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 | This page in a nutshell: A philosophy focusing on the Completion of as much of a project that can never be complete as possible. |
On 18 October 2018, I added these words, literally in purple prose, to my userpage: "As a Wikipedia editor, I understand that my goal is the destruction of my purpose." I thought of those words at random that October day and thought it poignant, if a bit silly-sounding. Indeed, if read literally, it might be cause for raising an eyebrow. But I left them there, as a mission statement, and others have since told me they, too, found them profound. Since writing them, though, I've come to understand that as not just my purpose, but our purpose – to write until we have nothing more left to write.
There is an elephant in the room, however: Wikipedia will never be finished. We'll never be finished! The only thing that could put the kibosh on our work is our obliteration. So if the completion of this Encyclopedia is impossible, what is this Completionism I speak of?
I think of Completionism as another Wikiphilosophy, somewhere in the canyon between the Inclusionists and Deletionists. However, Completionism, and Completionists by extension, shouldn't have a dog in that big, headline-grabbing chaoskampf. This is because Completionists are not watching the dog fight; they are pursuing the completion of as much of the Encyclopedia as possible, which I will term "Completion". A Completionist is thus someone who writes quality content, organizes and supplies those content writers, and/or patrols and maintains our content. A lone wolf Featured Article writer, a WP:RX regular, or a member of the Guild of Copy Editors could be Completionists.
Readers of this essay, I encourage you, if you fancy, to join the roster below if you believe the things I believe here, and to discuss this essay on its talk. You are also invited to look at the revision history of this essay to track when and where ideas were added to or removed from it.