Wikipedia and the Fallacy of Intentions

Wikipedia is running into strange issues: more slashdot here.

To summarize, a clique within Wikipedia is behaving like despots and risking destroying the whole effort.

This actually is a good proof point for the fallacy of intentions: Wikipedia is great, and these guys have done a great job of bringing Jimbo’s vision to life.  But the fact that you have “non-selfish” intentions (if that exists) does not mean that what you are doing is good.  Durova may have the best of intentions and act like an on-line Stalin.

That’s why businesses exist.  That’s why Wikipedia would probably be better as a for-profit organization that more people (stockholders, employees, board members, community members…) could do something about it than a group of “believers” who really know what should be done and screw up like this.