Wikiciv:About
Wikiciv is a guide for creating modern civilization from the most basic inputs possible. It is community created and edited. It was created in 2022 by Jehan under the Creative Commons 3.0 License .
Aims
Resilience
The first goal of Wikiciv is to create resilience in societies, communities and individuals. The effect of systemic disruptions can be reduced by making technological knowledge available to all.
Understanding
Wikiciv aims to foster understanding of technology. Independent of any desire to actually manufacture these technologies, knowledge is inherently valuable.
Appreciation
It is easy to not notice the miracle that is the modern world. By documenting how complex it is to make something even as simple as a toaster, we can foster appreciation for the technologies around us.
Principles
Start from Raw Materials
A fully documented technology on Wikiciv is one where the only inputs are only 1) a raw material 2) a form of energy or 3) a technology which is itself fully defined. Raw materials are those which can be found in nature, such as wood, stone, minerals and water.
Walk Before You Run
Prioritize parent inputs over dependent inputs. For example, copper wire requires copper drawing, which requires copper ingot, which requires copper smelting, which requires copper ore. Ideally prerequisite inputs should be documented before later ones, so copper ore should be documented first.
That said, if you have particular interest or knowledge about a technology, that should probably be the content you add first.
Prioritize by Importance
Prioritize technologies important to human civilization (steel, concrete, fertilizer) over less important ones (fidget spinners, pogs).
Prioritize Concrete over Abstract
Prioritize concrete technologies over abstract ones. Abstract technologies like democracy, marriage and the minimum wage can be contentious and are usually already well described in other resources like Wikipedia.
Rules
See the content policy for detailed discussion of the rules. The overview:
Hazardous Technology
Most manufacturing entails a certain degree of hazard. This can be from high temperatures, sharp surfaces, moving parts, caustic chemicals etc. A warning banner describing the dangers must be included on any page where any significant danger exists.
Technologies who's manufacturing is inherently exceptionally dangerous may be prohibited on Wikiciv.
Weapons Technology
Technologies with no use aside from offensive military use may be prohibited, such as chemical or biological weapons. Technologies such as the axe, bow and arrow, or black powder which can be used for hunting, are allowed.
Controlled Information
Controlled technological information (state secrets, private intellectual property etc.), or information which can be used to create certain controlled substances (methamphetamine, fentanyl etc.) are prohibited on Wikiciv.
Long-term goals
All of Technology
The ultimate goal of this wiki is to have human technology completely documented with instructions. Any publicly known technology should be available on Wikiciv to be recreated from raw materials.
Wikimedia Foundation
It is the goal of Wikiciv to eventually become a Wikimedia Foundation Project.
External links
- The Knowledge:How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch
- How to Invent Everything
- Manual for Civilization - The Long Now Foundation