Dueling POV

Dueling POV is what some think of as the neutral point of view. Others would suggest the opposite, and claim that a system which allows, or even encourages, a duelling POV is somehow going against what was intended for a wiki which aimed to have NPOV as one of its guiding policies. This contains important lessons for Wiki Management and how to handle conflicts between users.

On a user talk page at the English Wikipedia, it was noted how Jimbo had once said on the mailing list that it is his view that the best articles come from such partisans engaging in mortal combat with other partisans. One user argued against this idea, explaining how it may be preferable for partisans from both sides to write for the enemy, police their own kind, and treat seriously any and every criticism of their work rather than circling the wagons and defending it in a kneejerk fashion.

It has been argued that such an approach is preferable to a duelling POV and that this should be the standard accepted and insisted upon for achieving NPOV. One benefit would be to prevent those who want to be collegial from becoming frustrated and leaving. However, whilst many will be uncomfortable with the oppositional philosophy of duelling POVs, it could be argued that systems using this, such as Wikipedia, have got pretty far with using it so far.