Wikipedia talk:Requests for comment/Gene Nygaard

Comment
This comment applies more to content than conduct. The cited examples probably do violate WP:CIVIL...but I can think of worse things that Wikipedians have said (even to me). To me, the incivility doesn't seem to be the biggest problem here: that would be the kelvin/kelvins issue. The bottom line is that "kelvins" is the correct plural. Ardric47 05:51, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Overwhelmingly, scientists do not follow the 'correct' usage, which therefore casts some doubt on its validity. Now the problem we have here is not really that as Gene Nygaard's constant and appalling rudeness, absolute unwillingness to discuss the situation sensibly, and refusal to listen to other editors - hence an RfC.  Worldtraveller 08:35, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I must admit that I've been less than thrilled with Gene Nygaard's opinions on various things (viz. diacritics), but since I haven't had any actual problems, I am not commenting on that part. Ardric47 08:39, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Endorsements
Nice of you to round up User:SlimVirgin and her sycophants, Worldtraveller. But their endorsements should all be thrown out, because "This must involve the same dispute with a single user", and the endorsements by their terms address different disputes.

SlimVirgin, of course, likes to stifle talk page discussion by archiving postings half a day old. That's what my disputes with her have primarily involved. But, as she pointed out there at WP:RS, she doesn't really need to know beans "the writing of units", and it doesn't matter in the least if she "do[es]n't know what's correct". She claims that correctness isn't an issue; veribiability is. The plural of kelvin has indeed been verified as being kelvins from multiple, cited sources, including NIST and Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate. That's all SlimVirgin needs to know for her to be able to address the content of this dispute; yet she chose not to do so.

OTOH, she also knows that original research is never a reliable source. That takes care of the other half of the dispute between Worldtraveller and me. Gene Nygaard 14:51, 19 May 2006 (UTC)


 * How did I 'round up' these people, exactly? And keep WP:NPA in mind, please, especially on an RfC which concerns your frequent incivility.  Worldtraveller 15:32, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Policy suggestion
The writing of units should be treated like Anglo-American dialect differences, roughly : If the article is clear, and someone else cares, leave it as you found it.Septentrionalis 18:28, 29 June 2006 (UTC)