Why Wikipedia is a Wonder of the Modern World—That We’ll Never See the Likes of Again
At the very top of the Wikipedia article “List of artificial objects on the Moon” is a short disclaimer: Though the list includes more than a hundred objects, it is far from complete. Not included are the “lesser” items littering.
Wikipedia is described as sui generis, meaning it is one-of-a-kind and unlike any other project before or since. It is called the first digital wonder of the world, yet its recognition has been limited, with minimal fanfare and only a small statue in Słubice, Poland (population 16,000), commemorating its achievement. Wikipedia became the largest encyclopedia in existence in 2007, surpassing the imperial Chinese Yongle Encyclopedia after 600 years. Despite its vast scale—consulted trillions of times and read by billions—most users are unaware of its origins or how it functions. Its public image is often tied to its co-founder, Jimmy Wales, whose bearded, kind face is frequently featured in donation appeals, though the encyclopedia operates without paid fact-checkers. Wales once compared reading Wikipedia to eating a sausage, suggesting that while people value the outcome, they may not want to understand the process behind it.
In 2018, a private moon lander named Beresheet carried the Lunar Library, a nickel disk engraved with a nano-font containing thousands of texts, including a complete English Wikipedia. The disk was designed to last billions of years, resistant to gamma radiation. However, the mission ended in failure on April 11, 2019, when Beresheet crashed into the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility, scattering the Lunar Library across the lunar surface. The creator described this as turning the library into a “30 million page Frisbee.” The incident is framed as a fitting tribute to Wikipedia’s unpredictable and chaotic nature, aligning with its ethos of openness and decentralization. This event highlights Wikipedia’s role as a cultural artifact meant to endure, even in unexpected ways.
Wikipedia’s success stems from a radical experiment in knowledge creation that began in 2001. Unlike traditional encyclopedias, which relied on experts, Wikipedia allowed anyone to contribute and edit content freely. This violated the established hierarchy of expertise and initially seemed absurd to many, leading to widespread distrust despite its widespread use. The phrase “Everybody distrusts Wikipedia and everybody uses it” captures this paradox. The project’s early “ridiculousness” served as a protective function, shielding it from premature scrutiny. Wikipedia’s status as a nonprofit and its lack of traditional corporate structure set it apart from other tech giants like Amazon or Google, making its story difficult to categorize in standard narratives.
Wikipedia is a hybrid of two inventions: the wiki (a web page editable by anyone) and the encyclopedia (a comprehensive reference work). The term wikipedia itself is a portmanteau of these two words. The software behind Wikipedia is not revolutionary, but its cultural breakthroughs—such as open collaboration and decentralized editing—were groundbreaking. The project’s growth rate was exponential between 2001 and 2008, the period when its modern form took shape. By 2002, the amount of digital information surpassed analog information, marking a pivotal shift in how knowledge is stored and accessed. Wikipedia’s development aligns with this broader digital transformation.
Wikipedia’s origins and structure are deeply rooted in the humanities, drawing influences from philosophy, literature, history, architecture, and poetry. Figures like Voltaire, Diderot, and Leibniz are cited as intellectual predecessors, though their direct connection to Wikipedia’s creators may be metaphorical. The encyclopedia’s beauty emerges from its imperfections, described as resembling “abandoned cathedrals” by social media account Depths of Wikipedia. This beauty is fragile, as younger generations may only know the encyclopedic form because Wikipedia has sustained it. The digital age is marked by both abundance and loss, with less than 2% of data created in 2020 preserved into 2021, highlighting the ephemeral nature of online history.
Wikipedia is not only the largest encyclopedia ever written by humans but also the last one they will ever create. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has introduced new challenges, such as AI-generated “slop” (low-quality, automated content) that could overshadow human-authored works. Wikipedia’s survival is uncertain, with potential futures including fragmentation, neglect, or political targeting. Despite its noncombatant status in culture wars, it has recently faced increased scrutiny from political adversaries. The article frames Wikipedia as an artifact of a parallel internet—one that prioritizes human collaboration over algorithmic control—and calls for its preservation as a testament to its unique creation.
