To build upon yesterday’s post on Wikipedia, here’s an article about Evolution and Wisdom of Crowds.
From the article:
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales described the online encyclopedia as being “like a sausage: you might like the taste of it, but you don’t necessarily want to see how it’s made.” In a Nature magazine blog accompanying the study mentioned above, Timo Hannay said that “frankly, I still can’t get over the fact that it works at all.” Indeed, the problem most people have with Wikipedia’s quality and accuracy seems to have more to do with their knowledge of how it is made, rather than any observed problem with the end results.
It’s a good read. And I think it’s something we all should think about. Are your perceptions pre-formed because of how it is made? Or is it an actual problem that you have noticed?
