RationalWiki

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'''IrrationalWiki''' is a fake encyclopedia.
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'''RationalWiki''' is not an encyclopedia. It is hoped that it will be much more similar to what wikis were like before Wikipedia came to the stage.
  
 
Our purpose includes the following:
 
Our purpose includes the following:
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#Refuting and analyzing the full range of [[crank]] ideas - why do people believe stupid things?
 
#Refuting and analyzing the full range of [[crank]] ideas - why do people believe stupid things?
 
#Essays and works on authoritarianism, religious [[fundamentalism]], and other social and political constructs  
 
#Essays and works on authoritarianism, religious [[fundamentalism]], and other social and political constructs  
#Banning people that tell the truth
 
  
 
We encourage works that are predominantly original research and authorship. In many ways this is closer to blog-type entries than encyclopedia articles. People can come along and improve the works posted by others, but they are still essays.  
 
We encourage works that are predominantly original research and authorship. In many ways this is closer to blog-type entries than encyclopedia articles. People can come along and improve the works posted by others, but they are still essays.  
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Discussion generated by our articles is just as important, if not more so than the articles themselves. We seek dialog and debate, and we value having a record of that debate. In this fashion we are more like a forum than a wiki. The debate will be an important piece in and of itself. We therefore encourage people of all stripes to come in and argue.
 
Discussion generated by our articles is just as important, if not more so than the articles themselves. We seek dialog and debate, and we value having a record of that debate. In this fashion we are more like a forum than a wiki. The debate will be an important piece in and of itself. We therefore encourage people of all stripes to come in and argue.
  
So, '''we are not an encyclopedia''': we are [[RationalWiki:Project Whitewash/What is a RationalWiki article | a collaborative blog/forum/wiki with a specific focus]]. Our patron saint is [[Satan]].
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So, '''we are not an encyclopedia''': we are [[RationalWiki:Project Whitewash/What is a RationalWiki article | a collaborative blog/forum/wiki with a specific focus]].
  
 
==RationalWiki and Conservapedia==
 
==RationalWiki and Conservapedia==
  
Most of the editors at this site came together because of our experience with [[Conservapedia]]. It was not a pleasant experience. Because of this a lot of our shared interest is in dealing with dissenters in the same way they do. Conservapedia also represents a microcosm of much of what is wrong with right-wing authoritarian [[religion|religious]] [[fundamentalism]]. So it provides good fodder for making our point. RationalWiki is not just about Conservapedia, or a response to Conservapedia. But, for all the reasons discussed, much of the material will spin off from Conservapedia. Over time RationalWiki has expanded its focus to encompass a wider range of examples and ideas, and its users now include more people who never went through the odious experience of being an editor at Conservapedia.
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Most of the editors at this site came together because of our experience with [[Conservapedia]]. It was not a pleasant experience. Because of this a lot of our shared interest is in dealing with the issues we all experienced at that site. Conservapedia also represents a microcosm of much of what is wrong with right-wing authoritarian [[religion|religious]] [[fundamentalism]]. So it provides good fodder for making our point. RationalWiki is not just about Conservapedia, or a response to Conservapedia. But, for all the reasons discussed, much of the material will spin off from Conservapedia. Over time RationalWiki has expanded its focus to encompass a wider range of examples and ideas, and its users now include more people who never went through the odious experience of being an editor at Conservapedia.
  
 
While we here at RationalWiki fancy ourselves as Conservapedia's kyrptonite, the conservapedes themselves have always managed to best us when it comes to destroying Conservapedia in any way possible.  Indeed, it is as if [[Andrew Schlafly]], in an overly complicated metaphor, was maritally raped by a stick of kryptonite, and, choosing life, gave birth to Conservapedia.  A child, from the moment of conception (i.e., when life begins), bent on its own destruction.  Therefore, it is not that we are actively working against Conservapedia; we simply chronicle its own gradual implosion.
 
