Talk:SPOV

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[edit] SPOV vs. NPOV

Ok, maybe such a debate would be better done in the forum than the wiki talk, but since it is the "on topic":

I notice that there is no explanation given yet for what a "neutral point of view" is. But if I had to guess, it would be one which avoids opinion and predjudice, and is based on verifiable fact. Wait a minute, that's practically the definition of "skepticism".

The distinction between SPOV and NPOV suggests that "neutral truth" is some compromise between skepticism and woo-woo. Neutrality is the definition of skepticism. The opposite of true belief is true disbelief, not skepticism.

Above all, skepticism does not necessarily entail a bias against unverifiable claims, although the myth that is does so may play well among the believers who wish to discourage critical thinking as "closed minded".

Well, that's how I see it anyway. --Phildonnia

Not quite what you describe would be closer to no point of view.Geni 01:28, 9 December 2005 (GMT)

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Here are my thoughts on the matter, taken from the introduction to my website - The Quack-Files, not my blog - Confessions of a Quackbuster:

The fact that this website focuses on one side of the coin, is an acknowledgement that there is another side which has been investigated. This website has a definite and conscious bias, which isn't the same thing as a negative "prejudice", which is defined as "an opinion or leaning adverse to anything without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge.
I see an informed and conscious bias as something positive & desirable, in contrast to prejudice. If one doesn't have a bias, one doesn't have an opinion worth defending. I see it as the result of an analysis of the issues, resulting in the taking of a standpoint more in favor of one side than of the other side. In other words, I am biased for objective evidence, and biased against a lack of such evidence. This naturally results in a bias for Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) and modern medicine, and a bias against so-Called "Alternative" Medicine (sCAM). I'm not interested in anything that is just "so-called". I don't want to base my clinical decisions and my consumer protection efforts on something that is anecdotal, tenuous, unproven, speculative, and often deceptive.
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