Wikipedia : The Book Stops Here
"Jimmy Wales wanted to build a free encyclopedia on the Internet. So he raised an army of amateurs and created the self-organizing, self-repairing, hyperaddictive library of the future called Wikipedia."
posted by FintanDunne
at 3:59 am
11 Comments:
Wikipedia is the future of shared knowledge. Good riddance to elitism and hierarchy in encyclopedias, and in education, as well!
Alas, on the downside, Wikipedia is also subjected to mob rule. Which means that the info is often a repitition of what is taught in grade school. Look at the Pearl Harbor page for instance.
Anyone who seriously thinks the Wikipedia is the future of knowledge should be extremely worried. In a nutshell, like all open forums, the Wikipedia is firmly under the control of rightwing control freaks who simply will not tolerate the slightest hint of liberalism or socialism.
About a year ago I tried to insert into the biography of George H. W. Bush some of the information which suggests that he was working for the CIA since the late 1950s and that he had some kind of role in the Bay of Pigs and the assassination of JFK. Time after time, my insertions were removed until I finally gave up in disgust.
There is no way that the Wikipedia hawks will allow the Wikipedia to present any of this kind of information. Bush's biography is completely sanitized, and differs in no important respects from biographies of him available in mainstream pro-Bush sources. In other words, the Wikipedia is not a source of popular enlightenment. Any derogatory information about the rightwing is promptly purged.
The real meaning of open publishing is that the tyrants win because they are determined to wear down their opponents.
i meant the model of wikipedia is the future. of course it is rife with bias and problems. build your own.
tyrants have already lost, and continue to be losers, because they are tyrants. they have no moral currency.
The same fate will befall any open access forum. What people with an anarchist viewpoint do their best to avoid conceding is that ANY open space will be colonized by thugs and bullies.
A fatalistic attitude in the face of tyranny and bullying doesn't help. Fight the good fight. Send waves of positivity and vigilance throughout the universe.
Thanks folks. Great discussion. About Wikki and about this issue of the "bullies" and how we handle 'em. Gonna have to cover his on the audio show.
...Aand speaking of "sending waves of positivity and vigilance throughout the universe." - check the Denyse "Zaradia" interview leter Tuesday on http://www.BreakForNews.com
How can you said 'waves of positivity and vigilance throughout the universe' when every time you try to do something constructive you get stymied by rightwing control freaks determined to prevent you putting forth your viewpoint?
I reiterate: I tried to incorporate some of the information on the darker side of George H.W. Bush's career into his Wiki bio. It got me precisely nowhere because they (and 'they' were working in concert, like a pre-existing network) just wore me down. This is not 'fatalism' you fool. I just cannot spend the rest of my life sitting my the computer doing what it takes to keep my insertions to the Bush bio online.
Anonymous,
"This is not 'fatalism' you fool"? I fail to see how ad hominem rhetoric is helpful to our cause. Name-calling rhetoric is something we should avoid. We really need to keep from fighting among ourselves. That's what they want. The article stated that they locked down the entry on John Kerry as well. I don't have enough information to know whether or not the prevailing forces at play in Wikipedia are right or left, but I was at least willing to consider that it may be controlled by the right by your assertion. Instead of giving an unfounded, kneejerk reaction such as "No it isn't--such and such example proves my point, you are wrong" I offered a solution. We can use the example and build our own.
Oh, and I wasn't saying you personally are "fatalistic." I was trying to snap you out of that funk and encourage you, so I apologize if my words came across as insulting. It's difficult to gauge the inflection of unvoiced comments.
Fintan,
Looking forward to that.. Your pep talks during or at the end of your audio shows definately are needed and appreciated. The music is good, too. Could you post the names of the songs and groups?
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