en:reflexive design
Reflexive design is the use of information from within the project, to design the project. In a totally reflexive design, no information or person has special status from outside the project, but is all evaluated by the same criteria both inside and outside the project. Elements of such a process here:
- Anarchopedia:We - keeping claims about the contributors as a collective clearly noted
- Anarchopedia:Itself, Anarchopedia:Purpose, Anarchopedia:Policy - defining the project by what the project says about it
- Anarchopedia:Factions - representing differences of opinion within the system itself
Consensus decision making is quite important in any reflexive design project. Sysop vigilantiism and sysop vandalism are quite destructive to it, as they represent power grabs using powers from outside the dialogues.
The "vile mailing list" is evidence that Wikipedia does not use reflexive design, but a clique or priestly hierarchy enabled over others to foist decisions on them. A reflexive project would rely only on comments within Wikipedia or at least Meta-Wikipedia, and would allow no sysop vandalism in those media for design relevant decisions. Which sadly is authorized and encouraged now.
