Choose to be Curious
Ep. #269: Wikipedia & Where We Entrust Our Curiosity, with Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight
Mar 6, 2025
Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight, a dedicated Wikipedia editor and co-founder of the Women in Red project, dives into the impact of volunteer contributions on knowledge and representation. She emphasizes the importance of reliable sourcing to combat misinformation and improve coverage on women’s biographies. The discussion also explores the evolving nature of knowledge, highlighting how collaboration fosters constructive debate and curiosity. Rosie shares imaginative analogies that illustrate curiosity's dynamic nature, inviting listeners to reimagine their own understanding.
28:00
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Quick takeaways
- Wikipedia, with over 63 million articles and 2.9 billion hours of annual use, serves as a crucial platform for global curiosity and knowledge access.
- The Women in Red initiative significantly improves representation on Wikipedia by increasing female biographies from over 15% to over 20%, addressing historical content bias.
Deep dives
The Role of Wikipedia in Fostering Curiosity
Wikipedia serves as a vital platform for satisfying global curiosity, amassing 63 million articles generated by approximately 300,000 volunteers since its inception. This vast repository of knowledge reflects collective interests, as demonstrated by the most-viewed articles in 2024, which included prominent topics like the U.S. presidential election and notable public figures. The platform operates under a non-profit model, prioritizing open access and volunteer contributions over profit-driven motives, which distinguishes it among the top visited websites. Each year, billions of hours are spent accessing Wikipedia, highlighting its significance in providing credible information that is both accessible and reliable.
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