Larry Sanger: Difference between revisions
mNo edit summary |
mNo edit summary |
||
Line 15: | Line 15: | ||
While in college, Sanger began using the Internet for educational purposes and joined the online encyclopedia Nupedia as [[wikipedia:editor-in-chief|editor-in-chief]] in 2000. Disappointed with the slow progress of Nupedia, Sanger proposed using a [[wikipedia:wiki|wiki]] to solicit and receive articles to put through Nupedia's peer-review process; this change led to the development and launch of Wikipedia in 2001. Sanger continued to serve as Nupedia's editor-in-chief and as an active contributor to Wikipedia in its first year, but he was laid off and left the projects in March 2002. Sanger's status as a co-founder of Wikipedia has been questioned by Wales<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 19, 2023 |title=Transcript for Jimmy Wales: Wikipedia Lex Fridman Podcast #385 |url=https://lexfridman.com/jimmy-wales-transcript/#chapter13_larry_sanger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014181329/https://lexfridman.com/jimmy-wales-transcript/#chapter13_larry_sanger |archive-date=October 14, 2023 |access-date=November 3, 2023 |website=lexfridman.com}}</ref> but is generally accepted.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yam |first=Shing-Ching Jonathan |year=2013 |title=Decommercialization and anti-elitism: early years of Wikipedia 2001-2002 |url=https://universitypublications.net/ijas/0601/pdf/SPQ603.pdf |journal=International Journal of Arts & Sciences |volume=6 |issue=1 |quote=The Wales/Sanger split refers to the departure of co-founder Larry Sanger in 2002 (The Australian 2006). |via=universitypublications.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jankowski |first=Steve |date=August 6, 2023 |title=The Wikipedia imaginaire: a new media history beyond Wikipedia.org (2001–2022) |journal=Internet Histories |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=333–353 |doi=10.1080/24701475.2023.2246261 |s2cid=260878150 |quote=When Wikipedia launched, its co-founders Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger followed this tradition when described it as 'the free encyclopedia'. |doi-access=free}}</ref> | While in college, Sanger began using the Internet for educational purposes and joined the online encyclopedia Nupedia as [[wikipedia:editor-in-chief|editor-in-chief]] in 2000. Disappointed with the slow progress of Nupedia, Sanger proposed using a [[wikipedia:wiki|wiki]] to solicit and receive articles to put through Nupedia's peer-review process; this change led to the development and launch of Wikipedia in 2001. Sanger continued to serve as Nupedia's editor-in-chief and as an active contributor to Wikipedia in its first year, but he was laid off and left the projects in March 2002. Sanger's status as a co-founder of Wikipedia has been questioned by Wales<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 19, 2023 |title=Transcript for Jimmy Wales: Wikipedia Lex Fridman Podcast #385 |url=https://lexfridman.com/jimmy-wales-transcript/#chapter13_larry_sanger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014181329/https://lexfridman.com/jimmy-wales-transcript/#chapter13_larry_sanger |archive-date=October 14, 2023 |access-date=November 3, 2023 |website=lexfridman.com}}</ref> but is generally accepted.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yam |first=Shing-Ching Jonathan |year=2013 |title=Decommercialization and anti-elitism: early years of Wikipedia 2001-2002 |url=https://universitypublications.net/ijas/0601/pdf/SPQ603.pdf |journal=International Journal of Arts & Sciences |volume=6 |issue=1 |quote=The Wales/Sanger split refers to the departure of co-founder Larry Sanger in 2002 (The Australian 2006). |via=universitypublications.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jankowski |first=Steve |date=August 6, 2023 |title=The Wikipedia imaginaire: a new media history beyond Wikipedia.org (2001–2022) |journal=Internet Histories |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=333–353 |doi=10.1080/24701475.2023.2246261 |s2cid=260878150 |quote=When Wikipedia launched, its co-founders Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger followed this tradition when described it as 'the free encyclopedia'. |doi-access=free}}</ref> | ||
