--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's fair to say that Wikipedia has spent…" description: "\"It's fair to say that Wikipedia has spent far more time considering the philosophical ramifications of categorization than Aristotle and Kant ever did...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85f/james-gleick-2623_aristotle_it-s-fair-to-say-that-wikipedia-has-spen_2058822.jpg" --- # It's fair to say that Wikipedia has spent far more time… ![“It's fair to say that Wikipedia has spent far more time considering the philosophical ramifications of categorization than Aristotle and Kant ever did.” quote by James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85f/james-gleick-2623_aristotle_it-s-fair-to-say-that-wikipedia-has-spen_2058822.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85f/james-gleick-2623_aristotle_it-s-fair-to-say-that-wikipedia-has-spen_2058822.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85f/james-gleick-2623_aristotle_it-s-fair-to-say-that-wikipedia-has-spen_2058822.jpg) > “It's fair to say that Wikipedia has spent far more time considering the philosophical ramifications of categorization than Aristotle and Kant ever did.” [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author notes that modern discussions on categorization surpass even historic philosophical debates, underscoring the depth of contemporary analysis. **In simple terms:** Wikipedia debates categorization more than Aristotle and Kant. Key Takeaway Modern analysis of categories is extensive. Themes categorization philosophy digital knowledge Mood analytical critical Type academic observational When to use this quote - academic journals - online encyclopedias - philosophical symposiums Key Concepts information theory ontology knowledge management Questions to Reflect On - How do digital platforms reshape philosophical discourse? - What are the limits of categorizing knowledge? A Different Perspective May exaggerate the comparison for effect. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aristotle/) [Aristotle Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aristotle-kant-3917908/) [Categorization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/categorization/) [Categorization Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/categorization-aristotle-3917907/) [Considering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/considering/) [Considering Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/considering-philosophical-3917910/) [Did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/did/) [Ever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ever/) [Fair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fair/) [Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/far/) [More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/more/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Ramifications](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ramifications/) [Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say/) [Spent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spent/) [Than](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/than/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wikipedia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wikipedia/) [Wikipedia Spent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wikipedia-spent-3917909/) ## Related quotes > [“I don't categorize things merely to simplify my understanding. I'd rather delve into the process of unlearning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-sharda/i-don-t-categorize-things-merely-to-simplify-my-understanding-i-d/) [Nikhil Sharda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-sharda/) > [“Our categories are important. We cannot organize a social life, a political movement, or our individual identities and desires without them. The fact that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-rubin/our-categories-are-important-we-cannot-organize-a-social-life-a/) [Gayle Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-rubin/) > [I have been putting words like 'abnormal' and 'deviant' in quotes because those categorizations are under fire now, the boundary between normal and abnormal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-truett-anderson/i-have-been-putting-words-like-abnormal-and-deviant-in-quotes-because/) [Walter Truett Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-truett-anderson/) > [Taoism has no rules. It's a suggestion for preceiving life in its wholeness, without unnessary categorization, yet enjoying the beauty of categorization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/taoism-has-no-rules-it-s-a-suggestion-for-preceiving-life-in-its/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I believe that the development of language - of naming, categorization, conceptualization - destroys our ability to see as we age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-ware/i-believe-that-the-development-of-language-of-naming-categorization/) [Chris Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-ware/) > [“Recommendations and categorization are both useful features to seek out when trying to make a difficult decision, because they can benefit our choices in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheena-iyengar/recommendations-and-categorization-are-both-useful-features-to-seek/) [Sheena Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheena-iyengar/) > [The best hope for peace in the world lies in the simple but far-reaching recognition that we all have many different associations and affiliations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/the-best-hope-for-peace-in-the-world-lies-in-the-simple-but-far/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [As far as this categorization of books, the way I see it is there are really a hundred-odd categories of books plus one, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/as-far-as-this-categorization-of-books-the-way-i-see-it-is-there-are/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [“Humans like nothing more than to pigeonhole the events & phenomena that punctuate their lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/humans-like-nothing-more-than-to-pigeonhole-the-events-phenomena-that/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“There are underwater cables that seem to emerge and interweave the various objects drifting and rotating in space. 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Hierarchical is a human way of looking at things.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-categorization-implies-a-hierarchical-way-of-seeing-things-life-is/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I have worked really hard to defy categorization, to break down a taxonomy whenever it comes my way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/i-have-worked-really-hard-to-defy-categorization-to-break-down-a/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [Maturity is having the ability to escape categorization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-rexroth/maturity-is-having-the-ability-to-escape-categorization/) [Kenneth Rexroth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-rexroth/) > [There's something to me with categorization - it stops you from thinking about the thing that is actually happening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-lily-amirpour/there-s-something-to-me-with-categorization-it-stops-you-from/) [Ana Lily Amirpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-lily-amirpour/) ## More by James Gleick > [When the Lilliputians first saw Gulliver's watch, that "wonderful kind of engine...a globe, half silver and half of some transparent metal," they identified it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/when-the-lilliputians-first-saw-gulliver-s-watch-that-wonderful-kind/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [You know, entropy is associated thermodynamically, in systems involving heat, with disorder. 