Essay:Relevance of articles

This essay is an original work by Ed Poor. Please comment only on the talk page.

One of the biggest time wasters in any intellectual endeavor is the "tangent", i.e., a related topic which brings us away from the main point. Discussion of what someone had for breakfast this morning is really unrelated to what we all need to do to end world hunger. But it makes a great debate point; it's rhetoric, grandstanding.

What goes into an article is unrelated to the thoughts, feelings and aspirations of writers. Article content depends entirely on the purpose of our project, which is to provide trustworthy information which is of interest to our readers. For example, a remark about a contributor's qualifications to be a math teacher is unrelated to the question of the importance of the Peano's Axioms.

We need basic, reliable information first. Then we can build on that by adding information on advanced topics. We must not leapfrog ahead to obscure, arcane topics. Most of our readers cannot digest these articles. Those seeking advanced information should seek elsewhere; we aim to provide the basics.

We must not mock our readers with articles that are beyond their grasp. So it is our policy that article written in terms of undefined basic concepts must be postponed until we have presented the basic concepts.