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Philosophy and guiding principles |
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To achieve its purposes, ZFacts needs guiding principles. Without these, it would rapidly evolve into one of the more popular web-site styles, which cannot serve the zFacts purpose. Here are five principles which I believe will best keep zFacts on track.
1. Accuracy. Only a few facts, such as what someone said on TV, can be known with complete certainty, so perfect accuracy is impossible. However, zFacts should maintain very high standards. This means (1) admitting important uncertainties and (2) not jumping to conclusions.
2. Relevance. Most facts don’t prove much, and these should generally be omitted to avoid clutter. Clinton did not keep his pants zipped, and Bush can’t speak grammatically, but neither fact proves their policies were wrong or stupid. It is difficult to boil complicated issues down to their most relevant points, but this is where zFacts makes its unique contribution.
3. Interest. Academic writing builds up from principles while journalism leads with the conclusion, and follows with increasingly detailed support. Done well the journalistic style can be just as rigorous and is far more interesting. ZFacts should present its case journalistically, but carefully. This will hold the reader’s attention and provides a great service to the reader by showing them up front what they will learn if they take the time to follow the links.
4. Backup. Properly layered hypertext is the perfect complement to the journalistic style. It allows ZFacts to present any level of detail without bothering the casual reader. ZFacts should contain a great deal of detail and background information, but let readers choose their desired depth of detail on each aspect of a topic. In short, backup material should be very easy to access, but be hidden behind links so the casual reader is not bothered.
5. Respect. Most issues have two sides that both deserve respect. This does not mean the two sides should be treated as having equal weight, but very often both sides represent legitimate concerns. ZFacts should always acknowledge the legitimacy of such concerns, but should also attempt to draw conclusions and give guidance. Preserving first-growth forests has benefits, but may also cost jobs. The hardship of job loss should be addressed, not dismissed.
Further discussion of Accuracy
Suppose we know that global-warming models predict a 1 to 5 degree temperature increase over the next 100 years. This fact should be reported, but readers should be warned that such models may have biases, and the science is too young for outsiders to consider it settled. This does not mean it’s wrong, and it may still be our best estimate. Accurate reporting of the extent of the scientific consensus is helpful, but it is probably even better to show the reader a graph of CO2 and of world surface temperature from different sources, and let the reader draw the conclusion. Even then, the reader should be warned that there is some possibility of coincidence.
Steve Stoft, June 16, 2006
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http://zfacts.com/p/386.html | 01/18/12 07:17 GMT
Modified: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:11:54 GMT
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