“We’re not looking for the surface level understanding. We’re trying to cater to people who really want to understand a topic.” ~ Lisa Seitz Gruwell

Wikipedia has just marked a quarter century of working to provide trustworthy, human-powered knowledge that is accessible worldwide.

As the world’s largest online information resource, they know a thing or two about how our curiosity shows up.

I wondered: as our information landscape changes, how does Wikipedia adjust? And our curiosity…?

Lisa Seitz Gruwell, Chief Advancement Officer at Wikimedia Foundation, joined me to reflect on what’s worked and the importance of making time for curiosity.

It’s not a place where you go and share your opinion. It’s a place where you’re debating with other editors. What is important to include in the article? What are the best sources for this topic, and what do they say? And are we accurately reflecting what they say in the article? So people who come with opinions that aren’t supported by sources…they just don’t have a place in Wikipedia.

We talked about consensus and debating what is true, the fragility of human knowledge, strength and hope from global growth and diversity, elevating debate with tested sources, constant experimentation, AI fast facts’ appeal (and costs), learning to teach ourselves, our changing information landscape — and bellying up to the bar as a curiosity practice.

Listen to #320: Wikipedia & Making Time for Curiosity, with Lisa Seitz Gruwell

The next time you turn to AI, keep this in mind: 65% of the traffic on Wikipedia now comes from “reusers” — meaning AI. Maybe just go straight to Wikipedia next time?

Lisa Seitz Gruwell is Chief Advancement Officer at Wikimedia Foundation. She leads the team tasked with both growing the global community of volunteers who edit Wikipedia, and creating and implementing the revenue strategy for Wikimedia projects. 

Check out Wikipedia and their celebratory anniversary website Wikipedia25. What future of Wikipedia would you like to see? Take the quiz!

Catch my conversation with one of those Wikipedia volunteers, founder of the Women in Red initiative: Wikipedia & Where We Entrust Our Curiosity, with Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight.

Where else do you turn for information? What about these C2BC Classics? Checking Out Curiosity at the Library, with Jennifer Rothschild; The Human Library, with Ronni Abergel; and Solutions Journalism: An Exercise in Curiosity, with Marie Von Hafften.

Theme music by Sean Balick; “The Envelope” by Aeronaut, via Blue Dot Sessions.

You can subscribe to Choose to Be Curious on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.