# Should I donate to Wikipedia? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 8, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-wikipedia/608789 "2012-01-08T02:48:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-wikipedia/608789/21 "2012-01-09T11:02:27Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Jimmy Wales is a Randian. One of the basics of Randian philosophy is that altruism is evil. You can give money to causes, but only if it personally benefits you to do so. Seeing as Wikipedia will exist even though I don’t contribute to it, it would be evil for me to deny my own self interest and pay. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-wikipedia/608789/22 "2012-01-09T16:55:15Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Why do you think he would be? I’ve created a few articles and I always try to find good published cites for them. I usually go to a library or use my own books, but I do seek good reputable sources. I usually use Google Books to find cites, but ran into the limitations of how many pages I could view, so off to eBay. The system works! As cool as Google Books is, it is a lot easier to go through a paper book with a pad of sticky notes looking for references. Why would anyone assume I was kidding? This is a hobby, and buying $25 worth of used books is damn cheap as hobbies go. One form of advertising that would not be out of place on Wikipedia would be links to books referenced. A discrete Amazon purchase button would be a useful service and generate a revenue stream. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-wikipedia/608789/23 "2012-01-09T17:09:54Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Cite? Betcha he found that info on Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-wikipedia/608789/24 "2012-01-09T18:55:03Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > One of the basics of Randian philosophy is that altruism is evil. You can give money to causes, but only if it personally benefits you to do so. Seeing as Wikipedia will exist even though I don’t contribute to it, it would be evil for me to deny my own self interest and pay. This is totally untrue. The philosophy is that one should be be forced, nor felt they are forced, to give something to anyone. It does not say that one can’t give money to every bum on the street if they so choose even though that will not benefit the giver. I give money and time all the time, none of it directly benefits me, I do so because I _choose_ to do so and that’s the point. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-wikipedia/608789/25 "2012-01-09T20:50:48Z")
I guess I just assumed the majority of articles were the result of dozens of people working together, providing one or two cites at a time, not one editor with a pile of references. Nothing wrong with that, mind you, I’m just impressed 🙂 I’ve written a few articles myself, but mostly with Internet cites. I’m just blown away that people still have time to read books and write whole reports from them. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-wikipedia/608789/26 "2012-01-09T21:00:28Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > This is totally untrue. The philosophy is that one should be be forced, nor felt they are forced, to give something to anyone. It does not say that one can’t give money to every bum on the street if they so choose even though that will not benefit the giver. I give money and time all the time, none of it directly benefits me, I do so because I _choose_ to do so and that’s the point. Yes, Objectivism is often criticised by people who haven’t made any effort to understand it. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-wikipedia/608789/27 "2012-01-09T21:24:18Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I guess I just assumed the majority of articles were the result of dozens of people working together, providing one or two cites at a time, not one editor with a pile of references. Depends on the article. Expand the History page of any article to 500 and look through it, and you’ll find a handful of editors have made a large number of contributions - or a few revisions that have substantially improved the article. The problem with a large number of editors is that they do not produce a consistent style. After working on an article for a while and getting to a point where I’m reasonably happy with it, I’ll read the text out loud to my wife. That will reveal a lot of errors, omissions and bad writing. > [@](#): > > Nothing wrong with that, mind you, I’m just impressed 🙂 I’ve written a few articles myself, but mostly with Internet cites. I’m just blown away that people still have time to read books and write whole reports from them. Heh…when you put it like that…what AM I doing spending most evenings writing book reports? Oh yeah, I’m a huge geek. As I mentioned earlier, I use Google Books, but too many useful sources are only available in “Snippet” view, which makes citation pretty much impossible. I prefer a book or journal reference over any random web site as the references are unlikely to disappear. Google could shut down Google Books (Og forbid!), but the rest of the cite remains and anyone can find that book or magazine in a library. My proudest moment so far was when my research on a topic wound up being used in a scholarly work on that subject. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-wikipedia/608789/28 "2012-01-16T07:51:18Z")
Sorry it took me so long to get back to this. Buncha things, not the least of which was two _horrendous_ commutes on Monday and Tuesday. Don’t ask. Thanks for the responses, especially the links. Always good to have good, hard numbers. Eh. Maybe I’ll pitch in something, if only so I’ll feel a little better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-wikipedia/608789.md?page=1)