Talk:Recursion

Mathematics B‑class Mid‑priority

	Mathematics portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Mathematics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of mathematics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.MathematicsWikipedia:WikiProject MathematicsTemplate:WikiProject Mathematicsmathematics
B	This article has been rated as B-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-priority on the project's priority scale.

Archived discussion: Beginning to December 2008

Different image

I don't like the change to using Image:Itrecurs.jpg in the lede. The Droste poster is visually appealing and was actually used to sell cocoa, not custom-made just for this article. The newer image looks like one of those fake "motivational" posters. I don't see it as a net improvement over the Droste image. — Carl (CBM · talk) 22:13, 9 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, some very clever jokester has made the page regarding recursion recursive, precluding any sort of meaningful knowledge on the subject at hand. Can we revert this, please?

67.171.141.220 (talk) 03:06, 11 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Restore please?

Ok, the new page on recursion is very clever, but does little to illuminate the intricacies of recursion as a mathematical, physical, and literary concept. Can we please revert the page so we can glean some useful information? Maybe a level of security too...

03:14, 11 April 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tethros (talk • contribs)

Recursive Definition Compromise

To satisfy many people's want of a recursive definition (e.g. Recursion - see Recursion) without obstructing anything why don't we just add the following to the line at the top (with links to Recursion (Computer Science) etc.): For a practical definition of recursion see Recursion [with a link of course]. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.98.155.17 (talk) 04:20, 14 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No, that would be silly. — Carl (CBM · talk) 11:36, 14 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Agree with Carl. Paul August ☎ 02:11, 28 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with Carl and Paul August. Ozob (talk) 22:45, 28 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Recursion link in "See Also"

I'd be interested in opening an RFC on the topic of putting a link to Recursion in the "See Also" section. While it is a small point, I think it reflects the much wider issue of "Can Wikipedia afford to occasionally be less than deadly serious?". I firmly believe it can, and I feel that a humorous touch like this actually creates a better encyclopedia.

Thoughts anyone? Manning (talk) 18:05, 25 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree; the link-recursion-back-to-recursion meme is so widespread on the net that it makes Wikipedia look unnecessarily po-faced if it isn't permitted here. Provided that the textual content of the article itself is genuine and relevant, there's no harm at all in referencing the joke by means of a link or "see also" item. MarkSG (talk) 21:33, 23 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That see also thing has been discussed to death, and it never gains consensus. The reason for that is that this is an encyclopedia, not a jokebook. It makes us look unprofessional to include jokes in our articles. Many other things are widespread on the web, such as the word 'epic' and kewl spelling; we eschew those as well. We do describe the web meme here, which is the way we should handle it. See the section above for a previous discussion about this. — Carl (CBM · talk) 21:38, 23 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I can see, the reason it never gains consensus is because a relatively small number of contributors are very opposed to it and repeatedly make their objections known. That's why I agree with Manning that an RFC process could be useful, as it might help to get a broader spectrum of views involved. If that then does result in a consensus (or even an observable majority) against including the link, then that's fine. But, equally, if an RFC supports inclusion, then it should be included. MarkSG (talk) 07:03, 24 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

My first reaction to finding out such a harmless spot of humor is completely taboo was actually to take Wikipedia less seriously than before (I'm a very frequent user, and a strong proponent). Wikipedia has a couple rules I disagree with (none very strenuously), but this deserves at least a vote on the topic. It doesn't have to be a disambiguation link at the top of the article, but a link to it in the "see also" is harmless. A link in the first paragraph phrased as an example might even be completely appropriate, if done properly. Prgrmr@wrk (talk) 08:22, 24 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Can you explain how this makes you take wikipedia less seriously? Perhaps you were looking for something other than a professional encyclopedia. — Carl (CBM · talk) 12:20, 24 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Jokes are inappropriate for a serious encyclopedia. Paul August ☎ 12:49, 24 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think some jokes can be OK, but they should not be of the sort to annoy users who are just looking for information. I'd rather have a blanket humourlessness policy that an encyclopedia filled with the sort of joke that only friends of the (ir)responsible editor will be amused by. I think that this discussion shows that the proposed joke falls firmly in the latter category. — Charles Stewart (talk) 13:18, 24 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with CBM, Paul August, and Charles Stewart on this. I love jokes, I make a lot of jokes, however I don't find the need to plaster them everywhere. If this joke is everywhere on the net, as MarkSG states, then how is it still funny? Now if someone came up with a really fresh joke especially suited to the wikipedia format, maybe I'd reconsider, but a stale joke like this one hardly seems worthy of inclusion. RobHar (talk) 16:10, 24 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not even saying do it in a humorous way. Just something like "As an example, see "this link" to the recursion page. That's not a joke, and the only reason in the rules not to do it is because articles don't link to themself. I think that rule can be ignored for the one page in the entire project where a self-link makes sense. Prgrmr@wrk (talk) 04:46, 26 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]