Thanks, DS. “The power of the community to decide, of course, asks us to reexamine what we mean when we say that something is ‘true.’ We tend to think of truth as something that resides in the world. The fact that two plus two equals four is written in the stars-we merely discovered it. But Wikipedia suggests a different theory of truth. Just think about the way we learn what words mean. Generally speaking, we do so by listening to other people (our parents, first). Since we want to communicate with them (after all, they feed us), we use the words in the same way they do. Wikipedia says judgments of truth and falsehood work the same way. The community decides that two plus two equals four the same way it decides what an apple is: by consensus. Yes, that means that is the community changes its and decides that two plus two equals five, then two plus two does equal five. The community isn’t likely to do such an absurd or useless thing, but it has the ability.†-From “The Hiveâ€, The Atlantic, September 2006 Discussions of Wikipedia have become increasingly confused and confusing in popular discussions, thanks in no small part to Steven Colbert. But Wikipedia has always been clear and concise about its own position relative to the ‘truth’. From Wikipedia in eight words Facts: Wikipedia contains facts, not opinions, and not original research. Since any opinion of note has been expressed by some person or group of people, we do not try to decide or claim that an opinion is “true” or “false”. We state instead, neutrally and factually, which people hold what views, and allow the facts to speak for themselves. Wikipedia, I think rightly and as any honest encyclopedia should, does not claim to […]