk) 00:07, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
There is a requested move discussion at Talk:Richard Saunders (skeptic)#Requested move 9 August 2023 that may be of interest to members of this WikiProject. ModernDayTrilobite ( talk • contribs) 13:54, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
Notable court ruling that a house was legally haunted, written in such a way that hauntings and poltergeists are mostly treated credulously in Wikipedia's voice. Could use a copyedit if nothing else, and someone to research if WP:FRIND and skeptical sources are available for inclusion. - LuckyLouie ( talk) 17:21, 1 October 2023 (UTC)
Hello, |
I am uncertain if this topic belongs here, but even if it doesn't perhaps some of you can provide a comment or two. Back in the day Biosphere 2 received substantial media coverage that placed it and its principals squarely within the Weird-But-Interesting-Science category (I note that this was also around the time of the Utah cold fusion hoopla). The sense that something was a bit off, if not actually woo, with the entire Biosphere 2 project colors my memory: the huge amount of money it attracted; the sources of that money; the project goals; the eclectic collection of "biospherians;" the subsequent controversies involving methodology, the biospherians, and Steve Bannon (yes, that Steve Bannon). After the initial burst of attention it faded from media view. The other day I was reminded of it and checked out the WP article. I found an article that is quite long, relies heavily upon primary sources (including sources authored by the project's principals), and carries, to me, a decidedly promotional/endorsement tone delivered in WP voice. But...before editing the article to any significant degree I thought it would be wise to first ask some questions here: Did/does Biosphere 2 fall within the realm of 'skepticism?' Has it previously been discussed here? For those who have worked on that page, how was the experience (i.e., should I avoid the page at all cost lest I be drawn and quartered by True Believers)? Thanks in advance for all comments. JoJo Anthrax ( talk) 09:23, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
I've started a discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Paranormal § Psi hit and sheep-goat effect and would appreciate the assistance of this WikiProject. Daask ( talk) 19:34, 16 October 2023 (UTC)
There's an ongoing RfC at Talk:Richard D. Gill#Rfc - Kate Shemirani radio show appearance of relevance to this project. Structuralists ( talk) 21:03, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
An article that you have been involved in editing— Global warming controversy—has been proposed for merging with another article. If you are interested, please participate in the merger discussion. Thank you. Chidgk1 ( talk) 17:57, 7 November 2023 (UTC)
Now trending in Google. I was surprised to see that the opening sentence of the article itself began with Baba Vanga was a Bulgarian mystic, clairvoyant and seer (which I corrected), and even more shocked to know that it was as such since years. The article body is mostly about her alleged abilities, and no clarifications about her pseudoscientific claims. The Doom Patrol ( talk) 08:35, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
This bio could use a cleanup after an WP:SPA is finished adding puffery. - LuckyLouie ( talk) - LuckyLouie ( talk) 20:07, 25 December 2023 (UTC)
Over the years, various supporters of John Ernst Worrell Keely have tried to whitewash the article, removing the statements about fraud, etc. This particular one, though — does it go too far in terms of false balance and neutrality, or is it okay? DS ( talk) 16:57, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
An article related to this WikiProject ( List of fake news websites: 645kb) has content that is proposed to be removed and moved to six other articles. If you are interested, please visit the discussion. Thank you. Mathglot ( talk) 01:15, 17 January 2024 (UTC)
Is there a list of all articles in this project to add to one's watch list to be made aware that a page has been removed from the project? Rp2006 ( talk) 23:04, 6 February 2024 (UTC)