Adler's Laws of Wikipedia are that:[1]
- Wikipedia values all contributors equally (especially those with special needs such as a complete lack of judgement or writing abilities).
- Elitism is against the core principles of Wikipedia, the encyclopedia that anyone can edit; consequently those who abuse their abilities by writing substantially more than their fair share of featured articles must be made to understand that they are suffered, not supported, by the community.
- Anyone who uses humour in Wikipedia (and especially in project space) exhibits a severe lack of respect for those of their fellow editors who have no sense for it.
- Prolific writing of content that cannot be improved is a dangerous, systemic, problem because it will eventually lead to the death of this project. We are here to build an encyclopedia, not to finish it.
Adler's Law of Communication:
- It makes no more sense to discuss with some users than it makes sense to speak things through with a dolphin. They may be intelligent, but there is no basis for communication.[2]
- ^ As defined by Hans Adler, in a statement to ArbCom, 2008
- ^ On Village Pump (policy), 2010