1. Summarize in my your own words of materials that I read
Joseph Reagle's Good Faith Collaboration, Chapter 2, "The Pursuit of the Universal Encyclopedia," explores how Wikipedia's encyclopedic ideals connect to historical traditions. Reagle argues that Wikipedia is more than just a digital project; it is a continuation of the Enlightenment ideal of universal access and collaboration for human knowledge.
Reagle emphasizes that Enlightenment attempts such as the 18th-century French Encyclopédie aimed to compile and disseminate knowledge. This tradition continued in the early 20th century with projects such as H.G. Wells' World Brain and Paul Otlet's Universal Repository, which attempted to use technological innovation to create a universal sharing of knowledge.
Wikipedia is a modern implementation of this historical context, operating under Jimmy Wales' vision of "making knowledge freely available to all." Regal sees Wikipedia's success as not only a technical aspect, but also a collaborative culture based on "goodwill." This means that participants respect each other, accept diverse perspectives, and work toward a common goal.
Wikipedia
In conclusion, Chapter 2 emphasizes that Wikipedia is more than just an online encyclopedia, but rather a modern effort to realize the long-held ideal of universal sharing and collaboration of human knowledge.
2. Mention of any new, interesting, or unusual items that I learned through lecture.
After reading this article, I realized that Wikipedia is not a simple information repository, but an inheritor of the ideal of ‘sharing universal knowledge’ that has continued since the Age of Enlightenment. This made me think again about the philosophical roots of Wikipedia. I was impressed by the fact that the goal of freely providing knowledge to all people is not a simple slogan, but an ideal that was naturally formed over a long historical flow. While past attempts at compiling knowledge were centered on a small number of elites, Wikipedia is a collective intelligence that anyone can participate in, allowing us to feel historical evolution. In addition, the insight that the development of digital technology is working in a way that goes beyond simple convenience and changes the structure of knowledge production and distribution itself was a new perspective that I had never thought of and was fascinating.
3. Identify at least one question, concern, or discussion angle that is either problematic in some respect or could have been elaborated more.
I wondered if the ideal of universal knowledge sharing always worked in a good way. The reason that past attempts at compiling knowledge were centered on a small number of elites was because they were the ruling class of their time, but also because they were smart. However, Wikipedia has no verification process, and it is a double-edged sword in that anyone can edit it. We are working on policies that require references to address this issue, but it seems like this needs a bit more development to address the issue.
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