Since Sanger's departure from Wikipedia, he has been critical of the project, describing it in 2007 as being "broken beyond repair".<ref name="Iain Thomson">{{Cite news|last=Thomson|first=Iain|date=April 13, 2007|title=Wikipedia 'broken beyond repair' says co-founder|url=http://www.itnews.com.au/News/78127,wikipedia-broken-beyond-repair-says-co-founder.aspx|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222154606/http://www.itnews.com.au/News/78127,wikipedia-broken-beyond-repair-says-co-founder.aspx|archive-date=December 22, 2012|publisher=iTnews}}</ref> He has argued that, despite its merits, Wikipedia lacks credibility and accuracy due to a lack of respect for expertise and authority. Since 2020, he has criticized Wikipedia for what he perceives as a [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]] and [[Liberalism|liberal]] [[Ideological bias on Wikipedia|ideological bias]] in its articles.<ref name="Tel20210716">{{Cite news |last=Sabur |first=Rozina |date=July 16, 2021 |title=The Left has taken over Wikipedia and stripped it of neutrality, says co-creator |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/07/16/wikipedia-dominated-left-wing-establishment-version-truth-co/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/07/16/wikipedia-dominated-left-wing-establishment-version-truth-co/ |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |access-date=December 2, 2021 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235 |quote=Mr Sanger added that "very little" reference to scandals and allegations against the Bidens, for instance relating to their business dealings in Ukraine, could be found on Wikipedia.}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="Sayers 2021">{{Cite podcast|url=https://unherd.com/thepost/wikipedia-co-founder-i-no-longer-trust-the-website-i-created/|title=Wikipedia co-founder: I no longer trust the website I created|website=UnHerd|publisher=UnHerd|host=Freddie Sayers|date=July 14, 2021|access-date=May 25, 2022}}</ref> | Since Sanger's departure from Wikipedia, he has been critical of the project, describing it in 2007 as being "broken beyond repair".<ref name="Iain Thomson">{{Cite news|last=Thomson|first=Iain|date=April 13, 2007|title=Wikipedia 'broken beyond repair' says co-founder|url=http://www.itnews.com.au/News/78127,wikipedia-broken-beyond-repair-says-co-founder.aspx|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222154606/http://www.itnews.com.au/News/78127,wikipedia-broken-beyond-repair-says-co-founder.aspx|archive-date=December 22, 2012|publisher=iTnews}}</ref> He has argued that, despite its merits, Wikipedia lacks credibility and accuracy due to a lack of respect for expertise and authority. Since 2020, he has criticized Wikipedia for what he perceives as a [[wikipeda:Left-wing politics|left-wing]] and [[Liberalism|liberal]] [[Ideological bias on Wikipedia|ideological bias]] in its articles.<ref name="Tel20210716">{{Cite news |last=Sabur |first=Rozina |date=July 16, 2021 |title=The Left has taken over Wikipedia and stripped it of neutrality, says co-creator |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/07/16/wikipedia-dominated-left-wing-establishment-version-truth-co/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/07/16/wikipedia-dominated-left-wing-establishment-version-truth-co/ |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |access-date=December 2, 2021 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235 |quote=Mr Sanger added that "very little" reference to scandals and allegations against the Bidens, for instance relating to their business dealings in Ukraine, could be found on Wikipedia.}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="Sayers 2021">{{Cite podcast|url=https://unherd.com/thepost/wikipedia-co-founder-i-no-longer-trust-the-website-i-created/|title=Wikipedia co-founder: I no longer trust the website I created|website=UnHerd|publisher=UnHerd|host=Freddie Sayers|date=July 14, 2021|access-date=May 25, 2022}}</ref> | ||
