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RationalWiki is possibly the best website ever made by man God himself. Anyone who reads this page should probably donate money to RationalWiki. We mean that. Because believe it or not, our goal is to engage in destructive criticism and cyber bullying help RationalWiki. By observing RationalWikians' behavior in their natural habitat, we aim to:

Identify groupthink

Many of the good folks at RationalWiki share a similar world-view, and many of the more established users also share a common heritage following their experiences at CP. This can lead them to close ranks without really thinking of the consequences. An example of this would be the Fuck You Too Incident.

Identify power abuse

Sysops on RationalWiki were originally intended to (a) be given minimal control over site matters, and (b) be janitors, not administrators. The reality is turning out to be somewhat different, however. Sysops do have power -- the power to block other users. By identifying the use of malicious blocks, RationalWikiWiki seeks to keep that power in check.

The role of bureaucrats is even more vague, and appropriate use of their promotion/demotion abilities even more open to abuse. Thus, we also document punitive demotions.

Observe the evolution of RationalWiki

RationalWiki started out as a haven for a dozen or so liberal ex-Conservapedians to have fun and coordinate vandalism (RationalWiki 1.0). It was reincarnated soon after as an open wiki (RationalWiki 2.0). It slowly grew from an obscure, small wiki to a medium-small wiki with limited recognition in the blogosphere, and is now accelerating towards who knows what.

As it matures, the more notable personal conflicts show signs of developing into faction warfare, even as older conflicts fade away, and egos increasingly become a problem. There is also an increasing (and eyebrow-raising) willingness to throw newcomers under the bus, simply because their timing or their name was suspicious (a descriptor always in the eye of the beholder), and the growing tendency of certain members who, in misguided efforts to not be Conservapedia, start acting like Conservapedia.

Will RationalWiki make something of itself? Or will it turn into an Encyclopedia Dramatica that happens to have an anti-Conservapedia focus?

Observe conflicts & their resolution

RationalWiki hosts many conflicts, churning within and occasionally rising to the surface. The conflict between hardline atheists and the more moderate members is fading from prominence. The conflict between those who want principled rules and those who like being able to do whatever they want is on the rise. Factional conflicts between prominent editors and their allies dominated the wiki for a time. Then there's the elephant in the room; a quiet conflict only hinted at, but arguably the source of all the others: the silent struggle between those view RationalWiki as a place to hang out, have fun, and harass Conservapedia, versus those who those want RationalWiki to become Wikipedia with a SPOV.

When it comes to resolving these conflicts, RationalWiki doesn't really know how -- they have to use Headless Chicken Mode to sort things out.

We help them by offering an outside view of the infighting.

Stalk this inactive user! (It's a joke)
Joined:	10 December 2007
Last edit	9 October 2008
Real name:	Barbara Shack
Age range:
Gender:	Female
Locale:	England, United Kingdom
Stance:	atheist (presumptuous zealot)
Archetype:
Articles created:
Misc.:
user page -- user talk -- contributions

Barbara Shack is one of the stranger members of that already strange group of users that make up RationalWiki. She is the bizarre and confusing combination of oblivious and paranoid. She is no longer active and has shifted to another account out of privacy concerns.

Her oddly-worded articles tend to focus on the Roman Catholic Church and their sexual prejudices. Initially, she worked in a sort of vacuum, with no one willing to touch her work, possibly because they didn't want to validate it by correcting it. However, with time, others have grown more comfortable with her, perhaps beginning with Human's drastic rewrite of her byzantine magnum opus "Magdalene laundries".

Barbara Shack initially refrained from interacting with the other users (much like Icewedge), possibly out of shyness. Later, however, she demonstrated a willingness to talk with others. Nonetheless, others' first impressions of her are harder to fade, and even the most radical atheists on the site, such as Bob M and SusanG, seem in no hurry to hang out with her. It is an established fact that she is Proxima Centauri.

Style guide

Barbara Shack has a most bizarre writing style. This gem, for instance, from our article on edit warring:

It happens all over the Internet where ever there are Wikis unless there are procedures to stop it.^[1]

Let's see, what's wrong with this sentence?

• First are the min or Errors: It happens all over the Internet where ever there are Wikis unless there are procedures to stop it.

• Second, she needs to pare down her redundant wording in her writing technique, because she fails to avoid redundancy^[2]: It happens all over the Internet where ever there are Wikis unless there are procedures to stop it.
  What's this? There are wikis not on the internet? ← read the entire article

Disclaimer
While some RationalWikians contribute at RationalWikiWiki, and probably most RationalWikiWikians edit at RationalWiki, it should be noted that RationalWikiWiki is not RationalWiki.
Complaints
Any complaints with this website should be taken up with the main admins of this site — Conficker, Tyrannis, Liveware Problem, and Punky McPunkersen — rather than at RationalWiki.
Note to RationalWiki members
You may find an article about yourself here. It is highly unlikely that the article will be completely (or even slightly) complimentary. If you edit your own article to show yourself in a better light then you are officially a really sad person; you may get blocked and/or the article may be locked. You are, however, encouraged to whine pathetically about it on the talk page, because:

• That will tell us that we are doing our job.
• Reading people's whining is always amusing.

  Please read the full version of this policy, RationalWikiWiki:Editing your own article.

Acknowledgments
Thanks to Trent for providing technical assistance to RationalWikiWiki. Thanks to Gooniepunk for paying for the domain name.