RationalWiki



RationalWiki is a skeptics' wiki. It was created as a negative reaction to Conservapedia. There have been some efforts to move it more in the direction of debunking, refuting, or poking fun at pseudoscience, religious fundamentalism, authoritarianism and other things that it doesn't like, per its stated mission statement:
 * 1) Analyzing and refuting pseudoscience and the anti-science movement.
 * 2) Analyzing and refuting crank ideas.
 * 3) Explorations of authoritarianism and fundamentalism.
 * 4) Analysis and criticism of how these subjects are handled in the media.

Functionally, it's more like a group blog than an encyclopedia (which they themselves acknowledge), though it also has quite a lot in common with Robert Todd Carroll's Skeptic's Dictionary.

""Indigo child" is not to be confused with "In dingo child", which is what your child might become if you misplace it in Australia."
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
 * The article on types of people that go to hell states that on the lowest circle of hell you find traitors, child molesters, and people who talk in the theater.
 * Also smokers aren't looked upon too highly, and mentions of the dangers of smoking seem to pop up in the most unlikely of places.
 * There is a rather passionate hatred of Objectivists (or "Randroids") and of Ayn Rand too. In the name of synergy and absurdity there is short section on the Objectivism article that claims that Ayn Rand (or one of her followers) claimed it was a moral responsibility to smoke since she smoked. Ironically even some of the people there didn't know whether this was a joke or not at first. What the founder of the philosophy had to say about smoking four decades ago has to do with the philosophy itself is never really explained.
 * The thing about Objectivism is that it's a "closed philosophy", meaning that to subscribe to it you need to be in perfect agreement with Ayn Rand, supposedly the most rational human ever. This is profoundly different from being, say, a libertarian.
 * Berserk Button: In addition to religion and anything RW deems "irrational," a number of topics have caught its mods and editors' ire over time. These include topics as varied as libertarianism, gender politics and even Gamergate.
 * Catch Phrase: Goat. This is probably a reference to Matthew 25:31-46, where Jesus says that in the end times he will separate the sheep (his followers) from the goats (his detractors). Or maybe it's just because goats are awesome, tasty, and (literally) horny. Take your pick.
 * Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: They actually (jokingly) mention the term in their France article.
 * Cursed with Awesome: If you've been around long enough (a few weeks or days) and are generally thought to be trustworthy, you will be demoted to janitor (i.e. sysop). (Frivolous block wars are common, and encouraged; fortunately, in addition to non-serious block reasons, such as one that outright says "block war", there are options to make said blocks last only a few seconds, which help differentiate them from serious blocks.) If you anger the gods sufficiently, you may even be further demoted to the lowly, despicable position of bureaucrat.
 * Deadpan Snarker:
 * In the article disproving a global flood: "How was the fossil record sorted in an order convenient for evolution if they were laid down in the turmoil of a single flood? That is usually dismissed with a hand wave by saying the animals quickly sorted each other out based on their ability to compete for the shrinking high ground. The theory also fails to take into account fossilized plants, which show the same type of order as animal fossils, and which are not noted for their ability to flee rising floodwaters."
 * A similar example of deadpan snark is found on the page regarding the Peanut Butter Argument that life should arise naturally in a jar of peanut butter if evolution is true: "Critics of the argument have pointed out that sealed jars of peanut butter are not, generally speaking, billion year-old volcanic environments rich in ammonia and methane, being bombarded by high energy cosmic rays."
 * Fan Nickname: They makes up names for all of their friends at Conservapedia.
 * Aschlafly is referred to as Assfly
 * Conservative is referred to as Kendoll
 * Karajou is referred to as Karajerk or Kowardjou
 * Jinxmchue is referred to as Jinx
 * There were numerous names for TK, including TeamKiller, TrollKing and TheKnife
 * Edit War: On RW, edit wars and even wheel wars are extremely common. So common, in fact, that accidental edit wars have become an issue - sysops assuming vandalism where there is none and performing knee-jerk reverts of edits without reading them, the original contributor re-adding the edit, and things kicking off from there.
 * Everyone Has Standards:
 * Even in light of the Strawman Political tendencies below, RationalWiki is generally indiscriminate in bashing "woo" or whatever's considered too beyond-the-pale for them, regardless of ideology.
 * Despite their advocacy towards irreligion and contempt for organised religion, they do stress the distinction between scholarly criticism of religion and blind hatred towards religion in general and/or specific religions e.g. Islamophobia and anti-Catholicism.
 * If anything, they also lamented how the Saudi dynasty has basically desecrated their most sacred shrine by turning Mecca into what amounts to an Islamic Las Vegas of some kind, all at the expense of dynamiting priceless historical and religious structures not far from the Kaaba. In other words, they may not agree with Islam in an ideological light, but they wouldn't have the gall to support the reckless desecration of historical and cultural heritage either.
 * And as much as they would like to critique if not ridicule the Bible, even they agree that the so-called "Conservative Bible Project" is more an insult to Christianity than anything.
 * The Fundamentalist: Described here.
 * He Who Fights Monsters:
 * RationalWiki was created to criticize Conservapedia. Take a look at the recent changes and block log at Conservapedia. Then take a look at the recent changes and block log at RationalWiki. Take a look at the RationalWiki Chicken Coop. Which one is more rational?
 * RationalWiki and Conservapedia both delve into Unfortunate Implications regarding their usual treatment of Christians and non-Christians, respectively, though Conservapedia is a lot harsher about it.
 * Ironic Echo: For all of RationalWiki's fondness for lambasting dogma and irrationalism, the site has itself become dogmatic and oblivious to its own irrational trends over time.
 * Just for Pun: A regular feature

