Larry Sanger co-founded Wikipedia but no longer associates with it due to its regress into establishment lies and propaganda.
Wikipedia, in my opinion, is rubbish.
For example, my Wikipedia page (which I didn’t create) contains partial truths while simultaneously infused with an obvious attempt to frame me as somebody I am not. I once attempted to correct it but my edits were reverted and I was, hilariously, sent a warning about ‘vandalising the page’.
Larry versus Wikipedia
He argues that Wikipedia has a dominant role in shaping public opinion and that it has morphed into a tool that promotes establishment narratives on most things, thus stifling knowledge.
Knowledge is power.
Francis Bacon
He isn’t wrong.
It’s become a cesspit of ideological biases.
Thankfully, Wikipedia has an article on whether or not Wikipedia has ideological biases and Wikipedia has determined that Wikipedia does not have ideological biases.
Larry adds that Wikipedia’s centralised structure restricts information to a single perspective per topic, which neatly aligns with Big Tech’s influence in curating content.
What happened?
It’s easy to see what happened.
- Lack of professional editorial oversight.
- Manipulation by commercial enterprises and central intelligence.
- Inconsistent handling and removal of defamatory material.
- Arbitrary rejection of credible sources and acceptance of unreliable ones.
- Articles can be protected to prevent removal of incorrect information.
- Potential for “edit wars” and biased editing by anonymous users or groups.
- Reliance on Wikipedia for quick information, influenced by its high search engine rankings.
- Centralised control that allows for a singular narrative.
Wikipedia is a mess.
Stop using it.
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
Socrates
The Encyclosphere
To counteract this, Larry has introduced the Encyclosphere project, aimed at aggregating content from various free encyclopedias into a unified, distributed database.
Basically, an encyclopedia of encyclopedias.
Which makes a lot more sense than Wikipedia.
It enhances the accessibility of encyclopedic information, mirroring the diversity of the blogosphere (including, for example, my own website), thereby encouraging readers to form opinions based on multiple sources of knowledge.
For instance, the Encyclosphere might include multiple pages about me, such as from Wikipedia as well as from my own website.
Larry envisions this collaborative effort as a way to decentralise knowledge, ensuring a multitude of viewpoints are available.
This, he believes, is essential for preserving free speech and preventing the monopolisation of knowledge by any single entity (such as Wikipedia), thus fostering a far more open knowledge ecosystem.
Here’s my conversation with Larry.
Knowledge is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
