View source for User:Guy Macon/Yes. We are biased.

<noinclude>{{DISPLAYTITLE:User:Guy Macon/Yes. We ''are'' biased.}}
Alternative title: ''[[All your base are belong to us|All your bias are belong to us]]''
{{essay|WP:YWAB|WP:GOODBIAS|WP:GOODPOV|WP:All your bias are belong to us}}
{{Nutshell|Saying that "Wikipedia is biased" or that "Wikipedia fails to follow its own [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|neutral point of view]] rules" is not a set of [[Incantation|magic words]] that will cause Wikipedia to accept your favorite [[conspiracy theory]], [[Urban legend|urban myth]], [[pseudoscience]], [[alternative medicine]] or [[Wikipedia:Fringe theories|fringe theory]].}}
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== Yes. We <em>are</em> biased. ==
[[Jimmy Wales]], founder of Wikipedia, once wrote:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wikipedia founder responds to pro-alt-med petition; skeptics cheer |url=https://skeptools.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/wikipedia-jimmy-wales-responds-change-org-alt-med-alternative-medicine-cam/ |last=Farley |first=Tim |date=25 March 2014 |work=Skeptical Software Tools |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019121426/https://skeptools.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/wikipedia-jimmy-wales-responds-change-org-alt-med-alternative-medicine-cam/ |archive-date=19 October 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=4 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jimmy Wales Gets Real, and Sassy, About Wikipedia's Holistic Healing Coverage |url=https://slate.com/technology/2014/03/jimmy-wales-denies-petition-from-advocates-of-holistic-healing-about-wikipedia-s-coverage.html |last=Hay Newman |first=Lily |date=27 March 2014 |work=[[Slate]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328000015/http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/03/27/jimmy_wales_denies_petition_from_advocates_of_holistic_healing_about_wikipedia.html |archive-date=28 March 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=4 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=An excellent response to complaints about medical topics on Wikipedia |url=https://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2014/03/25/an-excellent-response-to-complaints-about-medical-topics-on-wikipedia |last=Gorski |first=David |author-link=David Gorski |date=24 March 2014 |work=[[ScienceBlogs]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019210902/https://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2014/03/25/an-excellent-response-to-complaints-about-medical-topics-on-wikipedia |archive-date=19 October 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=4 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Standards of Evidence&nbsp;– Wikipedia Edition |url=https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/standards-of-evidence-wikipedia-edition/ |last=Novella |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Novella |date=25 March 2014 |work=NeuroLogica Blog |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020005024/https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/standards-of-evidence-wikipedia-edition/ |archive-date=20 October 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=4 November 2021}}</ref>

<blockquote>
Wikipedia's policies&nbsp;... are exactly spot-on and correct. If you can get your work published in respectable scientific journals&nbsp;– that is to say, if you can produce evidence through replicable scientific experiments, then Wikipedia will cover it appropriately.

What we won't do is pretend that the work of [[Wikipedia:Lunatic charlatans|lunatic charlatans]] is the equivalent of "true scientific discourse". It isn't.
</blockquote>

So yes, we <em>are</em> biased.

