Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Max Falkowitz

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The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. --Coredesat 03:05, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Max Falkowitz

Max Falkowitz (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) – (View log)
  • This article fundamentally mischaracterizes the "work" of Ferenc Torkenzy. He is not an ornithologist, as he has no specialized training in ornithology and he makes no claims which are specific to birds. Rather, he is an evolutionary biologist who rejects standard taxonomy; specifically, he believes we should classify species according to commonality with regards to the selective pressures that caused them to evolve, rather than according to commonality with regards to genetic lineage. This is perhaps interesting, but it makes taxonomy useless because we have imperfect knowledge of what selective pressures (if any) led to what species, and because it produces absurd results, such as, most infamously humans being classified with central European wildflowers. Torkenzy talks about magpies, yes, but only because this is one area where his theories produce results which are not completely absurd.
  • A search for his mentioned Hungarian mentor Ferenc Torkenzy does appear on a search of hu.wiki; this should be perhaps checked out as evidence of further vandalism (by someone more educated than I; I don't speak magyar) or even evidence of Falkowitz' validity.--Jedimaster898 07:32, 13 April 2007 (UTC) — Jedimaster898 (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
  • Max Falkowitz is certainly a professor in the University of Chicago biology department. It seems that some of his students at the university have decided to hi-jack his page by placing their photos on his page. This is a great shame as Falkowitz is a frequently cited expert in the field of ornithology.--Williamdix 06:25, 13 April 2007 (UTC) — Williamdix (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
  • Comment - A search of the University of Chicago failed to find a listing for this individual. Furthermore he is not listed on the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division Faculty and Staff Ronbo76 06:33, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
  • Comment- This does seem to be pretty damning evidence, but the laziness and inefficiency of the tech staff should not be underestimated. It seems that as Falkowitz is neither tenured nor a long-present member of the faculty, his page on the BCSD page may have not yet been added. Or, for the sake of privacy, he may have chosen not to include one. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 128.135.155.217 (talk) 06:38, 13 April 2007 (UTC). — 128.135.155.217 (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
  • This is not a speedy, because it includes statments which claim, and if true probably establish, notability. However i strongly suspect this is a hoax. All google searches for "Max Falkowitz" appear to refer to a High School student, and the image seems to be that of a person much younger than the person described. The article is, at present, unsourced.
  • Delete as nominator. DES (talk) 06:12, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
  • Delete. No GScholar hits. Appears to be a hoax. Stammer 09:48, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
  • Delete - per nom. Fails WP:BIO. Ronbo76 12:56, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
  • Speedy delete Hoax ffm ✎talk 13:38, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
  • Speedy delete per WP:PN. --Mary quite contrary (hai?) 17:02, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
  • Comment Hoaxes are not speedy candidates, for good reason -- it takes more than one or two sets of eyes to reliablly confirm a hoax. And this is not an example of patent nonsense in the wikipedia sense -- there is no trouble tellign what this means, it just happens to be (as far as anyone can tell to date) completely inaccurate. If sources had been cited on this that looked plausible, and the picture were of a man of around 50, I would never have nominated it. That isn't PN. So this isn't a speedy. But it is unsourced, and quite likely to be a haox. 19:12, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
  • Delete. Not verified. The world-famous Joshua Knox has flown the coop. And I must admit that when the very first mention of his claim to fame is misspelled orinthologist I just have to wonder. Shenme 02:03, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
  • Delete. Appears to be a hoax. Gimme danger 18:22, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
  • Delete No references and no claim to notability (has he published anything?).-- Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus | talk  00:44, 16 April 2007 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.