When I first found out about the Wikipedia my first thought was "Wow, that's a neat idea". But then, when I visited articles on topics that I was familiar with, I found that many of them were woefully inadequate for an encyclopedia. Some of them even had errors in them.

So I decided to join in this noble experiment and started editing—first anonymously, and then quickly getting a User account. If I had just stayed in with those topics I had started with, things might have stayed okay, but even there I had one odd run-in with another user, which should have given my a clue about how the Wikipedia really works.

But I wanted to help, to make the Wikipedia better. I saw other things that needed work on, and I started to get more involved. Sure, I realized that things weren't perfect, but I thought that they could be improved just as Wikipedia articles could be improved.

It took me way too long to realize the underlying facts about the way the Wikipedia works. In this libertarian anarchy, any process is only as functional as it's most dysfunctional participant. What that means is that in too many areas the inmates are in charge of the asylum.

Sooner or later someone or some group will take a look at this grand experiment and will probably build a better user-edited internet encyclopedia, and the Wikipedia will be superseded. Until then, I wish the best of luck to all the nice (and sane) users on the Wikipedia I have met and hope that they do have luck in making the Wikipedia better and in making it run better. I, however, have decided that I can find better things to do with my spare time and am leaving.

gK ¿? 20:19, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)
[Please leave this as is. I won't be back to read any of it anyway.]