User talk:Sentryman101
Third opinion[edit]
Sure! Yes, viewpoint-type material must be attributed. In this case, we've got an emperor talking about fruit. Is that some kind of botanical expert? Of course not. But it's a bit lighthearted (especially given just how bad he seems to hate them), and sometimes we can use that-it's an interesting and striking quote, and it's made clear that it's not a majority opinion, just Babur's. Seraphimblade Talk to me 21:47, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
Well then sir, based on the two points you agreed to (neither majority opinion nor the opinion of an expert), you are agreeing that it violates the NPOV rule and hence does not belong in Wikipedia if contested. I am contesting it because I find it offensive. I am sure many more people would find it to be so, if we took a survey.
Your view point is interesting. Nevertheless, as I mentioned, the comment is not light hearted at all and I will explain why. Jack fruit holds a very special place in South Indian culture. There is also some cultural sensitivity involved in comparing this fruit with intestines and such. India is predominantly a vegetarian nation and any such comparisons would be very difficult to take lightly. Put all this together and you will start getting the picture. Think of a scenario in which some portion of the US is taken over by a middle eastern emperor and the emperor starts comparing the consistency of an apple pie to that of bird shit. Would you take the comment lightly, especially if it shows up front and center on the Wikipedia page for Apple Pie, 500 years into the future? The question to ask is, is the comment really giving any additional information about the fruit? Wouldnt it be better to put pictures and leave it up to the users to judge? None of the other fruit pages have such comments in their pages. Why should this one have it? In addition, please substitute 'jack fruit' with 'national fruit of Bangladesh' and read the sentence again. Does it sound derogatory or not? Let me know what you think Sentryman101 23:09, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
Kindly do not misrepresent me. (And if, for example, George Washington had at some point compared apple pie to bird shit, I'd think that probably could go in the article.) Most articles include notable criticisms of the article's subject, and those criticisms are not censored, even if they may offend someone. So long as they're properly attributed to the critic rather than presented as factual, that is not problematic. Of course, there's also plenty in the article about the good points of jack fruit. We exclude neither, so long as it's attributable. That is not a violation of NPOV. Indeed, it is a violation of it to suppress such information due to it being "offensive". Seraphimblade Talk to me 01:10, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
Absolutely. Remember, we mirror sources, we never "correct" them. If Saddam Hussein hated apple pie so bad that someone writing his biography saw fit to write a whole diatribe he'd launched against the stuff, that's attributable and verifiable. Like I said, we have no problem including notable criticism of something, whether or not someone may find it offensive. Even if I would find some criticism of apple pie offensive, so long as it's attributed and verified, it can certainly go in the article. Seraphimblade Talk to me 18:09, 10 April 2007 (UTC)