Ask HN: Name of theory, people will not start something but will correct you?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8065464

by mmsimanga • 12 years ago

9 8 12 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Some months ago I followed a link on HN about a theory/philosophy which said that people in general will not contribute documentation/articles but will be the first to correct you should something be wrong. The article implied this was why Wikipedia was successful.

I am trying to get my team and the greater business to start documenting processes and procedures. I wanted to use this article/theory/principle to motivate my team to start documenting. Problem is I cannot find this article or name of the theory/principle and require your help with the name of the theory?

applecore• 12 years ago

Cunningham's Law: The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer.

Named after Ward Cunningham, the inventor of the wiki.

mmsimanga2• 12 years ago

Thank you!

webmaven• 12 years ago

Link: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cunningham's_Law

However, you lose points for not actually posting a wrong answer.

mmsimanga2• 12 years ago

Lesson learned :-).

rubiquity• 12 years ago

It would have been even more meta if the OP posted "The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is to ask questions."

gizmo686• 12 years ago

Ward Cunningham, the inventor of the wiki

Given the context, I feel obligated to "correct" you and point out that this is, in fact, correct. I googled it assuming you were deliberatly lieing.

kromodor• 12 years ago

Works for me. Yet I also start with a lot of questions.

We've tried something similar with one of our sites for digital marketing advice. Yet, maybe because of our delivery, but we didn't provoke engagement.

pizza• 12 years ago

Might want to check if there's research into armchair theorizing. Maybe start with econometrics papers ;)