Talk:Norman Spencer (producer)

Latest comment: 1 month ago by OscarLake in topic Supercentenarian

Still Living?

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Does anyone have any proof of him being alive within last couple Years. The last reference is 2013. Tommieboi (talk) 03:53, 16 June 2023 (UTC)Reply

@Tommieboi:, not a Wikipedia appropriate source but he's listed as resident in Uxbridge as of 2022 on 192.com. Also, Oldest in Britain, which tracks everyone 107+ in the UK, has him confirmed to be living. --Jkaharper (talk) 08:49, 16 June 2023 (UTC)Reply
Ok thank you Tommieboi (talk) 10:19, 16 June 2023 (UTC)Reply

Supercentenarian

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I'm not sure that the procedure is you assume someone has died unless there is a source saying otherwise; surely it should be vice versa? Therefore, Spencer's supercentenarian status surely doesn't need sourcing as there is a reliable source for his date of birth, which was 110 years and a day ago. OGBC1992 (talk) 06:44, 14 August 2024 (UTC)Reply

Ideally, every fact in a Wikipedia article should be corroborated through reliable sources. His date of birth of 13 August 1914 is something that became an irrefutable fact the second he was born, regardless of how long he's lived. The phrasing for biographies of living people can be tricky; we use present tense to introduce the subject (X is a British Y) but this is almost by default and only indirectly implies that they're alive. A very soft assertion in my opinion. Then there is the set of categories at the bottom of every article. Wikipedia is fairly lenient when it comes to living status, as people aged 90+ only need proof of life in the past decade to not be re-categorised as "possibly living". So if someone's latest update was eight years ago, then we have an assertion (living person!) that may be inaccurate. Even if sourced, such a source is quickly outdated because no one can have a continuous update of someone's living status. When it comes to the centenarian and supercentenarian categories, think of them as badges as honour. They need to have earned them to get them. It is a distinction beyond what is normally achieved. Being alive, on the other hand, is one of two modes that every human is in, so we give the benefit of the doubt.OscarL 15:04, 16 August 2024 (UTC)Reply