Why Wikipedia cannot claim the Earth is not flat

Summary

Essay on editing Wikipedia This page in a nutshell: There are many types of argument that fringe authors (for example, people who think the world is flat) might use to argue that their point is unduly correct. This page describes techniques to recognise and defuse them. The Flat Earth model. Watch out for falling off those edges! It is unlikely that you will ever happen upon an editor who will argue that Wikipedia cannot claim that the Earth is not flat. But you may indeed encounter some who will strenuously maintain that a particular "breakthrough", or a "notable" or "controversial" idea, belief, or theory deserves more consideration than it has received in the academic world. Using the Flat Earth example (below) as a metaphor, this essay will examine ten types of arguments commonly used by advocates of fringe concepts and advise the neutrally-minded editor or administrator on how to defuse them. It is the stated goal of Wikipedia to mirror the current consensus of mainstream scholarship – in the words of WP:NOT, "accepted knowledge". Self-evidently, the mainstream view of what is accepted knowledge in a discipline has the largest following and as such the most due weight in the literature. The encyclopedia does not act as an advocate for, or passionately promote, pioneering minority theories that are currently controversial (i.e soapboxing), even if there is a slim chance beliefs on the margin may eventually gain wide consensus (as happened with the proposals of the round Earth in archaic periods and continental drift before the mechanism of plate tectonics, two classic examples of cutting edge views once deemed fringe theories that turned out to be justified). Wikipedia acknowledges diverse viewpoints on contemporary controversies, but represents them in proportion to their prevalence (or due weight) among serious scholars and reporters with reputations of responsibility and reliability. Wikipedia may in some cases limit its mention of theories understood to be f...