Difference between revisions of "Issuepedia:Mission"

Revision as of 15:04, 18 February 2020

Issuepedia's underlying goal is to help foster a better future for all.

Issuepedia's primary work towards that goal is to promote a more accurate understanding of reality through:

1. documentation of...

the best available evidence
propaganda and other attempts to manipulate popular belief
the methodologies used in such manipulation attempts (especially where successful)
well-intentioned errors in thinking due to inherent cognitive bias

2. development of tools to aid in the process of collective decisionmaking

Some particular emergent goals:

to provide a forum for rational discussion of contentious issues
to place protective yet transparent shields of verifiability and accountability around basic truths upon which civilization is built
to create a library of:
- significant issues
- opinions held on those issues, along with any available reasoning or background necessary to understand those opinions
- analytical tools available for attempting to reach a reasonable decision on such issues
to provide a central collection point for information about other decision-making tools
Reclaiming words which have been misappropriated
Challenging readers to express viewpoints opposing those which currently predominate on Issuepedia (or anywhere)
Providing an outlet for Rampant Paranoia, so we can get those nagging doubts out of our heads and (hopefully) start proving them wrong

Issuepedia aspires to:

be part of an interlocking network of related projects
say that which can't be said [1], i.e. riding roughshod over taboo truths
document understanding of scriptural works, since so many people are influenced by them, both to uncover inconsistencies and identify any valuable ideas or truths they may contain

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{notice.need-update|The focus of this content having been clarified by making it a separate page, some improved organization should now be possible.}}{{sidebar|__TOC__}}
+Issuepedia's underlying goal is to help foster a better future for all.
-==Overview==
-[[Issuepedia]]'s mission is to aid in the process of making decisions, starting with larger issues (which do not need to be compartmentalized) and gradually developing techniques for working out more immediate disputes.
+Issuepedia's primary work towards that goal is to promote a more accurate [[Truth/evidenced|understanding of reality]] through:
-==Goals==
+:'''1.''' documentation of...
-Some particular goals emerging from this:
+:* the best available [[evidence]]
+:* [[propaganda]] and other attempts to manipulate popular [[belief]]
+:* the methodologies used in such manipulation attempts (especially where successful)
+:* well-intentioned errors in thinking due to inherent cognitive bias
+:'''2.''' development of tools to aid in the process of [[collective decisionmaking]]
+Some particular emergent goals:
 * to provide a '''[[project:Arguing|forum for rational discussion]]''' of contentious issues
-* to place protective yet [[transparency|transparent]] shields of [[verifiability]] and [[accountability]] (among other tools) around the basic [[truth]]s upon which our [[civilization]] is built
+* to place protective yet [[transparency|transparent]] shields of [[verifiability]] and [[accountability]] around basic [[truth]]s upon which [[civilization]] is built
-* to document (and to be a central library for):
+* to create a library of:
 ** significant [[issue]]s
 ** [[opinion]]s held on those issues, along with any available reasoning or background necessary to understand those opinions
@@ Line 19: / Line 25: @@
 * say that which can't be said [http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html], i.e. riding roughshod over [[Issuepedia:taboo truths|taboo truths]]
 * document understanding of [[scriptural]] works, since so many people are influenced by them, both to uncover inconsistencies and identify any valuable ideas or truths they may contain
+==Related==
-==Issue Encyclopedia==
+* [[/archive]]: outdated text from this page
-Being a [[wiki]], Issuepedia allows anyone to edit or create any article; Issuepedia's goal is to guide this process towards a comprehensive encyclopedia of issues and opinions, in much the same way that [[Wikipedia]] (which uses [[wikipedia:MediaWiki|the same wiki software]]) has become a valuable comprehensive reference work for [[fact]]ual information purely through volunteer efforts.
-In traditional formats (such as face-to-face discussion or written editorializing), any argument has always faced a compromise between ''thoroughly informing'' and ''sticking to the point''. There is also a similar conflict between the goals of ''discovering the truth'' and ''making a convincing argument''.
-By providing a location where points of argument (and agreement) on any given issue can be documented and referenced, Issuepedia hopes to eliminate much of the endless circular arguing and side-tracking which has always plagued such discussions. The relatively new (c.1990) technique of embedding [[wikipedia:Hyperlink|hyperlinks]] within a discussion or argument makes it easier to provide complete source materials and thorough explanations without getting into a side-track and possibly losing the thread of the main thought, while [[wiki]] technology makes it possible for casual, non-technical users to participate in this process.
-See [[Issuepedia:Technology|Issuepedia Technology]] for further discussion of Issuepedia's technological work, or [[Issuepedia:Dispute Resolution Technology|Dispute Resolution Technology]] for technology specific to unraveling disputes.
-==Documentation of Opinion==
-Although Issuepedia ultimately aims to back up all opinions with reasoning, the fact that someone ''holds'' an opinion may be sufficient grounds for including that opinion, especially if the opinion is widely held or is held by a group who makes efforts to have their opinions known. Documenting such opinions makes it possible to begin the process of determining who agrees with that opinion, what arguments exist to support or weaken it, and ultimately whether or not it should be taken seriously.
-Issuepedia also has a policy of allowing [[Issuepedia:reasonably sound opinion|reasonably sound opinion]] to stand without qualification, based on the idea that the truth will gradually emerge by a successive-approximation process called [[Issuepedia:Reinforcement by Contradiction|Reinforcement by Contradiction]].
-==Shelved Projects==
-[[Issuepedia:Wacky Award|The Issuepedia Wacky Award]] is probably still a good idea, but in order to be worth the time-investment, we would need to do some publicity for each award (issue press releases, post on social networking sites, etc.).
-I had planned to balance the negativity with some sort of positive award (tentatively named [[Issuepedia:Member of Civilization Award|The Issuepedia Member of Civilization Award]]), but that's a much more difficult call. (Possible nominees as of mid-2008 were [[Keith Olbermann]], [[Chris Dodd]], [[Ron Paul]], [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Lawrence Lessig]], [[Cory Doctorow]].)

Difference between revisions of "Issuepedia:Mission"

Revision as of 15:04, 18 February 2020

Related

Navigation menu

Search