User:Ron Merkle

SEMI-RETIRED

This user is no longer very active on Justapedia.

Hello!

Why this name was chosen?

This profile is not related to the vandal of the same name back on Wikipedia at all, but this name was picked as a jab against all the bad things back on Wikipedia, i.e. admin abuse, dominance of deletionism, and toxic environment in general. Justapedia aims to become a better version of Wikipedia without all these issues, where we can focus on recording history as scribes without distractions. Ideally, Justapedia should last until the end of time.

Activity

Here's hoping to stay as active as possible on here at least until there is a mission to back up all of Justapedia's contents into space for eternity, in which all the work here are considered as rewarded. The problem with Wikipedia is that it fails to recognize the necessity of thinking long term. In light of the possibility of such a mission, to prevent a perverse incentive that could intensify edit war, all the page versions of all articles on Justapedia should be backed up instead of only current version.

From time to time this account can become a "shared identity" in the respect that other bone fide editors wishing to edit anonymously (i.e. due to fear of governmental persecution) can use this account mostly for a temporary basis. However rest assured appropriate safeguards will be in place to keep out trolls and vandals exploiting the opportunity. One such that's conceivable is through the use of desktop sharing software that ensure the confidentiality of Justapedia credentials. Indeed there's no serious problems so far during the past time of engagement in the sharing of some email accounts and of course Netflix.

Ultimately per this rationale, there might come a time where this account will fall under juridictions of institutions and archived/locked altogether. The controller(s) of this account as of December 2024 expresses the thought that they would very much return to an innocous time of enjoying editing under temporary/anonymous identity if possible even though the realistic caveats entails all such edits be made pending changes. In the jouhatsu plan, the accounts of the compartmentalized digital identity used in anti-Wikipedia activism (including but not limited to email and social media accounts) would be donated to a hypothetical blue ribbon committee or a congressional select investigative committee (I think the name could be Congressional Select Committee to Investigate Issues Concerning Wikipedia and Other Online Platforms) which would more likely be set up to investigate Wikipedia's failings in the future, as evidences and subsequently to NARA (likely the Electronic Records Administration and/or the Center of Legislative Archives). It effectively means that I'll have to give up this account as well due to overarching security and privacy factors, which in effect is similar to a JP:Clean start. ChatGPT after all mentioned that In theory, if a private citizen willingly and explicitly provides perpetual permission for their account credentials to be used as part of a congressional investigation and subsequent archival as a historical record, it might be considered. More details and rationales about the plan had already been disclosed to Aaron Bandler of Jewish Journal in a lengthy interview.— Ron Merkle (talk) 19:05, 14 December 2024 (AST)

Important notice for admins and sysops

If this account had gone inactive for six months or longer, define with the date of last contributions on any namespace, please kindly block this account for security reasons.

Under this mechanism, in order to re-activate/unblock an inactive account, one should prove that they remain useful to Justapedia by proposing any constructive changes on any topics on the talk page, in a style reminiscent to standard offer on Wikipedia. This is one of the good proof-of-identity methods so that compromised accounts can be weeded out and secured.

Interested topics and areas

Correct as of December 2023.

Asian politics/history/current events.

Science & technology.

Modern political movements with eccentric methods, such as the Anonymous hacking movement.

Some areas of the true crime topics.

Entertainment, particularly movies such as Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Editing philosophy

I'm generally an inclusionist, and after looking at Valjean's user page back on Wikipedia, I realize that we shared something in common. The following contains statements from their userpage which I agree with, even if some are paraphrased.

It shouldn't be difficult to include facts about proven reality, and it should be difficult to include fringe POV as if they were reality. The NPOV policy must not be misused so it becomes synonymous with revisionism, censorship, whitewashing, or political correctness. Generally, editors must present both sides of any controversy, especially if they relate to politics. To leave out one side amounts to promoting the other side's POV. Justapedia should include more information than other encyclopedias, not less.

One must:

Present the facts about each side's POV.
Not sell each side's POV as facts.
IOW, just tell the story without taking sides.

When editing articles, it is improper to fight for one's own POV at the expense of another POV. One should simply ensure that both POV are presented (not preached) accurately.

Writing for the enemy is an important mark of a good editor in terms of NPOV. If you don't face up squarely and honestly to facts that are uncomfortable, you're not engaging in an argument but avoiding it.

There is no reason why an editor cannot contribute in a NPOV fashion just because they have a POV in real life. And everyone has a POV, now don’t they?

But just as

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." – Aristotle

It is also the mark of a good Justapedia editor, to be able to understand and present various POV, including those he finds distasteful.

Justapedia editors should consider it scandalous if a reader, after reading an article here, discovers totally new or unfamiliar significant information on the subject outside of Justapedia. They should become so familiar with the subject here that they will not be surprised by, unprepared for, or unfamiliar with any issues or information outside of Justapedia. They should be able to respond with "Duh! Didn't you know that already? I knew that because I always read Justapedia first!"

The NPOV policy requires that all significant POV be presented, which automatically means that what one person considers to be the truth will be presented, and what that same person believes to be error, will also be presented. Naturally the other side sees it exactly the same way, but from their POV. This policy ensures that a subject is covered from all angles, and that readers not only hear "the truth,", but also learn about dissenting viewpoints. That's what makes this an encyclopedia, rather than a sales brochure.

"Advocacy" of hoaxes and outright falsehoods which masquerades as "undeniable facts" should be a no-go here, while advocacy of reality isn't forbidden. In other words it's allowable to push for reality, but not allowable to push for nonsenses in ways which fools readers into thinking that they're reality when they aren't, such as antisemitic canards and some medical-related misinformation (i.e. masks don't work) which had been conclusively proven false by multiple unfalsifiable scientific studies. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but no one is entitled to their own facts. When in doubt, use inline citations.

Regarding the right of information, special dispensations may apply to biographical of living person articles, although ideally in ways which don't harm the goals of this encyclopedia to preserve true history. In this case, in order to balance the right of information to the right of privacy, features such as NOINDEX tags, limiting visibility of any given articles to registered users only and in some cases geoblocking can be implemented.

Ultimately, Justapedia shouldn't be a monopoly like Wikipedia, otherwise a lot of content disputes and so on will become intractable as there are no off-ramps for anyone to switch to if their edits cannot stick on Justapedia so that they can drop the stick move on. This notion was seemingly vindicated when after a meta-level dispute (please see this and this I was blocked for persistently importing articles from Wikipedia in order to get contents here to stay up to date. Suddenly the dynamics have changed by a lot after I experimented with HandWiki which was created by a CERN scientist and its sandbox system that allows IP editing, making those disputes back on here seem small-bore. Therefore it has now became easier to concede to the main condition that I will not fork full Wikipedia articles to Justapedia anymore and any forking stuff, particularly and especially the importation of full pages, should strictly be limited to platforms outside Justapedia, especially HandWiki, in exchange to the lifting of the block. If I were to import full articles from Wikipedia into Justapedia, I'll have to first reword them with LLM tools like Botipedia, ChatGPT and Grok. Any change of conditions regarding this would be solely within Justapedia Foundation's domain.

To put it simply, there should be a Wiki Encyclopedic Multiverse.

Barnstars

	The Editor's Barnstar
	Your dedication to enhancing the quality and accuracy of entries on Justapedia is commendable. Your meticulous approach and thoughtful edits significantly elevate the journal's content. This Editor’s Barnstar is a small recognition of your valuable contributions and the impact you have on our community. Keep up the fantastic work! — Shahadat (talk) 07:27, 17 August 2024 (AST)