A fact from Disappearance of Suzanne Lyall appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 3 March 2018 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
Did you know... that the disappearance of Suzanne Lyall from the SUNY Albany campus 20 years ago led to changes in federal and state laws on how campus police departments handle major investigations?
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Right before typing this post on this talk-page, its article contained the sentences
QUOTE
Over the years, 75 psychics have contacted the Lyalls with tips. Many of them have involved water, suggesting that Suzanne is dead and her body has been submerged somewhere."
UNQUOTE
That is poorly worded. It makes it sound as if the FACT that 75 psychics tips' have involved water does of itself suggest that water is involved. Well, no it doesn't. The fact that 75 psychics (or in fact only many tips from some or all of the 75 psychics) involve water does NOT suggest that water is involved. Wikipedia shouldn't be taking a stand on whether the things that psychics say (even if its not 75 but 75,000 psychics pronouncing in unanimity that water is involved) are credible. I'm sure that to most Wikipedia readers, the utterances of psychics are NOT credible. But if I were writing this article I wouldn't let MY view be injected. Now, if the writer had wanted to say that it's the PSYCHICS who are suggesting that water is involved, that's fine, but the way the sentence is worded it sounds as if they writer wanted to say that the FACT that the psychics say water is involved DOES suggest that water is involved. That's not encyclopedic.2600:1700:6759:B000:E894:BFCC:705D:880 (talk) 08:12, 13 August 2024 (UTC)Christopher Lawrence Simpson[reply]
