Talk:David Allen (author)

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Votes for deletion This article was the subject of a previous vote for deletion.
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[edit] Removed MSIA Category

While it may make sense to have a Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness category for purposes of new religious scholarship, adding notable students of this spiritual movement to this category does not make sense. Or, if it does, there would be very large "Catholic" and "Buddhist" and "Mormon" categories, and most of the author entries in Wikipeida would have some kind of religious tag (or perhaps an "Atheism") category at the bottom of their page. Just because it is a new religious movement does not mean it deserves any special consideration. -Cyberscribe 16:16, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

I don't subscribe to the reasoning. He is a public figure, who has been publicly associated with the movement. I am not aware of any WP policy about this. Is there one? DCDuring 16:36, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
My mistake -- looks like there is actually a precedent for categories such as Category:American Christians. So, it might make sense to have Category:Students of The Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness. I would expect to find theologically related articles in the current Category:Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness just as there are similar articles in Category:Christianity -- but would not expect to find notable students or ex-students, only founders (e.g. Jesus is in Category:Christianity) or any other individuals whose notability is predominantly due to their association with that religion (e.g. Paul the Apostle is also in Category:Christianity). -Cyberscribe 20:52, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
Allen continued to speak as if he were commited to MSIA, its founder, and its teachings as of the writing of the Sept. 2007 Wired article. I am surprised that there isn't some mention of it in the WP article. With a little-known, New-agish thing like MSIA folks get nervous that there is some kind of Trojan-horse meme embedded in the GTD methodology. That is the warrant for including a mention of MSIA in the DA article. I personally think that the book and the approach stand on their own merits and have no connection with any religious "cult", if that word is even a fair characterization of MSIA. People do get enthusiastic about GTD and do seem to go through a period of very high enthusiasm for the system, but this would hardly warrant calling GTD itself a "cult", though journalists seem to like to do so. DCDuring 22:12, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
Not disputing that Allen made his spiritual views known through a reputable source -- just that there is a difference between adding a category to an article on an individual such as Category:Catholics versus a category like Category:Roman Catholic Church. Even the current Pope does not have Category:Roman Catholic Church as a category in his entry -- instead, he has Category:Roman Catholic theologians, which is a category of people, not a category of articles related to theology. So, I suggest a Category:Students of The Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness for any and all articles about notable people who have been described as students of MSIA via a reputable source.-Cyberscribe 22:40, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Motivational author?

Why is David Allen categorized as a motivational author? It seems contrary to the substance of his books, his consulting practice, and even his personality in my understanding. DCDuring 22:25, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

Agreed; he may be a charismatic speaker, but his methodology is not "motivational" per se.-Cyberscribe 22:39, 24 October 2007 (UTC)