Some time ago I worked on the NLP and the Ayn Rand articles to restore some kind of balance. This did work; the articles were stable for a short time. But I have outside work and commitments and deadlines for writing papers that earn me real money. I can't be watching these articles all the time. And behold
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...&action=history
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...&action=history
But the other people have a full time commitment to these articles, and these are the only articles they edit. They have a vested interest, unlike me, in restoring their sense of neutrality. In the case of NLP, it is commercial practitioners. In the case of Ayn Rand, it is zealots and fanatics. The guy on the NLP article actually is not unreasonable, and knows the rules. He works by chipping away very slowly bit by bit. His latest version is a selective quote from the OED that he knows I will find difficult to challenge. The Randians are not so subtle, but they have a sheer weight of numbers, and a way of wearing down the neutral editors by their illiterate ranting that wins in the end.
Why do I care? I still care about education, and neutrality, and I hate the idea of an encyclopedia that is controlled by pressure groups of mostly insane people. But what can I do?
QUOTE
As a punishment from the gods for his trickery, Sisyphus was compelled to roll a huge rock up a steep hill, but before he could reach the top of the hill, the rock would always roll back down again, forcing him to begin again.[2] The maddening nature of the punishment was reserved for Sisyphus due to his hubristic belief that his cleverness surpassed that of Zeus. Sisyphus took the bold step of reporting one of Zeus's sexual conquests, telling the river god Asopus of the whereabouts of his daughter Aegina. Zeus had taken her away, but regardless of the impropriety of Zeus's frequent conquests, Sisyphus overstepped his bounds by considering himself a peer of the gods who could rightfully report their indiscretions.[3] As a result, Zeus displayed his own cleverness by binding Sisyphus to an eternity of frustration. Accordingly, pointless or interminable activities are often described as Sisyphean. Sisyphus was a common subject for ancient writers and was depicted by the painter Polygnotus on the walls of the Lesche at Delphi.[4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus
