User:Kosebamse/Wikipedia is not a sentient being

This is an essay.

It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

Shortcut

WP:NOTPOLICY

This page in a nutshell: Wikipedia's success relies on your commitment.

Obvious similarities

Wikipedia is sometimes compared to a sentient being or an artificial intelligence. In fact, it is neither.

It is a common observation that Wikipedia behaves like a homeostatic organism in some respects, and some of its actions even resemble those of intelligent beings. For example, parasites and waste are removed, enemies are averted, memes grow and decline, lacerations heal, mechanisms for maintenance of internal equilibrium evolve, Wikipedia adapts to changing environments, and so on.

The problem

Many of these quasi-biological mechanisms work quite reliably, and one may therefore be tempted to assume that Wikipedia can be trusted to function on its own. For example, one might believe that an article's deficits will automagically get sorted out, that routine maintenance tasks can be left to others, that involvement in policy development or other community affairs is unnecessary, that interactions with other users can largely be done by using semi-automated messages, etc.

Such attitudes, however, are detrimental to the project, because they negate the most fundamental fact about Wikipedia, namely that it works by collaboration. Collaboration is essential on every imaginable level of the project, be it routinely welcoming new users, educating problematic Wikipedians, refining policy, polishing articles, organizing elections, representing the Foundation to the outside world, or whatever you can think of. Collaboration relies on communication. Most everything that has been accomplished under this project has its roots in individual users communicating with others.

The social aspect

When you leave things for 'Wikipedia' to take care of, you silently imbue other people with a responsibility and therefore a power. You put other people in a position of being imposed upon or responsible, and you put someone in charge. However, there is no one at Wikipedia more important than you are. There are people with varying degrees of experience and wisdom, but you are equal, and therefore the problem you see is as much your problem as anyone else's.

Therefore, if you...

Therefore, if you wish the project to succeed, stay involved. Communicate. Don't rely on anything happening on its own. Wikipedia is only as good as you make it.