I (almost unconditionally) love Wikipedia, and the discussions between editors, taking place on the talk pages, are sometimes even more interesting than the associated articles.
Every now and then, of course, these discussions become rather too heated, and the result is referred to as an “edit war”. Sometimes these revolve around major and controversial changes to an article, but sometimes even a minor detail can cause protracted verbal sparring. And there is even a special page to immortalize Wikipedia’s lamest edit wars.
It’s both an amusing read, as well as a legitimate comment on the human condition. All the conflicts about the national/ethnic categorization of persons, places and concepts are almost to be expected, of course, as well as the heated discussions regarding American English vs. British English. (The question whether potato chips are ‘flavored’ or ‘flavoured’ could only be answered after long edit warring. The Solomonic solution: They are ‘seasoned’.)
And then there are the more bizarre questions that were seriously warred over: Is Mojo Jojo really a villain? Is Michael Moore an authority on the question of his own birthplace? Did Daffy Duck father any children? And, essentially a matter of faith: Are the rules concerning ‘Biographies of Living Persons’ applicable to the ‘Jesus’ article?
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