**Why is unfettered editorial power such an important wiki feature? 

Here are my thoughts. Human beings assimilate information (and thus become subject matter experts) most rapidly when we have a chance to deconstruct and reconstruct or--in programmer speak--to refactor. We can sometimes divine how a machine works by simply observing its behavior. We can often do so by listening to a lecture or reading a book.  However, to quickly learn and fully understand how a machine works on a really fundamental level, many of us have take it apart with our own hands and then, if we're lucky, put it back together. 

A concept is like a machine. It is a thing with interrelated parts, a specific function, and the ability to interface with other concepts in interesting ways. It follows that concepts that we can deconstruct, word by word and part by part, are the ones that we understand most quickly and thoroughly. On the Web, conceptual deconstruction and reconstruction have traditionally been mental exercises.  Users haven't been able to easily jump into a Web page, tear apart the description of a complex concept, and 'make it their own'.  So does it follow that a revisable concept, like a machine that can be taken apart, is more likely to be widely understood than one that is not?  I think so. On another level of course, it is a basic human impulse to correct errors. When you see a huge technical error on a Web page, what do you do?  If you're conscientous, you might email the Webmaster.  But what if you could just jump in and correct the error yourself, quickly and easily? Would you be more likely to revisit that Web page?  Perhaps.