User:Fmph/Solutions

Possible solution to the Irish naming problems
This is how I see it.

The problems

 * The problem is not "What is the best name for x?"
 * The problems are
 * "How do we evaluate consensus when it is a very close call?", and
 * "What happens when there is no consensus?"

The solution
Defining the problem differently gives a different range of possible solutions. For me the biggest area of difficulty is the 'wooliness' of the consensus policy. It doesn't make direct reference to polls. It doesn't draw a simple picture of what consensus is, how it should work and what to do if it doesn't. Lots of that is left to an essay on the matter, and essays don't have the same clout as policies. It's a piece of wishful thinking.

So my solution is to rewrite the consensus policy. Give it a hard edge in definition and enforcement. Either ban polls or integrate them into the solution. Make consesnus achievable, even in the most difficult of cases. Most importantly define what happens in any limbo arising from a total lack of achievable consensus. Define the role of ArbCom in content disputes more clearly.

And finally, when its done, come back to the Ireland naming problem and apply the resultant policy, and see what pops out of the mire. My guess is that you'll have an 'acceptable' and durable solution.

The benefits of this solution is that it will be community wide. It will probably help solve other difficult disputes. And it will mean that all the entrenched positions of the Irish disputes will effectively be ignored in building the solution. Which can be no bad thing.

My fear is that, with the more specific solutions, we are still too close to the problem to provide an independent and uninvolved viewpoint.Fmph (talk) 08:40, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Addendum
I do think that, before any solution is imposed as a result of remedy#1 or #2, we should all be asked to, as a statement of good faith and intent, sign up or pledge to abide by any such ruling in advance of seeing it. Just a thought. Fmph (talk) 08:40, 18 January 2009 (UTC)