Wikipedia:Ignore all rules/Brainstorming

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This is a Brainstorming page You are strongly encouraged to edit it! You can: Add new ideas Improve, clarify and classify the ideas already here However, this is not the place to discuss the value of those ideas! That should be done on the talk page!

This page is an official policy on the English Wikipedia.[1] The concept expressed below is fundamental to the encyclopedia's operation. It has a long tradition[2], and has deep and subtle implications on the working of Wikipedia as an enterprise. Please consider this before editing the page.

Shortcut: WP:IAR WP:IGNORE

This policy in a nutshell:

If the rules prevent you from improving or maintaining Wikipedia, ignore them.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Ideally, nothing more would need to be said. Ideally, every editor would strive to make Wikipedia the best encyclopedia in the world. Ideally, every action every editor took regarding Wikipedia and their fellow editors would be informed by that one simple goal. Ideally, everyone could agree on exactly what the "best encyclopedia in the world" would look like and it would just be a matter of data entry.

The reality is quite different from this ideal. Just learning how to edit articles and follow discussions takes time and patience. That done, we must accept that people are people, and everyone has a personal agenda of some sort, even among those who try their best not to. Reaching consensus on even simple articles can take several of revisions. For more highly charged topics, each sentence may be worked and reworked dozens of times. Then there are all these policies and guidelines to keep in mind, so many do's and don't, so many ways to make mistakes.

Relax, Wikipedia is not a bureaucracy. Ignore the rules and use common sense, instead of trying to uphold a rigid interprention of the rules. Simply do the best you can to improve Wikipedia while upholding the five pillars.

[edit] References

1. ^ "IAR is policy, always has been" (edit summary by Jimbo Wales, August 19, 2006)
2. ^ "If rules make you nervous and depressed..." (rules from 2001)