Wikipedia:The Pope is Catholic
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 | This page in a nutshell: Consider all walks of life before deciding what information is too obvious to include in an article. |
The Pope is Catholic. You probably knew that. But does a person completely ignorant of Christianity or religion in general know that? What about a person who is isolated from knowledge of the Western world? At some point in everybody's life, each of us did not know the Pope was Catholic. (Perhaps you were young then, but young people can use Wikipedia, too.) All of us are born ignorant, and only come to knowledge through learning.
While there is no need to go into highly specific detail, particularly about the fringe, it's always good to provide some context. Even if something is very well known among English speakers, please remember that Wikipedia exists in many languages.[1] Even though many Westerners know that Pope Francis is not a Methodist,[2] does everyone in the world know that? (Let's ignore the fact that not everyone has access to Wikipedia yet. One of Wikipedia's goals is that they will.)
Wikipedia (or content from Wikipedia) may be used as a learning/teaching tool, especially in less-developed regions of the world that lack educational resources. People in such scenarios may be able to read a Western language well enough to find Wikipedia very useful, but will be unfamiliar with knowledge those living in more industrialized regions take for granted.
To use another popular example, Paris is in France. Most people are familiar with the famous city. But some people may have a poor background in geography. A bare "Paris" is also ambiguous with the dozens of other places named Paris. Maybe you meant Paris, Texas, United States. Context will usually make this clear, but it is better to be explicit and remove all doubt. Simply writing "Paris, France" instead of just "Paris" can go a long way towards clearing up confusion. This also provides an opportunity to build the web by linking "France", i.e., "Paris, France". A link is not always necessary, however, especially if the subject of the linked article is well-known.
Don't make assumptions, and don't be afraid to explain something. Be bold in updating pages.
See also
[edit]- Wikipedia:Why most sentences should be cited
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Countering systemic bias
- Wikipedia:You don't need to cite that the sky is blue
- Wikipedia:You do need to cite that the sky is blue
References
[edit]
- ^ "Full Text: Cui Objects to Wikipedia Shutdown". The Washington Post. February 19, 2006. Retrieved February 15, 2007. English translation of letter by Cui Wei dated October 31, 2005, appealing for access to Wikipedia to be restored.
- ^ Horowitz, Jason (March 13, 2013). "Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina Elected Pope Francis". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 1, 2018.