Wikipedia:Silence and consensus

“I see nothing.” - Alice

“My you have good eyes.” - Cheshire Cat

Do you hear silence?

Consensus can be presumed to exist until voiced disagreement becomes evident (typically through reverting or editing). You find out whether your edit has consensus when it sticks, is built upon by others, and most importantly when it is used or referred to by others.

Most of the time, you will find that it's fine to assume consensus, even if just for now, as it's more important to keep editing and cooperating smoothly in good faith as much as possible.

When real people are affected by a decision, such as blocking users, or using material covered by the biographies of living persons policy, positive confirmation is preferred. Even in these cases, however, dissent might show up later, and it is then no longer appropriate to assume consensus.

A corollary is that if you disagree, the onus is on you to say so.

Rationale

In wiki-editing, it is difficult to get positive affirmation for your edits (disaffirmation comes with a further edit, or at times a revert). No matter how many people on a talk page say they support an edit, sometimes it is only when your changes are reverted or substantially changed that you learn that you did not, in fact, have full consensus.

Of course, it is impractical to wait forever for affirmation: in the meantime then, sometimes it is best to assume that silence implies consensus. You can continue to hold that assumption (hopefully safely) until someone comes along and changes the page by editing or reverting. The more visible the statement, and the longer it stands unchallenged, the stronger the implication of consensus is.

Silence is the weakest form of consensus

Wikipedia is huge and our editors' time is limited. At any given time, there are many open discussions on many different topics across the project. We encourage our editors to be bold and it is highly likely that you will eventually find yourself affected by the outcome of some decision that you didn't know about, or didn't have the chance to join. Where a decision is based mostly on silence, it is especially important to remember that consensus can change.

Quotes

• Qui tacet consentire videtur, ubi loqui debuit ac potuit (Thus, silence gives consent; he ought to have spoken when he was able to).

"The maxim is "Qui tacet consentire": the maxim of the law is "Silence gives consent". If therefore you wish to construe what my silence betokened, you must construe that I consented."

—Thomas More in A Man For All Seasons

See also

Policy and essays

• Wikipedia:Consensus#Level of consensus
• Wikipedia:What is consensus?
• Wikipedia:Be bold
• Wikipedia:BOLD, revert, discuss cycle
• Wikipedia:Silence means nothing
• Wikipedia:Silence does not imply consent when drafting new policies
• Meta:Don't vote on everything

Articles

• Silence procedure
• Consensus decision-making
• Groupthink
• Warnock's Dilemma

External links

• meatball:SilentAgreement