Joshua Zeidner wrote:
> 
>   Alan,
> 
>     just curious, are you speaking from experience as someone who has
> actually tried to add substantial information to Wikipedia, or are you
> just enumerating the values of the Wikipedia community?

I have not contributed substantial information to Wikipedia, though I
have made some corrections and small additions here and there.  I also
cannot say I am enumerating the values of the Wikipedia community.  I am
just enumerating MY determination of the value of Wikipedia.

(I'm going to wax philosophical here.  I seem to get this way at night
when I should be sleeping.  Just ask my wife.)

Change is the hardest thing in the world for humans to handle, with
errors or mistakes a close second.  It is also all around us, faster and
faster.  We humans create systems, boundaries and processes, both real
and imagined, both in our heads and external to us, both individually
and in groups, to "control" change.

Despite the fact that it cannot be done, we must control change or we
would go bananas.  We have to live in a state of artificial change
control.  That is a great part of what life is, the Yin and Yang of
constant change vs. striving for stability.

Technology especially forces change on us.  Buy a computer today and
tomorrow it is obsolete.  Five years ago was ancient history in "silicon
years."  Those of us who embrace technology are forced to deal with
change, those outside technology are slightly more sheltered because we
on the inside hide it under user-friendly wrappers.

Many people, especially technology people but others too, are creating
ways to flow with the changes instead of building sand walls against the
tide.  Some of the results are things like agile development methods,
OOP, lean manufacturing, extreme programming, GTD, etc.  Facebook,
Twitter, blogging and all the "Web 2.0" stuff is also part of this.
Change is inevitable and so freezing information is not the answer,
getting new information as fast as possible is the answer.

Wikipedia embraces this thought, that almost all information is wrong or
will change to be wrong despite our best efforts.  Therefore the best
way to get the right information is to get more information as soon as
possible and as from as many source as possible.  That is the good and
the bad of Wikipedia all rolled up.

And all of that came out of my understanding of what I see and read.
I'm sure corrections to it will follow shortly!

Alan