Digital Maoism Response

"Digital Maoism" – the phrase conjures fear and instability with every contortion of the lips required to speak the words. The deprivation of those very rights that Americans treasure above all others (life, liberty, and property) is associated with Maoism. When Jaron Lanier titles his tirade "Digital Maoism," he attempts to trick his readers into thinking that a readily exportable form of terror, that is, death digitized, threatens humankind. However, this initial deception does not last long once the reader realizes that Lanier’s essay is filled with hyperboles and fallacious reasoning.

Lanier’s inability to change history has apparently made him bitter. He accuses the "Wikipedia goblins" of not letting him renounce his position as a movie director in this "alternate universe." He claims that to stop being a director is simple in real life, but impossibly difficult in Wikipedia. Unfortunately, Lanier does not realize that to stop being a director in Wikipedia, he would have to go back in time and never have been a director at all (this is understandably a very difficult task). Lanier would be content to write the history books and keep only those details that suit his reputation. The writer of an encyclopedic article, whether a single person or group, is rarely the subject matter of the work; Lanier is no exception to this convention.

Upon looking at Lanier’s Wikipedia entry today, one will notice that Lanier’s career is hardly described as that of a film director; for example, his wiki page contains information pertaining to his technological and philosophical ideas. Apparently, Wikipedia has improved considerably in just the few months that have transpired since "Digital Maoism" was written. The reader will be further surprised to discover that the malicious "Wikipedia goblins" have done nothing to malign Lanier (despite the vendetta that Lanier seems to have against them). Those Wikipedia articles that do not meet certain standards of objectivity are labeled "biased" and are soon after corrected.

The never-ending revision process makes Wikipedia more encompassing and up-to-date than traditional encyclopedias such as Encyclopedia Britannica. Finding information on the
"philosophical beliefs of Jeron Lanier" in such a traditional encyclopedia would be highly improbable; however, Wikipedia provides ready access to such diverse topics in a single, centralized database. Lanier states that although Wikipedia is good at giving information on topics such as the "kinetic isotope theory," no one would ever care to read about such information. While such articles do not make good general reading, they do serve as a tractable introduction to more advanced concepts in specialized fields. For example, Wikipedia articles on Dilworth’s and Helly’s theorem constitute the most lucid treatments of the topics on the web .

Lanier dislikes Wikipedia, artificial intelligence, and the desire to be the most "meta" because he feels that such entities are diminishing the value of individual’s human personality. For example, he states that Wikipedia articles contain the voices of various anonymous authors. However, the existence of multiple voices might be desirable in something such as encyclopedic entry; a single voice or style of writing might be an indication of bias. In African culture, the griot kept historical information in the form of stories. Stories that were passed from one griot to another slowly evolved in style. This is similar to the stylistic development of Wikipedia pages.

Although Wikipedia articles are not necessarily literary masterpieces, they often do provide correct information about countless diverse topics. If Wikipedia articles are treated as introductions to topics, rather than definitive sources of information, then Wikipedia can be considered a helpful, readily available tool.