Wikipedia:Don't-give-a-fuckism
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This essay contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. Essays may represent widespread norms or minority viewpoints. Consider these views with discretion. Essays are not Wikipedia policies. |
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This page in a nutshell: Don't-give-a-fuckism is the idea that attachment to things (articles, policies, AfDs, etc...) which are essentially beyond your control is a stumbling block to being a good Wikipedian. |
Don't-give-a-fuckism is an ism concerned mainly with not giving a fuck. This is not a joke; it's as serious an endeavor as everything else.
An example is at User:Antandrus/observations on Wikipedia behavior, Observation #60:
"It is easier to get a sincere 'thank you' for reverting 'ur a faggot' from someone's userpage, than it is for writing a researched, thorough, and referenced encyclopedia article on an encyclopedic topic. The best way to continue as a writing Wikipedian for many years is to be 'indifferent to both praise and blame.' Indifference to praise is a hard task for mere humans, but millions of potential anonymous readers demand it of you, for if you require praise you will burn out..."
Suffering (conflict and stress) is caused by attachment (giving a fuck) and can be relieved by detachment (not giving a fuck).
Not giving a fuck improves your quality of life significantly by drastically reducing your capabilities of giving a fuck.
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[edit] Variations
Some variations of the phrase include "Don't give a rat's ass", "Don't care a shit for", and anything else that is generally low on the importance scale in that specific region. If you were to have a piece of feces, and someone were to ask you for it to aid them in what you do not care for - or "Do not give a fuck for" - you wouldn't even do so, not in spite of them, but because you would prefer to keep the feces rather than "give a shit". "Giving a fuck" is generally limited to a figurative idea, since one cannot physically give one a fuck, barring actual penetration of the second party.
In Britain and Ireland, the term is also frequently expressed as "can't be arsed", which can be found abbreviated to "cba", for example in a text message, where the sender couldn't be arsed to write "can't be arsed". The origins of this phrase are shrouded in mystery, presumably because no one could be arsed to write it all down.
The phrase originated from England, and was used as "Don't care a rap for". A rap was a half-penny, or a very low denomination. "Don't care a - for" means that you wouldn't sacrifice even this very low denomination for whatever it is you are talking about.
[edit] Wikipedia and not giving a fuck
Contributors who don't care about Wikipedia help it (and themselves) in many ways:
- By not caring about Wikipedia, someone is far less likely to act on strong emotions and do something mindlessly stupid
- Neutrality comes with detachment. Neutrality is a good thing.
- Not giving a fuck also lends itself to ignoring all rules and being bold
- Come on... really. This is not a big deal!
[edit] Bad ways to not give a fuck
Using apathy as rationalization for a dickish action is a patent abuse of the live-and-let-live ethos of Don't-give-a-fuckism. Behaving like an angry mastodon, perhaps stemming from excessively possessive feelings toward an article you have created or edited, is symptomatic of caring too much. Take a deep breath. Count to ten.
DGAFism is not to be confused with nihilism. Likewise, being deliberately sloppy in your editing and sourcing is a bad way to practice DGAFism.
[edit] Expressing your don't-give-a-fuckism
Of course, the best way to express apathy is to simply be apathetic; but if you would like to support this essay, you're free to use a spiffy userbox to do so:
| Code | Result | ||
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| {{User DGAF}} |
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| {{User DGAF2}} |
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| {{User DGAF3}} |
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| {{User DGAF4}} |
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