User:Selbstporträt

Cooperation

We form a rewriting system that composes a public encyclopedia of everything worth noting. We need one another to pull it off. Minimally, our cooperation involves making contributions that improve the encyclopedia; maximally, it solves the open exposition problem.^[2]

Cooperation involves you above all: nobody but you can carry your weight. Your edits need to improve pages. A modicum of competence is required. Displaying overconfidence won't hide it.

Cooperation involves readers too: we expect them to be able to count and know how time works. We also expect them to be able to read three-syllable words from time to time. This is not the Simple Wiki.

Previous authors do not need to be consulted before making changes.

Conciseness

We cannot consign every human thought to the wiki, so we must summarize. Cutting words and sentences hopefully increases informativeness. Reducing irrelevant information too. Both are a boon when the number of notable topics keeps growing. Adding will always be easier than subtracting.

The shorter our contributions the better, a preference both subjective and fallible. Shortening creates space for others. Every new information can improve the sum of what we have so far. Conciseness alone does not justify removing information from an article.

Clarity

Text comes and goes as a result of a mutual effort to make information shines through. This work entails tradeoffs. We can't please everyone.

We should not expect other editors to pay more than minimal attention to what they read. Don't take feedback too personally. Make the best out of it, and focus on leading readers to the fountain of knowledge.

It is usually preferable to make an edit that retains at least some elements of a questionable prior edit than to revert it entirely.

Concurrence

Edits occur in parallel and with a shared commitment to veracity. Two types of concurrence (co-occurence, agreement) that make us compete toward a common goal, ideally without acrimony. Trying to see eye to eye with everybody else won't reduce friction, far from it. Let us look in the same direction, rules be damned.

The five pillars are too often misunderstood. From misunderstanding exchanges can degenerate. Doesn't matter. You're not here to change people. You're here to fix pages. We all are. Behaving in an exemplary manner is A Good Thing.

Constructiveness

Our North Pole will always be to improve the encyclopedia. Ask yourself if what you do adds to or tightens its construction. If not, let go.

Work to make gnomes and elves appear. Call for their help: they're diligent, and kind. When fairies enter the scene, it's time to move elsewhere. Unless you're a fairy yourself, your work is done, at least for now. Whatever happens afterwards is out of your control. In the end only selfless joy makes the wiki worthwhile.

Stay away from windmills and let knights be. Many mean well, most are clumsy. Expressions like "WP:" simplify assertion; they do not replace reasoning. Many essays are wrong, most guidelines are misinterpreted. Better to say what you think, and why.

The most important principle is to continually improve rather than destroy.

Tact

Being considerate is always worth a try, if only for oneself. Consider that you can always be wrong. The feeling of being right may induce righteousness.

Being wrong is part of the editing game. I know better than anyone else how often I were. To use wrongness against someone reveals one's own predispositions more than it teaches anything. Humans almost exclusively learn vicariously.

Manage your personal limits properly, forgive, and then forget. The task is too big to push people away. Nobody likes cops or fakes.

One can be perfectly civil and follow every rule of etiquette and still be a jerk.

Talk

Should be done for the sake of editing, either through mediation or through explanation. By necessity, talking takes more time than editing. Take time to expose the problem you see: it is easier for other editors to gather around and propose ways to solve what everyone can see clearly. In the end, you'll save time, and you'll lose opponents. Hell is not others, it's thinking others are hell.

Thanks

Thanking editors for their work should be more common. There are so many good reasons to thank: learning something new, recognizing complementary work that saved time, signaling that you noticed. I am sure there are many more reasons.

Thanks should reflect karmic kudos more than full endorsement. Reward good deeds whatever their correctness. If you afford open pages, editors will come. The more editors feel heard, the merrier the wiki. At least up to the point where everyone steps on each others' toes. That's when cooperation is key.

There are situations when it's best not to thank. They usually involve independence. Which means there are few good reasons not to thank those with competing attitudes.

Tradoffs

There is no perfect text. Few optimal solutions for writing problems exist. Satisficing is key.

Pages will always get vandalized at some point. You can't preempt it. It's in the nature of the beast.

To game wiki principles is facile. Mind literalism.

We are far from being perfect, and all deal with dissatisfaction in our own way. As long as the ball keeps moving forward, all should be well. Every instance of friction provides an opportunity to make the text more understandable by more people.

Trust

The adage Trust but verify can be adapted to the wiki the following way. Trust that editors mean what they say, but always verify it it's warranted. This includes ourselves.

Trust the process too. Ignore all rules, and ignore rule enforcers. Let your magnanimity lead the way.

If you think the material is verifiable, you are encouraged to provide an inline citation yourself before removing or tagging it.

Turns

Editing is not turn-based: editors edit when they can, and when they want. Sometimes editing is a sprint, sometimes it is a marathon. Without there being no dividing line, the rule of thumb ought to be: more friction, more time.

Each edit needs to stand on its own feet. Think of them as one move, or one improvement to the page. Too many increments at the same time can make other editors worry. Staying away from knights starts with keeping a good editing pace between them.

So play a few moves, then wait for feedback. You can still gather research, both here and elsewhere. This may even improve the quality of your edits. Above all, do not revert a large edit because much of it is bad, and you do not have time to rewrite the whole thing.