2.0 All together now!

It's a wiki world ... and that's a good thing. This Dilbert cartoon originally appeared on August 14, 2008 - you can view the original here.

Denis Hancock of Wikinomics took a moment to revise it, and as a result the world gets this new twist on the old 'workplace as termite mound' joke. I have to give props to Dilbert creator Scott Adams for inviting his readers to contribute Dilbert Mashups like this - essentially a wiki'd version of his strips. Not everyone is so keen to have their work re-thought or re-invented. There is always the risk the original author will be outdone. Here's the Dilbert Mashups link, if you need a few laughs or would like to contribute your own.

Wikipedia and wiki sites in general can get a bad rap as inaccurate, simplistic, a haven for lowest-common-denominator thinking. In any given moment, it's just as likely that collaboration has lead to newer, better, more thorough approaches. That is the joy of wiki - ever-evolving, capable of capturing the best and worst of human thinking, and yes, everything in between. The old tomes of a printed encyclopedia were also prey to errors, omissions, and editorial bias. The constraints of size and cost alone are limitations that wiki technology will never face.

I regularly access Wikipedia for quick fact checks and have found it to be fairly reliable. Typos and grammatical errors are no more common on Wikipedia than elsewhere on the web - often less so than in personal blogs.

Today I edited an entry for the first time, and was astonished at how easy it was. I can see how pranksters could have a fantastic time with this, and certainly editorial bias is a concern for any author. However, Wikipedia does seem to tend towards correctness, with a limited staff but many users and contributors. My contribution was simple: I removed an outdated External Link and added a fresh one. Nonetheless - feels good to contribute!

Advocates of collaborative platforms speak to the possibilities of bringing ideas together without concern for who gets the credit, of building on each others' work in real time, of democratizing knowledge by sharing it widely and freely. I recommend two TED talks I've seen recently that speak to these ideas, both of which have appeal for us wordy folks:
Richard Braniuk on Open-Source Learning
and
Erin McKean on Redefining the Dictionary

Also of interest may be Sir Ken Robinson speaking about how school systems kill creativity.
Sir Robinson delivers his ideas with great humour, commenting on our current system's inclination to emphasize thinking 'from the neck up and slightly to one side'. For me, this talk is a reminder that there are many ways to learn and think, and creative expression is vital. The wiki world allows for and encourages this, emboldening the average citizen to get involved in sharing their knowledge and perspectives.