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One “very senior Wikimedian,” we are told, “came to think of the project as a ‘city built by Asperger’s.’ ”

If you get the paywall, it's readable at http://archive.today/R2rnW

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[-] antonim@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

but not for an encyclopedia, which is, by definition, literally supposed to contain all knowledge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia#Etymology

The word encyclopedia comes from the Koine Greek ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία,[13] transliterated enkúklios paideía 'general education', from enkúklios (ἐγκύκλιος) 'circular, recurrent, required regularly, general'[5][14] and paideía (παιδεία) 'education, rearing of a child'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars

Wikipedia combines many features of general and specialized encyclopedias, almanacs, and gazetteers. Wikipedia is not a soapbox, an advertising platform, a social network, a vanity press, an experiment in anarchy or democracy, an indiscriminate collection of information, nor a web directory. It is not a dictionary, a newspaper, an instruction manual, nor a collection of source documents or media files, although some of its fellow Wikimedia projects are.

(emphasis mine)

We have limited time in our lives. "Everything" can be the goal of a library collection. An encyclopedia gets the important gist of the "everything" in a practically readable and understandable format, and directs you to other places where you can learn more if needed. A balance has to be struck. Sadly, I guess Wikipedia has become a symbol of all knowledge on the web, since most other places are so dogshit and uninformative, that we can now expect or demand it to do beyond what an encyclopedia should normally do.

[-] LilB0kChoy@reddthat.com 4 points 2 days ago

I don’t think this is the gotcha you think it is. You posted the etymology which is the origin of the word but not the modern definition.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia#Etymology

Def.: Encyclopedia -

a work that contains information on all branches of knowledge or treats comprehensively a particular branch of knowledge usually in articles arranged alphabetically often by subject

Emphasis is mine.

[-] antonim@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago

That's not really in agreement with your understanding of the encyclopedias either, I'd say. Encyclopedias contain [an unspecified amount of] information on all branches of knowledge. The branches are all of them, yes, but the exact amount of information provided from each subtopic of each branch is not necessarily endless. As the quoted "pillar" says.

[-] LilB0kChoy@reddthat.com 1 points 1 day ago

That's not really in agreement with your understanding of the encyclopedias either

It sure is, because my understanding is the dictionary definition. I don’t agree with the commenter you originally replied too either, but your reply, as I said, is not the gotcha you might think it was.

this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2026
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