Wikipedia:Don't be a fanatic

This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

Shortcuts WP:DBF WP:FANATIC

This page in a nutshell: Recognize that all Wikipedia editors are ultimately colleagues working together, listen with civility, and try to find ways to respect and (within Wikipedia policy limits) incorporate others' viewpoints and material as well as your own.

Fanatics have uncritical zeal or obsessive enthusiasm for their beliefs and little tolerance for contrary ideas or opinions. Since Wikipedia is a communal effort, editors with a fanatic obsession for their "cause" can create problems. To make Wikipedia work, contributors must think from a community perspective as well as a personal one. This means:

1. Respect common standards: If the Wikipedia view of how articles should be presented differs from one's own perception of the subject, then it's important to recognize that Wikipedia has standards applicable to the community and all its members.
2. Don't over-guard articles: Even if a subject is close to an editor's heart, or an article has been fostered lovingly, remember that no one owns an article and articles are built by communal shared collaboration. Even if an edit takes the article in a direction that the original editor doesn't agree with, so long as policies are being followed, allow communal ownership to supersede personal emotional involvement.
3. Don't be too certain: Too much certainty can lead to assumptions of bad faith, or to inability to listen to others properly, both sources of conflict.
4. Don't be zealous to the point other goals are lost: Intense caring for Wikipedia's policies and ways can at times lead to such excess of zeal as to be a problem in its own right. Such editors often do not understand why others criticize them because in their own eyes they are "just doing what's right for Wikipedia".
5. Don't slip into bad behavior: Fanaticism often leads towards personal attacks and breaches of civility, if "the truth" becomes "what one wants to hear", rather than "what's best for the project and those one is working with."
6. Don't marginalize others: If you dismiss other points of view, or attempt to marginalize the people who hold them, your position may actually be the marginal one. Instead, ask sincere questions to see where the differences are and which editors are on solid ground.