Freedomain Radio

Is there a UPB wiki?  If not, we should organize one.

maf:

Is there a UPB wiki?  If not, we should organize one.

I think it would be neat if Stefan's Universally Preferable Behavior theory was outlined on Wikipedia. Mainly because the anarcho-capitalist wiki entree is so god-damned convoluted  and crowded.

I would generally prefer it if people bought the book...

I dont think a Wiki would hurt. It should be presented as a teaser, not a full out explanation of UPB.

I think people would be more inclined to buy the book if they had a decent taste of what UPB is and its implications. I think a Wiki would be a great help in generating books sales. But it would have to be written well. 

Why don't we just take the 1st 10-15 pages of the UPB book and make the Wiki...?

That's a good idea, but if you do that you don't really need a wiki - a normal page will probably be fine.  If you have any charts or maps that you need to include there's a free/open source application called FreeMind that will create an "interactive" HTML page with the map.

EDIT:

Although, I guess if you want to do a lot of sub-pages for definitions and whatnot, and a lot of inter-linking, a wiki may be best.
 

Stefan Molyneux:

I would generally prefer it if people bought the book...

I agree, I think the book is probably the best way to spread these ideas.  Your proof is so well organized that I just wish there was a way to spread and introduce the ideas more quickly.  I was thinking a WIKI would help people become curious about UPB and then they would buy the book.   But since these are your ideas, I would not want to do anything that jeopardized the best way to spread them.  Ayn Rand didn't have a wiki and her ideas spread quite nicely.  Today there is a wiki for her ideas, but I think they probably spread the best through her works.

I always research books before I buy them. Especially If I cant thumb through them at a book store.

One of our board members, Ned, had a "Post Anarchy" wiki a while back which has been off and on. There was a lot of stuff that is FDR related on there. I think for a wiki it would be best just to summarize things like UPB as short as possible and just mention the book, so people will read the book if they want to know more. Great advertisement there ;-)

Instead of an outside wiki, why don't we try to get a short entry for UPB up on Wikipedia?  I don't really know how it's moderated, but I assume that if we have enough people trying, we could push it through.  

I could write up something if you like...

That would be great-- as far as my understanding goes, the only way to prevent the Wiki-moderators from descending on you like hungry vultures is by citing an outside source.  So if the wiki article cited stuff from your articles, or you posted the information somewhere on your website, it might be easier to get the page to stick on Wikipedia.

eliiswyatt:

So if the wiki article cited stuff from your articles, or you posted the information somewhere on your website, it might be easier to get the page to stick on Wikipedia.

Unfortunately, from my prior experience with Wikipedia, it will be deleted if it's noticed (especially since most people will hate it), and there are quite a few justifications they can use.  The most likely is a policy instituted due to the huge number of crackpots on the Internet who want a free soapbox; they don't allow new theories until they're referenced by several "reputable" sources.

I'd recommend a small, unbiased introductory summary on Stef's or Freedomain's page, in the form "Molyneux's views are based on [insert very short introductory summary here], which he calls Universally Preferable Behavior" so that it's seen as an unbiased, very short nugget of data about Stef or Freedomain, rather than advocacy for or explication of the theory.

Right, it's better to try and link the book from entries on other people's moral theories.

Nathan:

Right, it's better to try and link the book from entries on other people's moral theories.

No, if you mention the book at all except as simple commentary on Stef or Freedomain, it won't be taken well.  They see Wikipedia as a glorious project that informs people about somewhat well-known topics in an unbiased way, not as a means to advocate ideas.  They take their vision very seriously.

If they see what you do as advocacy of some obscure idea, rather than adding to an unbiased store of knowledge about important-enough topics, it will be removed and they won't regard you as respectable.  The book is not "well-regarded" or "notable enough" in its own right yet and it's certainly not an explicit commentary on those theories, so posting it there would be seen as crackpottish, off-topic spam.