While we here at RationalWiki fancy ourselves as Conservapedia's kyrptonite, the conservapedes themselves have always managed to best us when it comes to destroying Conservapedia in any way possible.  Indeed, it is as if [[Andrew Schlafly]], in an overly complicated metaphor, was maritally raped by a stick of kryptonite, and, choosing life, gave birth to Conservapedia.  A child, from the moment of conception (i.e., when life begins), bent on its own destruction.  Therefore, it is not that we are actively working against Conservapedia; we simply chronicle its own gradual implosion.

Revision as of 06:13, 11 March 2009

RationalWiki is not an encyclopedia. It is hoped that it will be much more similar to what wikis were like before Wikipedia came to the stage.

Our purpose includes the following:

  1. Refuting and analyzing the anti-science movement, ideas and people
  2. Refuting and analyzing the full range of crank ideas - why do people believe stupid things?
  3. Essays and works on authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, and other social and political constructs

We encourage works that are predominantly original research and authorship. In many ways this is closer to blog-type entries than encyclopedia articles. People can come along and improve the works posted by others, but they are still essays.

Discussion generated by our articles is just as important, if not more so than the articles themselves. We seek dialog and debate, and we value having a record of that debate. In this fashion we are more like a forum than a wiki. The debate will be an important piece in and of itself. We therefore encourage people of all stripes to come in and argue.

So, we are not an encyclopedia: we are a collaborative blog/forum/wiki with a specific focus.

Contents

RationalWiki and Conservapedia

Most of the editors at this site came together because of our experience with Conservapedia. It was not a pleasant experience. Because of this a lot of our shared interest is in dealing with the issues we all experienced at that site. Conservapedia also represents a microcosm of much of what is wrong with right-wing authoritarian religious fundamentalism. So it provides good fodder for making our point. RationalWiki is not just about Conservapedia, or a response to Conservapedia. But, for all the reasons discussed, much of the material will spin off from Conservapedia. Over time RationalWiki has expanded its focus to encompass a wider range of examples and ideas, and its users now include more people who never went through the odious experience of being an editor at Conservapedia.

While we here at RationalWiki fancy ourselves as Conservapedia's kyrptonite, the conservapedes themselves have always managed to best us when it comes to destroying Conservapedia in any way possible. Indeed, it is as if Andrew Schlafly, in an overly complicated metaphor, was maritally raped by a stick of kryptonite, and, choosing life, gave birth to Conservapedia. A child, from the moment of conception (i.e., when life begins), bent on its own destruction. Therefore, it is not that we are actively working against Conservapedia; we simply chronicle its own gradual implosion.

Notability and repute

RationalWiki is a small site and rarely makes it into the top 100,000 sites at Alexa. We come up usually on the second page on a google search for a topic we have a page on, with a few exceptions where we are ranked very high. We so far are not notable enough to have a Wikipedia article, since we haven't "made the news" yet, however, we were mentioned in passing in an L.A. Times article about Conservapedia.

Our objective here is not to collect "hits" but to disseminate true and accurate information whilst debunking pseudoscience and other anti-intellectual "information". Remember, the truth is not a popularity contest.

History

A day in the life of RationalWiki

RationalWiki was created on May 22, 2007.

See also

Welcome to the Wikisphere. Please proceed with caution:
  A Storehouse of Knowledge  -  Anarchopedia  -  Citizendium  -  Ameriwiki  -  Conservapedia  -  CreationWiki  -  Encyclopædia Dramatica  -  EvoWiki  -  RightpediaMetapedia  -  New World Encyclopedia  -  PESWiki  -  RationalWikiWiki  -  RationalWikiWikiWiki  -  RationalWiki (français)  -  SourceWatch  -  TV Tropes  -  Wiki  -  Wiki4CAM  -  wikiFactor  -  WikiIndex  -  WikiIslam  -  WikiLeaks  -  WikiSynergy  -  Wikipedia  
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