Talk:Fear of dogs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WikiProject on Psychology
Portal		 This article is within the scope of WikiProject Psychology, which collaborates on Psychology and related subjects on Wikipedia. To participate, help improve this article or visit the project page for details on the project.
Start This article has been rated as start-Class on the quality scale.
Low This article has been rated as low-importance on the importance scale.

Article Grading: The article has been rated for quality and/or importance but has no comments yet. If appropriate, please review the article and then leave comments to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article and what work it needs.

Contents

[edit] Wtf?

The opening paragraph needs rewording: -

The fear of dogs is a natural emotion, because dogs are potentially dangerous. The abnormal fear of dogs, i.e., a specific phobia related to dogs, is called cynophobia.

The fear of potentially dangerous things is not a natural emotion. Fire is potentially dangerous, if someone lights a match it shouldn't cause anxiety. Further, cars are potentially extremely dangerous, yet it is considered abnormal to have a fear of travelling inside one. Thus, I would say that the fear of dogs is not a natural emotion based on their potentially dangerous aspect. Dogs are the oldest domesticated species and mankind has worked in unison with them since time immemorial, all fear would be bred out of most people through upbringing, especially of European descent. Perhaps cultural interpretation of dogs should also be added? Many people from African roots have a higher fear of dogs, where as people of Asian background are indifferent as most of us don't really have pets (or of the older generation ate a few :P). But this is a really fascinating phobia and allows us a look not just at the irrational fear, but the culturally rational conceptuality of dog-human interrelations. 211.30.71.59 02:17, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

I attempted to make things more neutral. mceder (u t c) 09:43, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WP:NOT#HOWTO

I agree with this removal. It is not the job of an encyclopedia to give how-to manuals for things. Also, it is off topic as the article is about the fear of dogs, not dog safety. ((1 == 2) ? (('Stop') : ('Go')) 17:27, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fear of dogs

Hi there. I removed the information you inserted again into this article. The information is dubious at best (this is my opinion) but the reason it was removed is due to the WP:NOT policy. WP:NOT#HOWTO explains it in detail, but in essence Wikipedia is not a howto guide. If the information is reliable and sourced we can work the material in the article, but not in its current format. Thanks. mceder (u t c) 17:18, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Disagreed with ridiculously superficial application of the rule: the deleted text contains encyclpedic info about dog's behavior. `'Míkka 00:55, 4 October 2007 (UTC)
I can call everything I don't agree with "ridiculous" too... I am certainly not interested in reverting with you back and forth. But what does "deleted under dubious and non-binding pretext" mean? The text I removed is a how to guide, writing in a manner not suited for the article. If you believe there is good information in the text i deleted, then perhaps we should take the time to write it into the article properly? The way it looks now is amateurish at best. (I have copied this to Talk:Fear of dogs so we may continue there). mceder (u t c) 05:35, 4 October 2007 (UTC)
Very wise words: "we should take the time ". I am glad that I finally see the word we here. Now I am ready to talk to you seriously. But I do't have time right now. I will address the issue somewhat later.
At the moment let me explain why you interpret the "howto" too liberally. Please keep in mind that all policies and rules require a good deal of common sense to apply and they are not so unambiguous as it seem. A really dedicated person may delete plenty of content arguning "howto": mathematical formulae, treatments of diseases, dance desriptions. The "howto" policy is intended to exclude recipes and other detailed step-by-step instructions (BTW which would be either original research or copyright violation in the majority of cases). Back to the topic. This doggy thing lists some points related to dog's behavior which are helpful in overcoming the fear of dogs. It is not an instruction manual for dog training or something. `'Míkka 15:53, 4 October 2007 (UTC)
Well, I would not call myself a deletionist, or a howto removal police. I just felt this part did not fit well in the article since the article is Fear of dogs. I will also take a stab later to see if I can work in any of the deleted material back in a more appropriate style. Perhaps. mceder (u t c) 17:46, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

Mikkalai, while it is nice you participated in this discussion, it would also be nice if you addressed the issues brought up here instead of calling other peoples opinions "ridiculous" and flat reverting. As I already mentioned, the section is off topic and unencyclopedic. We are not a how-to site, and this is not an article on dog safety. ((1 == 2) ? (('Stop') : ('Go')) 14:22, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

As I already mentioned this is your opinion. I don't call opinion "ridiculous". I call deletion ridiculous. If you don't like the style, the proper approach is to rewrite, not to delete. Deletion of referenced and useful information is against the spirit of wikipedia. In this way I can delete half of wikipedia. If you think that information is incorrect, please provide your reasons you think so. If you think that the style is wrong, please use an appropriate tag. There are plenty of people with good command of English who improve wikipedia articles. Oh, and I forgot to mention: I hate deletionists which shoot first then ask. I hate them more than vandals: vandals are "force of nature", deletionists have ideology of destruction. `'Míkka 15:53, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

Mikkalai, please stop edit warring against consensus. It is off topic, the article is about fear of dogs not dog safety. You don't have special authority in content disputes, and for the second time I find myself warning you about WP:3RR. ((1 == 2) ? (('Stop') : ('Go')) 16:20, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

There is no consensus.

The content is on topic, because it is well known that many fears and phobias arise from misunderstanding, and proper understanding the subject of a potential phobia is a core of its prevention.

But I will no longer fight against self-righteous assholes. Good luck in butchering wikipedia. The article is off my watchlist. `'Míkka 16:50, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

Uh. Okay man. Sorry you feel that way. mceder (u t c) 17:48, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

If anyone wishes to discuss this issue civilly, then go right ahead, we are listening. ((1 == 2) ? (('Stop') : ('Go')) 18:01, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

As an exercise in anti-Howtoism I suggest you to decimate Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing or Organization of emergency medical assistance. `'Míkka 21:51, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] This article should be expanded

Fear of dogs is common, I suffer from it really bad. Dogs terrify me. It's an interesting subject and should have much more stuff in it. Knowitall (talk) 09:07, 24 May 2008 (UTC)