"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That’s what we're doing." Jimmy Wales

This website uses a technology pioneered and popularized by a man named Jimmy Wales. Of all the great Internet pioneers, I regard "Jimbo" in a class by himself for reasons laid out below.

Not only do I feel it is appropriate to acknowledge him here, but it is important for Scientologists to learn more about the ideas this man put forward which made his creation so universally popular.

In particular, I believe ONE very important idea is of interest to Scientologists and the future of the subject.

technical contribution[edit | edit source]

The software that drives the Wikipedia website (and this one) is unique in that it allows a flexibility and multi-point contribution. It's a platform ideally suited to communities wishing to share knowledge and allow for input from diverse and numerous sources. It doesn't rely on a single individual or small group to develop its content. It's inclusive rather than exclusive in other words.

cultural contribution[edit | edit source]

By launching a platform open to wide contribution, Jimmy Wales and Wikipedia created a new paradigm within the exploding Internet world. The Internet itself was exploding and becoming a ubiquitous force and Wales' ideas and wiki platform became a revolution within that revolution.

While the other great innovators of the Internet were figuring out ways to make millions and billions, Jimmy's "product" was knowledge.

philosophical contribution[edit | edit source]

There are several core ideas that fueled the Wikipedia project. The technology used to implement those ideas, as great as the technology is, would have been monetized and exploited for commercial purposes had there not been core values, ideas and philosophy driving it.

The first big idea was to use the technology as a means to bring knowledge to millions of people. (see first statement of purpose above)

Secondly, Wikipedia avoided the corruption of commercializing the project by funding it through outside contributions.

And most importantly for our purposes and an example for Scientologists to be mindful of, Jimmy gave responsibility for the integrity of the knowledge to everyone.

If you read the history carefully (below) you should note there was a group of "academics" who wanted to be the final arbiters of the correctness and purity of the articles and data that was published. Like our "standard tech" purists, some wanted only the experts and acknowledged professionals to determine the knowledge that was broadly disseminated. Jimmy's idea was to open that responsibility up, publish the knowledge and trust the community to self-regulate and monitor its correctness.

scientology lesson[edit | edit source]

Scientology and Scientologists struggle with the issues of "purity of the tech" and application. There's internal strife around the issues of various people and groups applying Scientology techniques and whether or not they are being "standard" in those applications.

Some are hesitant to utilize their training in the subject for fear of being labeled one way or the other. Some are so wrapped up in these and other issues surrounding the corporate church implosion, they fail to notice global dissemination of the knowledge has been neglected.

Jimmy Wales tapped into a fundamental philosophical truth. One LRH forwarded much earlier. i.e. trust people with the knowledge and ultimately they will do the right thing.

To use today's terminology, Scientology "went viral" in the 50's, 60's, 70's and even on up through the 80's with that philosophy. As has Wikipedia since 2001.

Scientology got sidetracked.

Maybe Jimmy Wales' (and LRH's) ideas could help.

David LaCroix

recent blogs[edit | edit source]

related pages[edit | edit source]

internet magic[edit | edit source]

Below is the magically inserted article from Wikipedia.org

Jimmy Wales