Wikipedia:Assume no clue
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
While this essay is not a policy or guideline itself, it is intended to supplement Wikipedia:Assume good faith and Wikipedia:Don't bite the newcomers. Please defer to the relevant policy or guideline in case of inconsistency between that page and this one. |
 |
This page in a nutshell: Assume that people don't know what they're doing before you assume bad faith. |
| “ | Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. | ” |
While assuming good faith is a fundamental principle on Wikipedia, it generally isn't helpful when you get angry at someone who doesn't know how Wikipedia really works. Therefore, when an editor insists that what they're doing is an improvement when it isn't, assume no clue[1] before assuming bad faith.
Instead of assuming that fellow editors are out to harm the project and its ideals, assume that they don't know how they're contributing in a non-constructive way. Assuming no clue preserves sanity and helps communication: instead of accusing someone of harming the project, you can help them contribute constructively.
