Talk versus Discussion
"Talk" and "Discussion" are the same thing and part of the built-in functionality of Mediawiki. (the software this site and wikipedia both use)
I renamed the "Talk" pages to "Discussion" just to give it a more friendly or perhaps familiar naming, so people would know what it's for.
If we, or wikipedia, had a group of academics creating this 'pedia', then perhaps there would be no need for mere mortals to discuss the various topics. We would simply read their learned works and move along.
Wikipedia and this site are collaborative ventures and the data comes from many contributors - hence the need for discussion.
Ever heard of Encarta? Microsoft tried to sell an encyclopedia that was a packaged work and it died a deserved death.
Wikipedia is the number five most traffick'd site on the Internet with millions of views each day. Victory for the collaboration idea. :-)
Good. So I go on the way I am. Interesting on Encarta - just looked it up briefly. I have the DVD/computer Encyclopedia Britannica, which I update every few years for a few shillings (so to speak). Consider it slightly more reliable than Wikipedia, but Wikipedia probably more up to date with latest trends - all irrelevant here (this thread). Thanks for the data - so I hope to get some feedback under discussion.
PS: What does "bump this thread" with a tick in a box mean? (Under what I am writing now, before I save the page - we are in for a rocky ride? :-) )