"This panel from a Chick tract makes even less sense in context. (It really does, check if you don't believe us.) Also, goats."
 * Kicked Upstairs: Any user who sticks around for a while and regularly makes edits will be saddled with the tedious responsibility of being a (ugh) Sysop.
 * The Lab Rat: RationalWiki consists mainly of science geeks (with a few actual scientists and physicians scattered here and there). It is sometimes referred to as Rat Wiki, and its members are supposedly referred to as 'Rats' by those opposed to the site, although there is precisely zero evidence of anyone actually using this terminology.
 * Makes Just as Much Sense in Context: As described in the Jack Chick article:


 * "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer: On their article about Andrew Schlafly, to let us know that he really wants to make his own translation of The Bible, as he thinks that every current translation is too "liberal", applying Canon Discontinuity by removing some verses that are the basic tenets of Christianity in the process, even though he admits to having no knowledge of the original languages.
 * Overly Long Gag: Ted Haggard's article constantly states that he is not gay.
 * Poe's Law: Here.
 * Promoted Fanboy: Editor Pal MD is a fairly well-regarded medical blogger, first on Science Blogs and now on Scientopia.
 * Rule of Funny: In full effect, so long as it sticks to the mods' guidelines.
 * Running Gag:
 * Goats
 * Referring to Conservapedia as Schlafly's blog.
 * Ironclad's rebuttal of Conservapedia's World History Lectures makes constant references to liberals eating kittens.
 * Sarcasm Mode: Prevalent, for example, in the article "Fairies". Often these tend to be Blatant Lies followed with the marker Do You Believe That? to hint to the reader that the author didn't actually believe that.
 * Science Is Bad and Measuring the Marigolds: Completely inverted.
 * Self-Demonstrating Article: Notably once inverted.
 * Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness: It's somewhere between TV Tropes & Uncyclopedia. The main article on Andrew Schlafly is one of the few that is explicitly stated to be intended to be completely serious, though a parody article on him also exists. Regardless of the silliness or seriousness of a specific article, unless it's in the separate 'Fun' or 'Essay' sections of the site, accuracy is non-negotiable.
 * Strawman Political: Due in part to the socio-political leanings of its mods and editors, the site has developed a tendency to lambast whatever it deems backward, reactionary or otherwise "irrational."
 * Take That: Mostly against fundamentalists and authoritarians, though no one is completely spared, not even the site itself.
 * There Are No Girls on the Internet: Addressed in Gender and Sysops, which aimed to encourage a more balanced gender representation.
 * There Is No Such Thing as Notability: Although there is such a thing as "missionality", lack of which may get an article deleted.
 * Thing-O-Meter: The Irony Meter
 * Understatement: "Critics of the argument have pointed out that sealed jars of peanut butter are not, generally speaking, billion year-old volcanic environments rich in ammonia and methane, being bombarded by high energy cosmic rays."
 * Troll: Marcus Cicero, LBHS Cheerleader, TK, Rob Smith, D Morris, take your pick. The site's dangerously lenient ban policy results in it being a veritable troll heaven--it takes weeks for the site's members to even decide that they might want to possibly ban someone, and even then it's pretty much always a short-term block that does little to actually stop the troll from vandalizing the site.
 * Tropes Will Ruin Your Life: their now-deleted article Conservapedia:Boycott listed visiting TV Tropes as an alternative to reading Conservapedia and laughing at it. They added the comment "Kiss your spare time good-bye."
 * Ironically, TV Tropes itself has since been added to RW's "Webshite" list, purportedly due to Flame Wars and "psychotic mods."
 * Wiki Vandal: They call it Wandalism.
 * Worthy Opponent: The general RW opinion of former Conservapedia sysop JessicaT, the Token Good Teammate of CP's admins. (Who turned out to be a sockpuppet for RW user Psygremlin.)