this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2023
1022 points (90.9% liked)
Showerthoughts
29603 readers
727 users here now
A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.
Rules
- All posts must be showerthoughts
- The entire showerthought must be in the title
- Avoid politics (NEW RULE as of 5 Nov 2024, trying it out)
- Posts must be original/unique
- Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
We should be careful or we will turn it into the Ministry of Truth.
Everyone's all over the place on this. There are multiple levels of fact-checking, moderation, contributions, etc. incorpated into Wikipedia. Which is the entire point. Having a decentralized encyclopedia where people collaborate, fact check, curate, and contribute is the design goal. Wikipedia is the exact solution for keeping someone from creating a ministry of truth.
My problem with wikipedia is that all the information is being stored in the same website. Since it appears first when you search for anything, it becomes the only way to fact check things for people. Since most won't scroll past wikipedia and just trust it, the information posted there becomes the objective truth. If someone in control of the site wishes to make modifications, and does them properly, he can alter truth.
Don't get me wrong, I'm just a paranoid guy on the Internet, I do believe that wikipedia is doing a lot of good. It's, as you said, a healthy and complete hub of information online. Like the library of Alexandria. It just scares me that there is only one hub like this. There should be equally big libraries of information, to allow contrast.
Eh, it's got no commercial control and is generally ran democratically. Probably a King Charles III situation where it's a good system for now and the foreseeable future but not something that might be a good idea long term