What Wikipedia means to me

I renewed my donation to Wikipedia today, and in sitting down to write about that, I realised only a little over a decade had passed since the project started.

What a decade it has been for freedom and sharing!  Laughable as it is today to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on an encyclopedia, less than a generation ago it was a painful reality.  Wikipedia has in an amazingly short time grown to become the best reference work humanity has ever seen. And a donation to Wikipedia is money well spent. Upkeep is a fraction of a dollar per user per year.  Can it be anything less than the single most amazing international service being provided anywhere on the planet?

But it is far more than that. It is powerful proof that an abundance model of knowledge serves us better than one of scarcity. It shows us that the collective knowledge of a large group of people is far greater than the sum of its parts or the knowledge of a group of experts, no matter how elite. And that many eyes and voices interested in truth are the best protection against the vandalism of a few interested in spreading misinformation. In reaching so many millions, it also spearheads the movement for free culture.  The millions who peacefully frequent this enormous and remarkably tidy and useful virtual realm are growing organized and empowered, giving me hope that we will eventually redesign other parts of society for the benefit of all. A generation of children is growing up with the powerful experience that by sharing, we enrich ourselves and others. Those same ideas of faith in grassroots wisdom that gave birth to Wikipedia can also usher in a future where not only encyclopedia articles, not just culture, but sooner or later everything that human beings produce is not to be squabbled over, but shared with mutual respect, kindness, understanding, and discussion.

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