THE SEVEN RULES OF TRUST

Lessons learned from an encyclopedic commitment to facts.

This motivational monograph isn’t helped by a framework that emphasizes its unoriginal aspects, but it’s easy to warm to Wales’ eloquent case for the “sunny, pro-social view of human nature” behind Wikipedia’s unlikely rise. His big idea was a tough sell. An online encyclopedia that anyone can write or edit? Hopelessly naïve. So said TV comedians and august publishers when Wales launched Wikipedia in 2001. But by the 2010s, his nonprofit was widely admired—“the last bastion of shared reality,” the Atlantic said. To Wales, nothing happens without trust. Wikipedia editors “assume good faith” from fellow volunteers, and because “people are natural reciprocators,” this fosters thoughtful debate, transparency, and fidelity to documentable facts. With polls showing Americans’ faith in institutions and one another on a decades-long decline, he means to inspire a “restoration of trust.” Wales’ “rules,” presented as subheadings for the first seven chapters, aren’t revolutionary. Some aren’t even his. One—“Want Trust? Give Trust.”—rewords a statement attributed to Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. But they’re productive starting points for the author’s reflections on the Wikipedia way, which he augments by interviewing various thinkers. Most compellingly, he shows how Wikipedia’s emphasis on civility helps attract ideologically and demographically diverse contributors, resulting in “articles of higher quality than politically homogenous teams,” an academic study found. Wales shares interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes about Wikipedians’ rigor. An editorial discussion about punctuation and capitalization in the title of a Star Trek movie resulted in a 40,000-word exchange. While he occasionally writes like someone scheduling a bland corporate retreat—organizations should conduct a “trust inventory”—Wales’ appreciative tributes to diligent Wikipedia contributors provide instructive examples for readers inspired to counter falsehoods wherever they arise.

Wikipedia's founder makes an invigorating plea for collaboration and respectful debate.