User:Olivierd

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David Olivier, Monsieur 'a' letter with a kind of tail going around it david.olivier.name.

This user opposes speciesism.

[edit] About NPOV

This user does not believe that the WP NPOV policy makes sense in any NPOV sense.

Specifically, the phrase "verfiability, not truth" is either nonsense, or a form of hidden POV.

Nonsense: By definition, a verifiable assertion is one the truth of which can be ascertained. So on the face of it, "verfiability, not truth" is a contradiction in terms.

But the contradiction is obscured by verifiable being explained in terms of "reliable sources":

"Verifiable" in this context means that any reader should be able to check that material added to Wikipedia has already been published by a reliable source. (Wikipedia:Verifiability)

In common day WP practice, "reliable sources" are such as peer-reviewed journals. Whether or not they can be counted upon to say the truth is a matter of debate, and to consider them outright as reliable is just one (unverified) POV.

The issue, however, is not just one of contradiction. Emphasis on procedure, as opposed to truth, is the hallmark of operationalism, which would that there is no truth, just (in some sense) correct or incorrect procedures. That itself is just one debatable opinion. It also strongly tends to favour established opinions, and is thus deeply conservative.

The NPOV policy is litteraly an appeal to authority, i.e. a form of ad hominem logical fallacy.

Disputes arise, and there will necessarily be some way they will be settled. The NPOV policy is an attempt at establishing general principles for settling those disputes. I believe it to be deeply flawed.

It is true that if we do without it, we have no general solution for disputes. But perhaps that is the way it must be.