
Ask HN: Name of theory, people will not start something but will correct you? - mmsimanga
Some months ago I followed a link on HN about a theory&#x2F;philosophy which said that people in general will not contribute documentation&#x2F;articles but will be the first to correct you should something be wrong. The article implied this was why Wikipedia was successful.<p>I am trying to get my team and the greater business to start documenting processes and procedures. I wanted to use this article&#x2F;theory&#x2F;principle to motivate my team to start documenting. Problem is I cannot find this article or name of the theory&#x2F;principle and require your help with the name of the theory?
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applecore
Cunningham's Law: The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not
to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer.

Named after Ward Cunningham, the inventor of the wiki.

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webmaven
Link:
[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cunningham's_Law](http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cunningham's_Law)

However, you lose points for not _actually_ posting a wrong answer.

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mmsimanga
Lesson learned :-).

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pizza
Might want to check if there's research into armchair theorizing. Maybe start
with econometrics papers ;)

