Wikipedia:Dao of Wikipedia

10,000 Things

Wikipedia covers the ten thousand things
like flood waters.
It flows in all directions.
Myriads depend on it:
Wikipedia denies none of them.

After the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
(verse 34)

Note: this essay does not pretend to represent proper Daoist belief or advice; but merely refers to basic ideas of Daoism for inspiration.

Dao of Wikipedia

There are many translations of the Dao, all terribly wrong.^[1][2] This one particularly so...

dào, ke dào,fei cháng dào. 道 可 道 非 常 道	Guidelines that can be suggested are not the perfect guidelines.
míng ke míng, fei cháng míng. 名 可 名 非 常 名	Articles that can be written are not the perfect articles.
wúmíng, tian dì zhi shi. 无 名 天 地 之 始	With no articles the world began.
youmíng, wàn wù zhi mu. 有 名 万 物 之 母	Now there are articles on myriad things.
gù, cháng wúyù, yi guan qí miào. 故 常 无 欲 以 观 其 妙	Thus, maintain impartiality to perceive its wonders.
cháng youyù, yi guan qí jiao. 常 有 欲 以 观 其 徼	Always have passion to explore its boundaries.
ci liang zhe, tóng chu èr yì míng. 此 两 者 同 出 而 异 名	These two things together multiply and diversify the articles.
tóng wèi zhi xuán, 同 谓 之 玄	Both develop the obscure details;
xuán zhi yòu xuán, zhòng miào zhi mèn. 玄 之 又 玄 众 妙 之 门	Obscure details of obscure details are the gate to endless wonders...

-- The Daodejing, verse 1

Dao

The Dao is the natural flow of editing that occurs on Wikipedia. Guidelines and policies describe it, sometimes with some skill, but all miss the mark; the highest rule is to ignore all rules. The Dao can be divided and subdivided into "male" and "female" aspects - (震 Zhèn) bold or controversial change, (離 Lí) moving and rearranging, (兌 Duì) weighing relevance, and (乾 Qián) creating new sourced material; versus (巽 Xùn) copy-editing, (坎 Kǎn) fact-checking, (艮 Gèn) vandal-fighting, and (坤 Kūn) responding to questions and comments.

De

De describes action in proper accordance with guidelines and policies, or efforts to cultivate such a flow of editing. It properly emerges organically from the Dao of Wikipedia, by consensus, rather than being imposed from above.

The Three Treasures

The Three Treasures of the Dao of Wikipedia are compassion, moderation, and avoiding ambition. To be helpful to the newbie, to have pity on the experienced editor called out for a few policy issues, to be appreciative of fellow editors, has solved many problems, even if we don't know what they were because they never happened. To show moderation - to avoid calls to make new and ever more aggressive interpretations of policy just in order to "get" an opponent while the crowd is riled up - that also pays, because in the end what goes around comes around, and the overwrought arguments of yesterday are bound to boomerang. Wikipedia is best ruled by ordinary editors thinking out carefully how things should be done, not by careerists seeking positions as admins and arbitrators and on the Board of Trustees in order to carry out some kind of agenda and make a name for themselves.

Wu Wei

The right way to achieve action is "Wu wei", without action. Better to warn an editor than to block him; better to talk to him as a human being than to warn him; best never to talk to him at all because you have made it more clear how things should be done before he ever joined the project. Overcoming annoyance and finding a way to work productively with less in-fighting is the great challenge of working here. "The Sage is occupied with the unspoken and acts without effort. Teaching without verbosity, producing without possessing, creating without regard to result, claiming nothing, the Sage has nothing to lose." This is a virtue known to the WMF, which has cooked many a small fish without poking at it too much.

Pu

Pu, the simplicity of the uncarved block of stone, the uncarved log, is more precious than any single optimization we could make. Wikipedia should not carve down its articles to serve any particular purpose - not to be a guide for consumers only, nor for professionals, not to provide help, nor to exclude potentially abusable or objectionable details, not to attack a person, nor to avoid unpleasant facts. If something is in reliable sources it belongs somewhere in Wikipedia. Our articles should be useful by anyone with any purpose in mind.

Spirituality

The Dao of Wikipedia has a spiritual dimension. One account may be retired, even be banned, but another account returns. Likewise we die, and though our username in life may be retired, we may log on again some day. Though our memories shall be lost, this will not be completely so if what we write here now helps us to learn faster in some future schoolroom. Wikipedia is a map, a microcosm, a voodoo doll of the world, seeking to reflect its every aspect. Perhaps if we can guide Wikipedia into a proper balance, the world will follow. So let's do a good job of it!