In 2006, he founded [[wikipedia:Citizendium|Citizendium]] to compete with Wikipedia. In 2010, he stepped down as editor-in-chief. In 2020, he left Citizendium entirely. In 2017, he joined [[wikipedia:Everipedia|Everipedia]] as [[wikipedia:chief information officer|chief information officer]] (CIO). He resigned in 2019, to establish a Knowledge Standards Foundation and the "encyclosphere". Sanger was serving as the executive director of the Knowledge Standards Foundation.<ref name="Knowledge 2019" /><ref name="Spence 2021">{{Cite news |last=Spence |first=Madeleine |date=August 1, 2021 |title=Larry Sanger: 'I wouldn't trust Wikipedia – and I helped to invent it' |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/larry-sanger-i-wouldnt-trust-wikipedia-and-i-helped-to-invent-it-cflrhmdhx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210801095207/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/larry-sanger-i-wouldnt-trust-wikipedia-and-i-helped-to-invent-it-cflrhmdhx |archive-date=August 1, 2021 |access-date=August 1, 2021 |work=[[The Sunday Times]] |location=London |language=en |issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref name="Encyclosphere">{{Cite web |date=n.d. |title=Encyclosphere Team |url=https://encyclosphere.org/team |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325163901/https://encyclosphere.org/larry |archive-date=March 25, 2023 |website=Encyclosphere |language=en-US}}</ref> Sanger's other interests include a focus on philosophy–in particular [[epistemology]], [[wikipedia:early modern philosophy|early modern philosophy]], and ethics. He taught philosophy at one of his alma maters, [[wikipedia:Ohio State University|Ohio State University]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abby |date=March 6, 2022 |title=Larry Sanger: Complete Biography, History, and Inventions |url=https://history-computer.com/larry-sanger-complete-biography/ |access-date=January 5, 2024 |website=History-Computer |language=en-US}}</ref> | In 2006, he founded [[wikipedia:Citizendium|Citizendium]] to compete with Wikipedia. In 2010, he stepped down as editor-in-chief. In 2020, he left Citizendium entirely. In 2017, he joined [[wikipedia:Everipedia|Everipedia]] as [[wikipedia:chief information officer|chief information officer]] (CIO). He resigned in 2019, to establish a Knowledge Standards Foundation and the "encyclosphere". Sanger was serving as the executive director of the Knowledge Standards Foundation.<ref name="Knowledge 2019" /><ref name="Spence 2021">{{Cite news |last=Spence |first=Madeleine |date=August 1, 2021 |title=Larry Sanger: 'I wouldn't trust Wikipedia – and I helped to invent it' |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/larry-sanger-i-wouldnt-trust-wikipedia-and-i-helped-to-invent-it-cflrhmdhx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210801095207/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/larry-sanger-i-wouldnt-trust-wikipedia-and-i-helped-to-invent-it-cflrhmdhx |archive-date=August 1, 2021 |access-date=August 1, 2021 |work=[[The Sunday Times]] |location=London |language=en |issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref name="Encyclosphere">{{Cite web |date=n.d. |title=Encyclosphere Team |url=https://encyclosphere.org/team |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325163901/https://encyclosphere.org/larry |archive-date=March 25, 2023 |website=Encyclosphere |language=en-US}}</ref> Sanger's other interests include a focus on philosophy–in particular [[epistemology]], [[wikipedia:early modern philosophy|early modern philosophy]], and ethics. He taught philosophy at one of his alma maters, [[wikipedia:Ohio State University|Ohio State University]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abby |date=March 6, 2022 |title=Larry Sanger: Complete Biography, History, and Inventions |url=https://history-computer.com/larry-sanger-complete-biography/ |access-date=January 5, 2024 |website=History-Computer |language=en-US}}</ref> |
Revision as of 04:15, 13 February 2025
Birth Name | Lawrence Mark Sanger |
---|---|
Birth Date | July 16, 1968 |
Birth Place | Bellevue, Washington, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Internet project developer Philosopher |
Education | Reed College (BA), Ohio State University (MA, PhD) |
Children | 2 |
Website | larrysanger.org |