* We are biased towards [[science]], and biased against [[pseudoscience]].
* We are biased towards [[astronomy]], and biased against [[astrology]].<ref>[[Talk:Astrology/Archive 13#Bias against astrology]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[chemistry]], and biased against [[alchemy]].<ref>[[Talk:Alchemy/Archive 2#naturalistic bias in article]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[mathematics]], and biased against [[numerology]].<ref>[[Talk:Numerology/Archive 1#There's more work to be done]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[Medication|medicine]], and biased against [[homeopathy]].<ref>[[Talk:Homeopathy/Archive 60#Wikipedia Bias]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[venipuncture]], and biased against [[acupuncture]].<ref>[[Talk:Acupuncture/Archive 13#Strong Bias towards Skeptic Researchers]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[solar energy]], and biased against [[Energy (esotericism)|esoteric energy]].<ref>[[Talk:Energy (esotericism)/Archive 1#Bias]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[Conspiracy|actual conspiracies]] and biased against [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]].<ref>[[Talk:Conspiracy theory/Archive 12#Sequence of sections and bias]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[vaccination]], and biased against [[vaccine hesitancy]].<ref>[[Talk:Vaccine hesitancy/Archive 5#Clearly a bias attack article]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[magnetic resonance imaging]], and biased against [[magnetic therapy]].<ref>[[Talk:Magnet therapy/Archive 1#Contradiction and bias]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[crop]]s, and biased against [[crop circle]]s.<ref>[[Talk:Crop circle/Archive 9#Bower and Chorley Bias Destroyed by Mathematician]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[laundry detergent]], and biased against [[laundry ball]]s.<ref>[[Talk:Laundry ball/Archives/2017]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[augmentative and alternative communication]], and biased against [[facilitated communication]].<ref>[[Talk:Facilitated communication/Archive 1#Comments to the version by DavidWBrooks]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[water treatment]], and biased against [[magnetic water treatment]].
* We are biased towards [[Mercury (element)|mercury]] in [[saturated calomel electrode]]s, and biased against [[Mercury poisoning|mercury]] in [[Ayurveda#Use of toxic metals|quack medicines]].<ref>[[Talk:Ayurveda/Archive 15#Suggestion to Shed Biases]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions#Critical views|blood transfusions]], and biased against [[Bloodletting|blood letting]].
* We are biased towards [[electromagnetic field]]s, and biased against [[microlepton fields]].<ref>[[Talk:Torsion field (pseudoscience)/Archive 1#stop f**** supressing science with your bias bull****]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[evolution]] and [[Age of Earth|an old Earth]], and biased against [[young Earth creationism]].<ref>[[Talk:Young Earth creationism/Archive 3#Biased Article (part 2)]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[Holocaust studies]], and biased against [[Holocaust denial]].<ref>[[Talk:Holocaust denial/Archive 12#Blatant bias on this page]]</ref>
* We are biased towards an ([[Equatorial bulge|approximately]]) [[Spherical Earth|spherical earth]], and biased against a [[Flat Earth|flat earth]].<ref>[[Talk:Flat Earth/Archive 7#Disinformation, the EARTH IS FLAT and this can be SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN. This article is not about Flat Earth, it promotes a round earth.]]</ref>
* We are biased towards the [[sociology of race and ethnic relations|sociology of race]], and biased against [[scientific racism]].<ref>[[Talk:Scientific racism/Archive 1#THIS is propaganda]]</ref>
* We are biased towards the [[scientific consensus on climate change]], and biased against [[global warming conspiracy theory|global warming conspiracy theories]].<ref>[[Talk:Climate change conspiracy theory/Archive 3#Problems with the article]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[Historicity of Jesus|the existence of Jesus]] and biased against [[Santa Claus|the existence of Santa Claus]].<ref>[[Talk:Santa Claus/Archive 11#About Santa Claus]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[geology]], and biased against [[flood geology]].<ref>[[Talk:Flood geology/Archive 4#Obvious bias]]</ref>
* We are biased towards medical treatments that have been proven to be effective in [[double-blind]] [[clinical trial]]s, and biased against medical treatments that are based upon [[Quackery|preying on the gullible]].<ref>[[Talk:Quackery/Archive 1#POV #2]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[astronaut|astronauts and cosmonauts]], and biased against [[ancient astronauts]].<ref>[[Talk:Ancient astronauts/Archive 4#Pseudoscience]]</ref>
* We are biased towards [[psychology]], and biased against [[phrenology]].
* We are biased towards [[Mendelism]], and biased against [[Lysenkoism]].
* We are biased towards [[Oneirology]], and biased against [[Oneiromancy]].

And we are not going to change.
{{reflist-talk}}
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== Recommended usage ==
{{letterhead start}}
It is <em>not</em> recommended to reply to another editor with a link to this essay (for example <nowiki>[[WP:YWAB]]</nowiki>).

The target audience we are trying to reach is pretty much immune to "WP:..." wikilinks. They have been bombarded with them again and again and have learned to ignore them.

Instead, cut and paste the entire thing (copy from the edit page so the links don't get lost) without attribution (it is [[Creative Commons license#Zero / public domain|CC0]], so no attribution is required) and post it to the discussion page where somebody claimed that Wikipedia Is Biased™. An alternative is to use <code><nowiki>{{subst:WP:YWAB}}</nowiki></code>, which will automatically add in the content of the essay. Be sure to add your signature and an appropriate edit summary.

Another method that sometimes works (but not as well as the cut and paste method) is to make the link look like a normal link instead of a policy shortcut (for example "Yes. We are <nowiki>[[WP:YWAB|biased]]</nowiki>.")

The problem remains that the editors you want to reach have seen so many links to our policies and guidelines that they simply ignore all links, but "Yes. We are [[WP:YWAB|biased]]." is <em>slightly</em> less likely to be ignored than "[[WP:YWAB]]".
{{letterhead end}}

== See also ==
* [[User:Apaugasma/No. We are not biased.]] - an opposing essay
* [[Wikipedia:Academic bias]]
* [[Wikipedia:Neutral and proportionate point of view]]
* [[Wikipedia:Scientific consensus]]
* [[Wikipedia:Scientific point of view]]
* [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia is a mainstream encyclopedia]]
* [[Wikipedia:Why Santa Is Important]]
* [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not RationalWiki]]
* [[View from nowhere]]

[[Category:Wikipedia essays]]
[[Category:Wikipedia neutral point of view]]
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