I find articles like this strange. Strange because I've created sites, and I know that the reasons to carry on doing something morphs over time but that when a

I find articles like this strange. Strange because I've created sites, and I know that the reasons to carry on doing something morphs over time but that when asked it's easy to apply things that affect us now to our actions in the past. That is, I suspect that we are constantly re-writing our own view of history based on personal experiences. So I find them strange because the question is being asked now, rather than then. And that means that the success of the project, in this case Wikipedia, and it's resulting effect on the world (or however that should be phrased) has already happened. And out of that unforeseen and unpredicted effects have also happened. And that now, armed with the knowledge of the current effects it's always easy to declare that said effect was actually our intent. The article is clearly touching. But I wonder whether it really was an epiphany moment that created the motivation to create Wikipedia or whether it's closer to what I suspect which is that it wasa small action that was the right thing at the right time, that has snow-balled into something vastly greater, and that now it's easy to re-interpret the original small action into being of greater meaning than it is. Of course, I also suspect I'm just a cynic.