User:RM395/Course/Week 02/Group3

=Group Members=
 * Information-01152001
 * Tinaface86
 * Ryenocerous
 * Luna002

=Topic=

The vision of the Wikimedia Foundation (the organization behind Wikipedia) is "Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge."
 * What does this mission mean to you?
 * To what extent does Wikipedia meet or fall short of the goals implied in this statement?
 * Would you change anything about the Vision?

=Your Task=

As a group, come up with one cohesive response to the Topic and its questions. Your response should address all of the questions, but not as a mutually exclusive list (e.g. what the mission means to you is tied in with how you see Wikipedia meeting or falling short of its goals). The only communication you should have with your group members is that which takes place here on Wikipedia (not in the classroom).

=Response=

Considering the Dark Ages, we might recall the major factor that contributed to their darkness. The knowledge, and ability to acquire knowledge, was in the hands of an elite few. The masses were destined to rot in the gloom of hopeless ignorance. The vision of Wikipedia (and its parent group, Wikimedia) reflects humanity's expanded capabilities in modern times, in that we have the ability and maybe even the obligation to collect and disseminate knowledge across the vastness of humanity. One needs neither money nor prestige to obtain knowledge. The internet has globalized knowledge and made it the common man's hobby. In that spirit, Wikipedia does effectively make the sum of all knowledge available to all human beings with access to its pages.

The mission means that no one should be denied access to any sort of information based on class, race, status, etc. It should be open to everyone to explore and revise. It is a call to action for individuals who believe in the capability of spontaneous and voluntary order. The Internet has turned information into a relatively non-scarce good, and Wikipedia organizes the commodity in such a way that we can share everything without taking anything away from each other. Wikipedia does not fall short of the goal at all. The organization proved that “sharing knowledge” isn’t something that has to happen in our minds. The information is always available to us, freeing up mental space — that was previously (and unnecessarily) muddled with minute details — for more worthy (and less accessible) knowledge. It is a brilliant testimony to the power of free information provided as a public good without coercion. Although there are millions of articles on Wikipedia, about nearly every subject, one can imagine there are still some topics that are not covered on the site or vaguely covered. In this respect, Wikipedia may fall short of their goal of "freely sharing the sum of all knowledge". There are entirely too many subjects for one website to cover them all. With this said, the only thing that should be changed in the mission would be the deletion of "sum of all knowledge", with "all" being the key word. It would not be possible to encompass all knowledge, although a great amount is possible. Also, if someone has access to the internet, that is all well and good, but for the many people around the world that do not have access, this mission statement does not really take that into account, and quite frankly, some of those people without internet access or the knowledge base to understand the logistics of the page might need this information the most.