User:Stephan Schulz

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.

I'm a computer scientist with broad interests in history and the sciences. I found the instant improvability of Wikipedia to be nearly irresistible. It's a great system, so I decided to become part of it.


 * My home page
 * My cooking site (German language)
 * My Editcount via X!'s edit counter
 * X!'s Article revision statistics
 * I'm a Steve.

Contrary to some impressions, I'm not online all of the time, and I sometimes even travel to the big room with the blue roof. Thus, I may take some time to reply to a discussion or request. Further delay is possible in the rare cases where I think before I write something. ;-)

A snapshot of my reading (September 15th, 2016): Older snapshots.
 * Arthur C. Clarke: The Sentinel (I have the Kindle edition, which seems to have more stories) - let's just say that I got the omnibus edition of Clarke short stories immediately after. I liked this a lot better than Heinlein...
 * Nancy Kress: Beggars in Spain - very good! However, it's a bit of a letdown that Kress (and her superhuman characters) seem to know Rand, but never seem to have heard of Rawls
 * Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger - following Kress on my reading list should have been a hard job, but wow!

Collected ramblings

 * In a democratic society, good decisions can only be expected from an informed population. Oppose censorship, both online and offline.
 * In science, any compromise between a correct statement and a wrong statement is a wrong statement.
 * If I disagree with an argument, please do not assume that I automatically disagree with the conclusion. I may well do so, but I also point out flaws in arguments where I have no opinion on the conclusion, or even (if rarer, I'm no saint ;-) where I agree with the conclusion. I cannot stand bad logic - it's a professional weakness.
 * In Soviet Russia, TV watches you!
 * On this sad occasion...

About Wikipedia
Sadly, anonymous trolls are an endlessly renewable resource - experts willing to put up with this place, not so much.

Online civil liberties
Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.

"The real complaining party at the bar in this courtroom is civilization"
There are those in our own country too who today speak of the "protection of country" -- of "survival." A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient -- to look the other way.

Well, the answer to that is "survival as what?" A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult!

Before the people of the world, let it now be noted that here, in our decision, this is what we stand for: justice, truth, and the value of a single human being.

On education
The purpose of education is not to validate ignorance, but to overcome it.

Awards
  "I found the instant improvability of Wikipedia to be nearly irresistible"

Thank you, veteran editor with the same great line on the user page from 2003 to now, for quality articles such as Craig M. Wright, British Alpine Hannibal Expedition and Talk:Global warming/FAQ, for answering science questions at the help desk, for and protection, for earning praise for "calm, rational, civil and good-humoured manner", for "Further delay is possible in the rare cases where I think before I write something", - you are an awesome Wikipedian!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:15, 31 May 2015 (UTC)