In a hysterical world, Wikipedia is a ray of light – and that’s the truth
It has been the butt of jokes for years, but the online encyclopedia represents mankind at its very best
If you look for the most visited websites in the world,
what you find is a list of sites owned by western and Chinese
corporations, confirmation of the degree to which the web has been
captured by the corporate world. There is, however, one single ray of
light in this depressing list. For there, in fifth place, is the
antithesis to all of that: a site that embodies the potential of the
internet to harness the collective intelligence of humanity – Wikipedia.
The idea that a significant encyclopedia could be created by allowing
anyone to create pages on any topic seemed pretty improbable way in
2001 when it was mooted by Jimmy Wales.
That it could have evolved into the world’s leading general reference
work – and the fifth most visited website on the planet – is truly
extraordinary.
Since its inception, it’s been the butt of jokes, a focus for academic
ire and a victim of epistemological snobbery. I remember one moment when
the vice-chancellor of a top university made a dismissive remark about
Wikipedia, only to have a world-leading chemist in the audience icily
retort that the pages on his particular arcane speciality were the most
up-to-date summary currently available anywhere – because he wrote them.
And this has been my experience; in specialist areas, Wikipedia pages are often curated by experts and are usually the best places to gain an informed and up-to-date overview.
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I use Wikipedia constantly and as you know if you follow this blog, I usually give reference to Wikipedia for various comments on my photographs - AND I also suggest that you donate a small amount to them from time to time. This is simply from my own volition as I think they are so unusual.
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