I’m not the most altruistic person, but there is a cause that I regularly donate to. Wikipedia.
Wikipedia is one of those Utopian-sounding fantasies that could not possibly work, but does.
Whenever I’m trying to educate myself on a topic, which at the moment is a history of politics in New Zealand and the particulars of electoral systems – national elections and referendum today (Sat 26th Nov!) – Wikipedia will dominate on my browser tabs an an inevitable good source of well-written reliable information.
It has been criticised for its user-contributed nature. On this I say that there are some cases where Wikipedia has been proven to be quite reliable as compared to other encyclopedias. However, I will say that I think the proper onus is on people possessing adequate skeptical tools in their minds to include Wikipedia in a list of possible sources that they consult on issues, and not as some irrefutable and unquestionable source. No one thing you read should be accepted uncritically. You should always be questioning where, why and how.
Wikipedia could make a lot of money from advertising, even in a limited sense, but it does not do so. I respect this immensely and will be donating via their donations page.
https://donate.wikimedia.org/
Posted on: Friday, November 25, 2011 3:36 PM