Matt Amodio is acomputer science PhD student atYale University who specializes inartificial intelligence (AI). He won 38 consecutive appearances on theJeopardy! quiz show, which is the second highest all-time regular-season number of victories. He earned $1,519,601, the third highest amount followingJames Holzhauer andKen Jennings. The show's unique feature is that all responses must be in the form of questions. Amodio's unique strategy on the show was that all his responses start with "What's ..."

Open-source information democratizes the knowledge landscape. In a world with tightly gated access to information, those without resources face an uphill battle learning about the world. I have recently come to national attention for my demonstration of knowledge. That knowledge comes not from a privileged life exposed to international wonders through expensive experiences, but from a curious mind given access to a virtual tour of the world at my fingertips. Through relentless questioning and access to the highly structured information reservoir that is Wikipedia, I've equipped myself with a vast array of knowledge and entertained myself along the way.

InSlumdog Millionaire, Dev Patel knows trivia answers from deeply personal memories relating to the underlying facts. Did I recall my trip through the Canadian prairies to help me answer a question about the provinces separated by theContinental Divide? Did I identify askink because of the family safari I was taken on as a kid? Did I reminisce over seeingCats on Broadway when I responded with "What's'Memory'?" No, no, and no. I have been able to experience some things in my lifetime, but through Wikipedia I have free access to the experiences of millions of other lifetimes, too!

There is no resource I use more than Wikipedia. By perusing information at varying levels of depth, I can introduce myself to an entirely foreign concept without getting overwhelmed or I can obtain key details deep in the weeds on a specific topic. A person unfamiliar withJeopardy! can take an initial reading of its page for general understanding of what it is. That person may run across the word "syndicated" and be unfamiliar with the concept of syndication. On first reading, they needn't be. But on the second reading, that person may choose to dive into the world hidden underneath the blue underlined text. The page on broadcast syndication then discusses business considerations like broadcast networks, technology development like videotape, and even specific popular culture likeAbbott and Costello. By dipping one's toes a little deeper each time, somebody can start out curious about an individual game show and come out with a broad picture of the evolution of television over the decades. Wikipedia’s structure serves people at every level of prior knowledge.

Beyond learning trivia, I use Wikipedia in my research. My work often places me at an intersection of multiple disciplines, for exampleartificial intelligence andbiology. While I have expertise in the AI side, I sometimes lack even basic understanding of the biological domains that my colleagues who are experts in that side think are common sense. They usually gained their knowledge through expensive years of academic study with dense textbooks and professional educators. I can catch up with a free online resource!

Wikipedia provides everybody who has basic internet access with more knowledge than was available to the best-educated princes of yesteryear. The 18th century image of educating your child was sending him to a famous master or of having him embark on theGrand Tour. Neither of these options were available to any but the upper classes, and they only provided a well-rounded education in the cramped sense of the term used at the time. The 21st century image needs only the barest of modern equipment and is available nearly universally across nationalities, classes, genders, and every other dimension. We live in a world that is increasingly focused on what skills and knowledge you have, as opposed to what formal qualifications like degrees you have. This is empowering to a cohort of brilliant young minds eager to take on the future.

With a little bit of curiosity and initiative, anyone can expose him or herself to much of the aggregate knowledge of the world and start building an information base or a useful skill set through Wikipedia. I know I did!

• Is this THE Matt Amodio? Wow! Thanks for stopping by the Signpost! I can't believe it!XxxorBBroxxX (talk)03:21, 24 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Matt. I thoroughly enjoyed the article.Smallbones_(smalltalk)03:54, 29 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Congratulations on your streak, Matt, I watched every game. Thanks for stopping by ... your encouragement was refreshing, and we don't get a lot ofSignpost articles like this one. - Dank (push to talk)15:04, 29 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Congrats, and thanks for an interesting article. I recall reading something similar several weeks ago. Perhaps[1]?Eddie891^Talk_Work21:28, 29 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Although Matt is evidently better at it than most of us are, the structured, telescopable exposure and absorption that he describes here is important for all of us. For all the faults in Wikipedia that people can adduce, I remain convinced that the line of thought that he lays out here is important and worth appreciating. Thanks for sharing.Quercus solaris (talk)02:54, 2 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

A very well-written article, Matt. Always good to hear some nice feedback from a reader! Congratulations on your extraordinaryJeopardy! performance. —Bilorv (talk)21:44, 2 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Congratulations on your wonderfulJeopardy performance, Matt, and thank you for the well-written, eloquent article. Though they may be of different mediums and of entirely different contexts,Jeopardy andWikipedia both represent and extol our remarkable capability of acquiring a vast repository of knowledge and broadening our intellectual horizons. I look forward to seeing you on the Tournament of Champions!Alacritical (talk)01:37, 3 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Here a salute from Vulp to you, Matt! Wikipedia blue link always attract my attention and in most of time sparking Vulp's interest towards a specific topic related to parent article.--Vulp❯❯❯here!04:19, 3 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Matt! Well said! Side note - would you consider uploading an image to the project for your page? ;)CaffeinAddict (talk)04:28, 3 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]