User:Ahnrenene

Partners in the search for truth

The search for truth is a consequence of human needs. First and foremost, truth is sought because it can be used to engineer devices and processes that bring gratification. Secondly, truth is sought because curiosity is itself a need. If we are to search in earnest, we must always hold our beliefs at arm's length, ever prepared to acknowledge new truth in light of mounting evidence. To do otherwise would simply be self-defeating. Likewise, there are few situations were the benefit to the individual of withholding information actually outweighs the detriment. Openness, then, is prudent as a general rule. These principles inform our activities on, and commitment to the Wikipedia.

Significance of the Wikipedia

I think the open source movement (including the Wikipedia) is probably the most clearly defined development in human society since the advent of constitutionalism.