Wikipedia articles are a good way to keep notes on things I want to remember or understand. I created this account in 2004, and now in 2023 Wikipedia tells me I have made over 800 edits and created 10 articles. This makes me a minor contributor, but I've gained a lot and recommend it to others. My first 500 edits qualified me for reading rights to hundreds of professional journals and news archives, and I retain those rights as long as I am a reasonably current editor.
Here is a graphical display of my list of contributions.
My contributions to the English Wikipedia are about 50/50 personal and professional.
Reasons I contribute on personal topics...
My own education: As an example of how the Wikipedia community works, I made an incorrect contribution to Abductive reasoning which a mathematician quickly reverted. After receiving some tutoring in public on the Abductive reasoning Talk page I now understand how abduction fits with other thinking approaches.
Curious or important things I meet in life: such as Tinel's Sign, or an update on the tragedy of Rosamund Kissi-Debrah who has helped officially establish facts about air pollution that matter to us all.
Documenting important evidence so it is harder to overlook: I added detailed evidence of the bad personal behaviour of Isaac Asimov, whose works influenced me positively as a child. I added credible medical articles addressing the nonsense Irlen Syndrome, since the coloured lenses developed for this non-existent condition are useful for other purposes and I use them every day.
Documenting problems I have solved for myself: Why do Scottish charitable incorporated organisations not appear at Companies House? The answer is because they are entirely regulated by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, which means that applicable law is Scottish despite looking like corporate law, which is at the UK level. This is confusing and the article was also confused. As part of untangling this I created the new article Scottish charitable incorporated organisation. I haven't created many articles so this took time to get right.
And so this is how my Wikipedia edit history is an strange diary of moments in life where I feel particularly ignorant and at a loss.
Why do I contribute to Wikipedia on professional topics?
I edit articles related to my daily work including LumoSQL, Sweet Lies and Legal Tech Matters. It takes a lot of effort and time to make a quality modification to a technical article. Articles I have made major changes to include:
Dan Shearer (
talk) 22:44, 11 October 2023 (UTC)
Wikipedia articles are a good way to keep notes on things I want to remember or understand. I created this account in 2004, and now in 2023 Wikipedia tells me I have made over 800 edits and created 10 articles. This makes me a minor contributor, but I've gained a lot and recommend it to others. My first 500 edits qualified me for reading rights to hundreds of professional journals and news archives, and I retain those rights as long as I am a reasonably current editor.
Here is a graphical display of my list of contributions.
My contributions to the English Wikipedia are about 50/50 personal and professional.
Reasons I contribute on personal topics...
My own education: As an example of how the Wikipedia community works, I made an incorrect contribution to Abductive reasoning which a mathematician quickly reverted. After receiving some tutoring in public on the Abductive reasoning Talk page I now understand how abduction fits with other thinking approaches.
Curious or important things I meet in life: such as Tinel's Sign, or an update on the tragedy of Rosamund Kissi-Debrah who has helped officially establish facts about air pollution that matter to us all.
Documenting important evidence so it is harder to overlook: I added detailed evidence of the bad personal behaviour of Isaac Asimov, whose works influenced me positively as a child. I added credible medical articles addressing the nonsense Irlen Syndrome, since the coloured lenses developed for this non-existent condition are useful for other purposes and I use them every day.
Documenting problems I have solved for myself: Why do Scottish charitable incorporated organisations not appear at Companies House? The answer is because they are entirely regulated by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, which means that applicable law is Scottish despite looking like corporate law, which is at the UK level. This is confusing and the article was also confused. As part of untangling this I created the new article Scottish charitable incorporated organisation. I haven't created many articles so this took time to get right.
And so this is how my Wikipedia edit history is an strange diary of moments in life where I feel particularly ignorant and at a loss.
Why do I contribute to Wikipedia on professional topics?
I edit articles related to my daily work including LumoSQL, Sweet Lies and Legal Tech Matters. It takes a lot of effort and time to make a quality modification to a technical article. Articles I have made major changes to include:
Dan Shearer (
talk) 22:44, 11 October 2023 (UTC)