Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2010-08-29/Genetic algorithms: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:34, 30 September 2010

Revision as of 17:36, 30 September 2010

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====What is the dispute?====

The dispute is about whether a new scientific hypothesis about the workings of genetic algorithms that I published in my Ph.D. dissertation should be mentioned in passing in the article on [[Genetic algorithms]]. The edit in question satisfies Wikipedia's three content policies, viz., [[WP:V]], [[WP:NOR]], and [[WP:NPOV]]. The dispute started between [[User:Oli Filth]] and me; however, after I issued an RFC, Oli Filth abandoned the discussion. The only opposition currently comes from [[User:Glrx]], who got involved as a RFC editor, and has since reverted the edit on multiple occasions. Glrx accuses me of "pushing ... original research" (despite the edit being [[WP:V]]), and says that the conflict of interest inherent in writing about one's own work---a COI I made explicit by writing under my real name---''by definition'' makes me "too close" to my work to write about it on Wikipedia. I've asked him repeatedly to provide evidence that I cannot be objective about the edit. He has not responded to these requests. I believe, that he does not respond because his conclusions are based on his ''feelings'' about me (specifically, that I had the gall to challenge him to back up his claim that mythe edit violates [[WP:NOR]] and [[WP:NPOV]]), not an acquaintance with either the field of genetic algorithms or my work.

When pressed to provide evidence that I'm incapable of being objective about the edit, [[User:Glrx]] asks for evidence of "prominent adherents" of the the scientific hypothesis I've put forth. In other words, Glrx asks for evidence of the ''notability'' of this hypothesis. In doing so, Glrx conflates the Wikipedia concepts of ''weight'', which applies to article content, and ''notability'', which applies to article existence. The nutshell box at the top of [[WP:N]] prominently states that the Wikipedia guideline on Notability applies to article ''existence'', not article content. The filters for article content are [[WP:V]], [[WP:NOR]], and [[WP:NPOV]], none of which are violated by the edit. Pointing this out to Glrx makes no difference.