It's A Portmanteau

This is what Wikipedia has to say about Wikipedia:

Wikipedia (ⁱ/ˌwɪkɨˈpiːdiə/ or ⁱ/ˌwɪkiˈpiːdiə/ wik-i-pee-dee-ə) is a free, collaboratively edited, and multilingual Internet encyclopediasupported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 22 million articles (over 4 million in English alone) have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,^[4] and it has about 100,000 regularly active contributors.^[5][6] As of August 2012, there are editions of Wikipedia in 285 languages. It has become the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet,^{[7][8][9][10]} ranking sixth globally among all websites on Alexa and having an estimated 365 million readers worldwide.^[7][11] It is estimated that Wikipedia receives 2.7 billion monthly pageviews from the United States alone.^[12]

I hardly ever look at the footnotes but I was curious about the contributors so I looked at number six so I'll share it with you:

^ According to internal statistics, there are more than 1.3 million total editors (Wikipedians who edited at least 10 times since they arrived) as of April 2011"Wikipedia Statistics – Table – Contributor". 30 April 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.

Wikipedia, as their names suggests, is an encyclopedia. An encyclopedia is a collection of knowledge. When I was a growing up this is what that collection looked like...

That was it. That was all of the combined knowledge of the world. And believe it or not, I found it fun to actually look things up. One time I was looking up something about money in the "M" book and found my father's secret stash of cash. I thought it was cool I found it, kind of like I won a game of hide and seek, and didn't think it would cause a marital riff when I asked about the wad of hundreds in front of my father and second mom (step mother). You think a few years later when I found his hidden pack of cigarettes in a work glove I would have known better than to announce it in front of the family again. 

What I find fascinating about the idea of encyclopedias, especially our modern day Wikipedia, is our ability to agree on the common ground. We all understand that these articles are just written by people who have a lot of knowledge about the particular subject matter. We don't necessarily present Wikipedia excerpts as proof of fact in arguments, although on some of the better ones we certainly could. We present them as a gesture of common ground. We understand the piece is intended to be a fair representation of the knowledge and we don't want spin when we use the site. 

I find this entire concept a fairly encouraging trait in a time when we find ourselves so divided and unwilling to even agree on facts. Even more encouraging is the exponentially larger amount of knowledge available in today's day and age and the ease at which it can be accessed . And for me, the most remarkable feature is the fact it is all free. 

Collections of knowledge have not historically been free. Often times they were fought over. Sometimes when one culture conquered another culture the conquerors would burn all sites which contained knowledge gathered by the conquered people. The stakes weren't always as high as time moved on but still knowledge wasn't free. Just in my lifetime purchasing one set of books from the above image was only done by families with, at minimum, a moderate income. 

I often remark of my role in this ballgame. I view myself as an observer, not pulling for any particular outcome. Even the title of this blog is a reference to a George Carlin clip where he describes his take on humanity and conclusion that it just seems nearly impossible for us to change in any significant positive direction. He explains how it was too painful on him to keep rooting for humanity because they kept letting him down. I have found personally adopting this view was a healthy approach for me as well. It might seem like a dark place to an outsider but I find it quite peaceful. 

Even without cheering for a team I can still make the observation about the evolution of knowledge we have witnessed right in front of us. The internet will be a milestone on the charts of humanity when history is viewed by future sentient beings. Just as we observe the milestone of the creation and usage of the first tool of early man, the internet will be seen in much the same way. It is a tool that has allowed us to think in different ways. 

And now we have taken that tool and used it to gather all the knowledge of the world and deliver it right to your fingertips in the comfort of your own home or to your mini-computer you call your cell phone wherever you may be at any given time. And for all intents and purposes, minus the service fees you pay for electricity or internet and cell plans, the process is free. That is an incredible testament to humanity, a noble achievement, and worthy of acknowledgement. It is a feel good moment even to those not rooting for a team.