h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Attempted answer for Pedboy:

Evolution implies change, change implies the unknown, humans instinctively fear the unknown and resist it. Better to lead a boring life where nothing bad happens than to live an interesting live filled with bad things as well as good, to paraphrase an eastern philosophy. That's not my thinking, but I'm not normal.

Response for Number Six:

I don't see the EG as the only objective, or even the main one. It's just a convienient excuse to form a community that actually behaves like a community. A place where all problems and successes can be discussed and celebrated equally. To know hootoo is to experience it, to experience it is to contribute to all aspects of it, including yet not limited to the EG. It is my goal that by the time I reach my first hootoo anniversary my handle is known in all reaches of this grand site. Being an anti-social person by nature this is one of the only places where I can really feel comfortable in a community setting.

Well, that's my worth.

'Do, or do not. There is no try.' -Yoda

Good point - when I said the EG, what I really meant was contributing knowledge and information to the Guide, which doesn't necessarily slipping on the straitjacket of the Writing Guidelines.

I registered for the Guide because - in whatever form - I wanted to be able to comment on it and write for it. I get the impression that's a lot less common at the moment than it was in the earlier days of h2g2 - the term 'researcher' is almost incidental to many users now. It depresses me a little that the majority seem to come here these days to use h2g2 as a chatroom or a soapbox.

Hang on, isn't that what I'm doing at the moment?

I've only been on this site since about mid August so I'm still discovering new aspects of it. Mostly I've been contributing by trying to highlight quality writing and promote the writing of more such writing. Unfortunately I can't write my way out of a freshman comp class. All I really know is sales and booze. Not the most interesting combination of topics.

Oddly enough it was the title of 'researcher' that interested me enough to sign up for this madhouse. I wanted to think of myself as actually contributing useful knowledge to the masses. I had no idea. Eh, I'll keep trying nonetheless. Any ideas? Mine are a bit too revolutionary for the mainstream.

Definitely? If I could only remember that. I always end up with 'definately'. Darn public education.

Number Six, there are just as many quality entries being submitted to Peer REview as there were in the past, so the fact that some people never go near it shouldn't matter. There has to be somewhere for the serious writers to go to unwind.

Peer Review's exceptionally strong at the moment - having struggled to make my picks before Christmas, there are so many good entries out there as I type this that I could quite happily pick four or five at the drop of a hat. I can't remember the last time it was this way.

What I can't quite quantify is the feeling around at the moment that comes across somehow that one should either aim for the Edited Guide (or the Under Guide instead) or otherwise it's not worth bothering. I get the feeling that in the early days of h2g2, researchers created unedited Guide Entries in the normal course of using h2g2, and spent time commenting on entries. It seems a lot less common now.

Maybe something to do with how Brunel became the default skin, and 'Discuss this Guide Entry' became 'Start a New Conversation'.

I hadn't noticed that, since I tend to use the Plain skin, where it still says "Discuss this entry".

Yes, you're right about the attitude to writing entries. I've seen the messages that ACEs leave for newbies and some don't even mention writing entries at all! They just give long lists of where to go for a good time.

What attracted me to h2g2 initially was that here was a place I could store articles where everybody could see them. The conversations are fun but anything said in a conversation is forgotten the next day. PUtting in an entry makes it a little more permanent.

It also surprises me when people ask questions on topics which are fully explained in the Guide. Do they never think of using the Search?