Lawrence Mark Sanger (born July 16, 1968)[1] is an American Internet project developer and philosopher who co-founded Wikipedia along with [[wikipedia:Jimmy Wales]|Jimmy Wales]. Sanger coined Wikipedia's name, and provided initial drafts for many of its early guidelines, including the "Neutral point of view" and "Ignore all rules" policies. Prior to Wikipedia, he was the editor-in-chief of Nupedia, another online encyclopedia and the predecessor of Wikipedia. He later worked on other encyclopedic projects, including Encyclopedia of Earth, Citizendium, and Everipedia, and advised the nonprofit American political encyclopedia Ballotpedia.[2]
While in college, Sanger began using the Internet for educational purposes and joined the online encyclopedia Nupedia as editor-in-chief in 2000. Disappointed with the slow progress of Nupedia, Sanger proposed using a wiki to solicit and receive articles to put through Nupedia's peer-review process; this change led to the development and launch of Wikipedia in 2001. Sanger continued to serve as Nupedia's editor-in-chief and as an active contributor to Wikipedia in its first year, but he was laid off and left the projects in March 2002. Sanger's status as a co-founder of Wikipedia has been questioned by Wales[3] but is generally accepted.[4][5]
Since Sanger's departure from Wikipedia, he has been critical of the project, describing it in 2007 as being "broken beyond repair".[6] He has argued that, despite its merits, Wikipedia lacks credibility and accuracy due to a lack of respect for expertise and authority. Since 2020, he has criticized Wikipedia for what he perceives as a left-wing and liberal ideological bias in its articles.[7][8]
In 2006, he founded Citizendium to compete with Wikipedia. In 2010, he stepped down as editor-in-chief. In 2020, he left Citizendium entirely. In 2017, he joined Everipedia as chief information officer (CIO). He resigned in 2019, to establish a Knowledge Standards Foundation and the "encyclosphere". Sanger was serving as the executive director of the Knowledge Standards Foundation.[2][9][10] Sanger's other interests include a focus on philosophy–in particular epistemology, early modern philosophy, and ethics. He taught philosophy at one of his alma maters, Ohio State University.[11]
Early life and education
Lawrence Mark Sanger was born in Bellevue, Washington, on July 16, 1968. His father Gerry was a marine biologist who studied seabirds and his mother raised the children.[9][12] When he was seven years old, his family moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where he grew up.[13] He was interested in philosophical topics at an early age and decided "to study philosophy and make it my life's work" at the age of 16.[14][15][16]

In high school, he participated in debate, which Sanger says influenced his views on neutrality due to these debates exposing him to different issues and arguments from both sides:[16]
And so I'd look up articles about those things, and I was always furious when I came across an article that failed to present one side fairly or at all. The worst instances were when [the author] would just come out and say what their position is. It just struck me as being really unfair.
Sanger graduated from high school in 1986 and attended Reed College, majoring in philosophy.[15] In college he became interested in the Internet and its potential as a publishing outlet.[14] Sanger set up a listserver as a medium for students and tutors to meet for tutoring and "to act as a forum for discussion of tutorials, tutorial methods, and the possibility and merits of a voluntary, free network of individual tutors and students finding each other via the Internet for education outside the traditional university setting".[17] He started and moderated a libertarian philosophy discussion list, the Association for Systematic Philosophy.[13][16] In 1994, Sanger wrote a manifesto for the discussion group:
The history of philosophy is full of disagreement and confusion. One reaction by philosophers to this state of things is to doubt whether the truth about philosophy can ever be known, or whether there is any such thing as the truth about philosophy. But there is another reaction: one may set out to think more carefully and methodically than one's intellectual forebears.
