Wikipedia:Forgive and forget
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This is an essay; it contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. It is not a policy or guideline, and editors are not obliged to follow it. |
I have a funky idea for dispute resolution. It's called "forgive and forget."
How does it work?
It's very simple. Instead of assuming the worst of people and subjecting them to hell while building up your weapon supplies at pages like Wikipedia:Requests for comments or Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration, you simply forgive people for their actions. Everyone else apologizes, and then the situation is forgotten. With the right people, this ends any and all conflict in a matter of days (vs. months). Very simple.
The traditional dispute resolution process stipulates that if you can't avoid the situation, then people should talk it out. Unfortunately, many disputes move onto other pages, where it is highly stressful. This ultimately causes people to leave Wikipedia. This method is very disruptive; it scares away encyclopedia editors and it wastes far too much time.
Often, people will try to sling mud at each other, and try to get "punishment" for mistakes. This is counter-productive, vindictive, nasty, and generally inappropriate for Wikipedia.
In order to employ the method of forgive and forget, we must assume there is much brawling going on on the talk page or any applicable area. Appease the other editors by apologizing for your actions, and make an offer of peace towards everyone else. Once everyone has calmed down, true editing can happen; not the kind with yelling everywhere and people set on fire.
