2022-01-10

Climate change: Small army of volunteers keeping deniers off Wikipedia?

IMG_20220108_144354_010 So says Aunty. Or Wikipedia has for so long been plagued by climate change denial. But a group of dedicated volunteers around the world is working tirelessly to keep the deniers at bay. Or They [Denialist's]'ve been waging an editing war to get their views across. But it isn't true.

It was true years ago. See The dim and distant history of Global Warming on Wiki: the GW wars. But that was more than a decade ago. Since then the denialists on wiki are a spent force; indeed, there aren't really any denialists; we have more trouble with enthusiastic but not quite competent people trying to improve things like the Greenhouse effect. Or, jut, articles that no-one gets round to fixing. For myself, I haven't touched the Global Warming article since the clowns decided to rename it Climate Change. Instead, what seems to have happened is that the true nutters - the WUWT type folk - have instead in their own minds innoculated themselves (how ironic) against wiki, and decided that they don't care what it says.

Nowadays we get nutters one at a time, who make a few perfunctory edits, get reverted, and are never heard from again.

I probably sound bitter and twisted, because they didn't interview me. Well I am bitter and twisted, of course, but not because of that. I corresponded with the nice MS, but preferred not to be interviewed; although that may have been a different project.

Refs

* The Good Group by Bryan Caplan

5 comments:

Tom said...

I will renew my call for a different wiki, devoted to climate change. Invited participants from either side of the aisle to comment on various aspects of human contributions to climate change.

Items agreed to by all sides shaded in blue. Just to settle half of the arguments going on between those whose enthusiasm outweighs their understanding.

William M. Connolley said...

I think your proposal has timed out; no-one cares (in terms of physical science) about "the other side of the aisle" any more. If you mean the Watties and so on. Or perhaps the center of the aisle has shifted? Who would you put there, opposed to everyone from IPCC WG1?

Tom said...

I always imagined inviting folks ranging from Gavin and Mike Hulme, Richard Betts, etc. on one side of the spectrum and both Pielkes and Judy (your favorite bozo!) and Mac on the other. Maybe the cast of characters should change now that a decade has passed.

William M. Connolley said...

"Mac" being McI, I presume? It won't ever happen of course but one could speculate: I don't think Curry or RP Sr would even consider it: they don't venture out of their safe little worlds. Gavin might, or might put up a minion; but really I can't see it being worth anyone's time. There have been various carefully cultivated "dialogues"... oh yeah, https://wmconnolley.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/climatedialogue-org/ but they essentially failed.

Tom said...

You're probably right, but I don't envision this as a 'dialogue.' It would consist of them saying, yes, no, maybe or I don't know to a long series of questions. Questions that get 'yes' from all get shaded blue on the wiki.