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A book is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/a-book-is-not-necessarily-made-of-paper-a-book-is-not-necessarily/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [“From this point of view, the laws of science represent data compression in action. A theoretical physicist acts like a very clever coding algorithm.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/from-this-point-of-view-the-laws-of-science-represent-data/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [Children and scientists share an outlook on life. If I do this, what will happen? is both the motto of the child at play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/children-and-scientists-share-an-outlook-on-life-if-i-do-this-what/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [“Your body moves always in the present, the dividing line between the past and the future, but your mind is more free. It can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/your-body-moves-always-in-the-present-the-dividing-line-between-the/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [People worry about Twitter. Twitter is banal. It's 140-character messages. By definition, you can hardly say anything profound. 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He is an unimaginative thinker, but his results demand our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liu-cixin/this-is-galileo-said-aristotle-he-advocates-understanding-the-world/) [Liu Cixin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liu-cixin/) > [Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/aristotle-maintained-that-women-have-fewer-teeth-than-men-although-he/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“This is what Aristotle meant when he said that the object of science is the necessary and the universal; man and not this man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/this-is-what-aristotle-meant-when-he-said-that-the-object-of-science/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [The ancient Greek philosophers were all natural-born dialecticians and Aristotle, the most encyclopaedic intellect among them, had even already analysed the most essential forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/the-ancient-greek-philosophers-were-all-natural-born-dialecticians/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [“I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well. { His teacher was the legendary philosopher Aristotle }”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/i-am-indebted-to-my-father-for-living-but-to-my-teacher-for-living/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [Aristotle discovered all the half-truths which were necessary to the creation of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/aristotle-discovered-all-the-half-truths-which-were-necessary-to-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We are what we repeatedly do. —Aristotle”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-navarro/we-are-what-we-repeatedly-do-aristotle/) [Joe Navarro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-navarro/) > [“When the point of education becomes the production of credentials rather than the cultivation of knowledge, it forfeits the motive recognized by Aristotle: "All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-b-crawford/when-the-point-of-education-becomes-the-production-of-credentials/) [Matthew B. 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But the definition of being-true as unveiling, making manifest, is not an arbitrary, private invention of mine;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-heidegger/within-certain-limits-terminology-is-always-arbitrary-but-the/) [Martin Heidegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-heidegger/) > [“I have this idea that the reason we have dreams is that we're thinking about things that we don't know we're thinking about-and those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/i-have-this-idea-that-the-reason-we-have-dreams-is-that-we-re/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) > [The science of the church is neglected for the study of geometry, and they lose sight of Heaven while they are employed in measuring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-science-of-the-church-is-neglected-for-the-study-of-geometry-and/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“I guess I was a mystery even to myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/i-guess-i-was-a-mystery-even-to-myself/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) > [“The void is 'not-being,' and no part of 'what is' is a 'not-being,'; for what 'is' in the strict sense of the term is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-void-is-not-being-and-no-part-of-what-is-is-a-not-being-for-what/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) [Browse all 260 Aristotle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aristotle/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's fair to say that Wikipedia has spent far more time considering the philosophical ramifications of categorization than Aristotle and Kant ever did.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Gleick" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/it-s-fair-to-say-that-wikipedia-has-spent-far-more-time-considering/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aristotle" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/it-s-fair-to-say-that-wikipedia-has-spent-far-more-time-considering/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85f/james-gleick-2623_aristotle_it-s-fair-to-say-that-wikipedia-has-spen_2058822.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85f/james-gleick-2623_aristotle_it-s-fair-to-say-that-wikipedia-has-spen_2058822.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85f/james-gleick-2623_aristotle_it-s-fair-to-say-that-wikipedia-has-spen_2058822.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's fair to say that Wikipedia has spent far more time considering the philosophical ramifications of…” — James Gleick", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "James Gleick", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It's fair to say that Wikipedia...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/it-s-fair-to-say-that-wikipedia-has-spent-far-more-time-considering/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/it-s-fair-to-say-that-wikipedia-has-spent-far-more-time-considering/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```