Deletionism vs. Inclusionism

As if this world didn't need enough -isms...

A recent forum topic prompted me to contemplate the ideas behind those who prefer deletion (deletionists) and those who prefer to keep and modify (inclusionists). Personally, I do not know where to classify myself, since I seem to find equal opportunities to remove content as I do to modify existing content.

But I have wonderered if it is a particular personality type that is definable that is not quite as rigid as, say, a religious preference, but not as flexible as, say, Coke or Pepsi. I see deletion/inclusion as more of a political preference than anything. I believe it was Ronald Reagan who once said "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me." In this way, I feel that one can change their perspective on content deletion/inclusion based on what is necessary for survival of the content provider (in my experience, wikiHow).

However, I think that deletionism, overall, has the majority of followers. As humans, we like to cut things away/out. Think cancer. That said, there is a large and devoted following of inclusionists who are probably classified as optimists as well. They like to believe that if you leave it there, someone will come along with the knowledge to make it better.

wikiHow walks a fine line between deletionism and inclusionism. Frequently, editors interperet the deletion policy in a real-life situation. The way they do this varies from editor to editor, and even from group to group. Admins, in particular, seem to favor deletion or, at least, deletion through modification. New editors favor inclusion, but not for such lofty goals as previously mentioned, but more out of laziness.

While I don't think deletionism vs. inclusionism will ever be a dead debate, I think that wikiHow is on the road towards a more inclusionist environment, while also acquiring more and more users who find deletable content quicker.