User:Catdude

My interests

As for me, I'm interested in higher education, architecture, urban planning, consumer finance, and linguistics. I also enjoy reading about political science, especially about the ways that my native USA differs from other English-speaking (or heavily English-speaking) countries such as Canada, Britain, and Australia. I also like to read about the history of these countries. Plus, I am interested in other countries' cultures (not just English-speaking ones), as well as interested in many other often-obscure topics. Finally, you'll see me editing a number of articles which relate in some way to New York State, which I swear has one of the most complex administrative/political systems in the world — hence, much of the fascination with this topic area.

The potential of Wikipedia

I am interested in how this great experiment in worldwide, radical informational democracy called Wikipedia affects the areas of library and information science, general knowledge by many non-academics of history/politics/culture/much else, and virtual community-building. I think that the biggest mistake that could be made about Wikipedia is to not take its culture-changing potential seriously. (And besides, where else in the universe are you going to get what you really need to know quickly about, say, crushing by elephant?)

Wikipedia and community-building

As for Wikipedia's community-building potential, I think that it can't be underestimated. Where else, with a few arguable exceptions, do you find Americans, Brits, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Irish...and French, Slovakians, Chinese, Iranians, Ecuadorans, Jamaicans, and so on...all chatting away at each other in such an invigorating manner? Never mind the occasional edit war or other occasional incivility — the sense of worldwide community that I see here is startling. Well, Wikipedia got a Webby Award for Community in 2004...maybe it'll get a Nobel Peace Prize in 2029? Well, even if that doesn't happen, I think that Wikipedia is certainly a prototype in community-building.

In conclusion...

And, if anyone has any ideas he or she wants to share with me, feel free to post them on my Talk page. Thanks for stopping by.