On 11/10/06, Major A <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > 2. The name *Citizendium* does not appear appropriate (with > > apologies to whosoever invented it). We are here not as *Citizens* > > but as *Experts* (whatever be our field of specialization and level > > of expertise). The name "Citizendium" appears to connote a > > *compendium* by citizens (who no doubt have at times questionable > > knowledge- hence the origin of this fork) > > > > 3. Also, and very importantly, the word "Citizen" invariably brings > > into question its relationship with "State" (for example, a petition > > to the State for redressing citizens' grievances, and citizens' > > rights and duties, which are irrelevant to our project). Moreover, > > *citizen* is specific to a country while our project is, hopefully, > > global and all-embracing, as an encyclopedia should be. > > I agree entirely. Even if you think of the target audience as part of > the name, "citizen" is too specific and cannot be used to cover anyone > in the world (there just is no simple way of expressing "the public" > in a single word that's entirely correct and universal). > While initially awkward (as most names are), the name Citizendium has grown on me. I see the name as a reflection of the fact that authors and editors are a group of real people using real names and doing real work. Citizendium isn't an MMORPG (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_is_an_MMORPG). Contributers aren't characters, they're citizens.
The biggest problem with this is that I'm really reading a lot into the name that isn't there. When I think of the term "citizen" I take it to mean "citizen of the world", a usage which probably isn't the first one most people think of. Cosmopolitanendium, anyone? Too long... Anthony _______________________________________________ Citizendium-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.purdue.edu/mailman/listinfo/citizendium-l