Around 1994, Sanger met Jimmy Wales after subscribing to Wales' mailing list titled Moderated Discussion of Objectivist Philosophy (MDOP).[16] Sanger received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Reed in 1991, a Master of Arts from Ohio State University in 1995, and a Doctor of Philosophy from Ohio State University in 2000.[18] Beginning in 1998, he and a friend ran a website called "Sanger and Shannon's Review of Y2K News Reports", a resource for people such as managers of computer systems who were concerned about the year 2000 problem.[13]
Philosophy
Larry Sanger has a doctorate in Philosophy from Ohio State University.[18] His professional interests are wikipedia:epistemology, early modern philosophy, and ethics.[15] Most of Sanger's philosophical work focuses on epistemology.[14] In 2008, he visited Balliol College of the University of Oxford to debate the proposal "the Internet is the future of knowledge", arguing wikis and blogs are changing the way knowledge is created and distributed.[19] Sanger has frequently written and spoken about collaborative content.[20] Sanger has argued that liberal and left-leaning views dominate in academia, science, the media and tech companies such as Facebook and Twitter.[9]
In January 2002, Sanger returned to Columbus, Ohio to teach philosophy at Ohio State University.Template:Sfn In December 2010, Sanger said he considered WikiLeaks to be "enemies of the U.S.—not just the government, but the people".[21] In September 2021, in response to U.S. President Joe Biden announcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Sanger tweeted "Nor I.#IWillNotComply" in agreement with political commentator Tim Pool. In an earlier tweet, Sanger claimed that COVID-19 vaccines are "not a vaccine".[22] In March 2022, Sanger said that "Decentralization is a necessary but not sufficient condition of internet freedom", arguing that both federated and peer-to-peer decentralized networks "can still be captured and controlled in various ways and rendered un-free".[23]
Personal life
In February 2000, when Sanger was hired by Wales to develop Nupedia, he moved to San Diego. He was married in Las Vegas in December 2001. In 2005, he and his wife moved to Santa Cruz, California, to work for Digital Universe. As of 2015, Sanger lives in the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio.[16] As of 2021, he lives with his wife and two sons, who are both homeschooled.[9][10]
Sanger was raised as a Lutheran and went to a Sunday school, but became an agnostic when he was 16 after his family stopped regularly going to church.[9][24][25] In 2023, Sanger described himself as a Christian.[26] Ethnically, he described himself in 2016 as "a typical American cross-breed (lots of English, German, and French)".[24] Sanger supports the concept of "baby reading".[27] He started teaching his son to read before his second birthday and posted videos online to demonstrate this.[27] He is fond of Irish traditional music.
Selected writings
Academic work
- Epistemic Circularity: An Essay on the Problem of Meta-Justification – doctoral thesis.
- Descartes's methods and their theoretical background – bachelor thesis.
Essays
- Why Neutrality?. Ballotpedia, December 2015.
- How and Why I Taught My Toddler to Read (PDF). LarrySanger.org, December 2010.
- Individual Knowledge in the Internet Age. Educause Review, April 2010.
- The Fate of Expertise after Wikipedia (PDF). Episteme – Edinburgh University Press, February 2009.
- Who Says We Know: On The New Politics of Knowledge. Edge Foundation – Edge Reality Club, April 2007.
- Humanity's Coming Enlightenment. (Archived) Edge Foundation – World Question Center, 2007.
Presentations
- What Strong Collaboration Means for Scholarly Publishing. Keynote at the Annual Meeting of Society for Scholarly Publishing, San Francisco, CA, June 7, 2007.
- How to Think about Strong Collaboration among Professionals. Keynote at the Handelsblatt IT Congress, Bonn, Germany, January 30, 2007.
- Why Make Room for Experts in Web 2.0?. Opening keynote at the SVForum, The Business of New Media, Santa Clara, CA, October 25, 2006.
Books
- Essays on Free Knowledge: The Origins of Wikipedia and the New Politics of Knowledge. September 8, 2020
See also
External links
- Larry Sanger – Sanger's personal website.
- Encyclosphere
References
- ↑ Template:YouTube, video taken from Sanger's official educational wikipedia:YouTube channel, pronunciation confirmed around 0:10, accessed May 7, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Template:Cite web
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ Template:Cite journal
- ↑ Template:Cite journal
- ↑ Template:Cite news
- ↑ Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore
- ↑ Template:Cite podcast
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Template:Cite news
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Template:Cite web
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ Template:Cite magazine
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; no text was provided for refs namedMarshall Poe
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Template:Cite news
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Template:Cite news
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Template:Cite news
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Template:Cite news
- ↑ Template:Cite news
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ Template:Cite news
- ↑ Template:Cite news
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Template:Cite web
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Template:Cite news