Wikipedia Research: When More Brains Are Better

Jumping to the conclusion of the thought begun in the title of this post: Most of the time.

Stepping back now. I have long suspected that television sitcoms are better today, are funnier, than in previous generations because more writers are involved. Chances are, when you have a team of brains suggesting plot turns and jokes, the overall quality of those that make it into the script will be better.

Similarly, one of the reason I trust the findings of science over, say, personal anecdotes, intuitions and prophecies, no matter the source, is that doing science involves the input of many minds. Even the renegade working solo in a lab is encouraged to publish in peer-reviewed journals. Resulting in more smart brains getting involved. The renegade will receive feedback from others. The renegade is also encouraged to attend conferences and to engage in dialogue and debate, at least if he/or she is employed by an academic institution.

While we might not call the scientific enterprise collaborative–though sometimes it can be–it certainly has an essential social dimension, one that absolutely thrives on communication. To get more brains involved. And that’s a good thing.

A recent study into Wikipedia, and what make some of the entries more accurate than others, got me thinking about the topic. You can guess one of the findings.

In Who does what on Wikipedia? I learned,

To generate the best-quality entries, she says [co-auther Sudha Ram], people in many different roles must collaborate.

Makes sense. More brains equal more knowledge and differing cognitive skills, leading to higher quality results.

Of course, it is unlikely that simply adding more and more minds to a project will improve the outcome. There is likely a point of diminishing returns. And worse.

However, I think it can be safely said that if you want to improve your own internal Wikipedia, talk to other, informed individuals, read their words. Leave the cave of your own experiences and venture into the thriving marketplace of information and ideas.

Tags: education, knowledge