User:Ed Poor

Ed Poor

This user is proud
to be a Wikipedian.

This user is a heterosexual

This user is a Christian.

This user does not believe in Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, because

... a monster would never have created anything as nice as this

This user does not believe he would dare face a balrog on a bridge.

This user advocates democracy.

This user is a member of Wikipedians against censorship.

1RRThis user prefers discussing changes on the talk page rather than engaging in an edit war.

This user is not a Wikipedia administrator but would like to be one someday.

This user contributes using Mozilla Firefox.

This user is drug-free.

This user detests tobacco smoke.

This user eats pizza.

This user drinks coffee.

This user remembers using
a rotary dial telephone.

This user is old enough to remember what a typewriter is.

$\sum$This user wants to contribute to the sum of human knowledge

Quick Links

User:HagermanBot/OptOut WP:WIP m:MPOV

Current concerns

Please contact me at User talk:Ed Poor to share your insights:

• Wikipedia's policy on neutrality and attribution - just an excuse for the majority to get their way, or a mechanism to prevent such abuse?

Who the heck am I and how did I get this way?

I'm a middle-aged conservative living in a liberal bastion in New York City. I like computer programming, especially if someone will pay me to do it, but it's also a hobby. I'm also an amateur musician and singer. I was once pulled away from work and made to perform on stage by audience demand in Eastern Europe. Afterwards, the audience made me sign autographs till my hands got tired.

People like me to coordinate things - as long as I don't get too bossy. Kids don't seem to mind though. When I set limits on their behavior, like (1) no hitting, (2) no grabbing, & (3) no teasing they seem to thrive on the freedom it gives them: no one gets hurt, which enables harmony. When I taught Sunday School, there were around 60 kids who called me Uncle Ed (hence my signature nick).

I've been able to do that here, from time to time. But not always. I have my bad days, I guess.

I've made about 42,000 edits to Wikipedia since 2001. My user ID is #188. I've been here longer than 99.9% of all registered users. I was the first elected bureaucrat; I instituted the practice of "running" for bureaucrat.

I don't think Wikipedia is neutral enough. It winds up taking stands on controversial issues and enables "group page ownership" which locks in those stands. I think it would be better for articles to avoid estimating the degree or percentage of support for a viewpoint. Just cite secondary sources which make such estimates, and if sources disagree don't try to figure out which one is right. Let the readers figure that out.

Lessons I need to learn

1. Take care when hunting monsters not to become a monster yourself (paraphrased from Nietszche)
   • Perhaps better put as, "Battle not with monsters lest ye become a monster and if you gaze into the abyss the abyss gazes into you. — Friedrich Nietzsche"
2. Don't be zealous to the point other goals are lost - Intense caring for Wikipedia's policies and ways can at times lead to such excess of zeal as to be a problem in its own right. Such editors often do not understand why others criticize them, because in their own eyes they are "just doing what's right for Wikipedia".
3. Don't expect too much - Wikipedia is only 23 years old and is about as mature as a schoolboy of the same age. Give it time.
4. Instruction manuals. While Wikipedia has descriptions of people, places, and things, Wikipedia articles should not include instructions or advice (legal, medical, or otherwise), suggestions, or contain "how-to"s. This includes tutorials, walk-throughs, instruction manuals, video game guides, and recipes. Note that this does not apply to the Wikipedia: namespace, where "how-to"s relevant to editing Wikipedia itself are appropriate, such as Wikipedia:How to draw a diagram with Dia. If you're interested in a how-to style manual, you may want to look at our sister project Wikibooks.

File:Big Ed.JPG

Ed Poor in Newark, February 2007