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The motto of the AIW is conservata veritate, which translates to "with the preserved truth".
This motto reflects the inclusionist desire to change Wikipedia only when no knowledge would be lost as a result.
Trying to figure out what to edit on wikipedia has made me realise how I really, really do know just a little bit about lots of things. I can't seem to figure out what articles I could add content to - everything I know something about seems to already have more detail than I know already. How much do people research when they're writing? I feel like I should start by contributing to articles where I already know what content to add. Having to do research to update and article doesn't feel right, but maybe that's stupid...
You don't have to know everything about a topic to be able to contribute to an article. You don't even need to know a topic in more depth and detail than the article currently appears to be. You just need to be good at reading an article and spotting the times where you go "but what about...". The distinction between contributing stuff you know and having to go away and find stuff out to contribute (see above) is pretty meaningless. If you've read something 5 minutes before finding an article about it, it's not any more or less valid than something you've gone away to find out about having read an article and found it out afterwards. Most of the time on the internet is spent satisfying curiosity. Yes, reading about topics in sufficient depth to add to an article might take a little more time than glancing at it long enough to satisfy the sense of curiosity, but:
It might not take that much longer
It will probably stick in your head better if you have to write about it
If you have to explain it, you will know whether you've understood it
Other people will benefit from it.
As long as it doesn't get radically out of hand, then reading, wondering, researching then editing is as good, if not better than contributing things you already think you know.
