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

Favourite piece of technology:
Favourite author and book:
Favourite quote:
Favourite food:

What do you consider your greatest achievement:
When and where were you happiest: .
What is your greatest regret:

What is your most treasured possession:
What is your greatest extravagance:
What is your favourite journey:
What is it that you most dislike:.
What age would you like to live again

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be:.
If you could travel in time, would you go backward or forward:

Favourite piece of technology: Mobile phone, sending texts for the use of.
Favourite author and book: DNA - Last Chance to See.
Favourite quote: I can never remember quotes!
Favourite food: & .

What do you consider your greatest achievement: Finally getting a job of my own back.
When and where were you happiest: Anywhere the awesome power of nature was apparent - Lake District, Niagara Falls and Eastern Ibiza.
What is your greatest regret: Not building boats.

What is your most treasured possession: Mobile phone, sending texts for the use of.
What is your greatest extravagance: I buy far too many CDs/DVDs/Books.
What is your favourite journey: Haven't found it yet!
What is it that you most dislike: Being around too many people.
What age would you like to live again: 16-20.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be:
If you could travel in time, would you go backward or forward: Sideways.

Favourite piece of technology: The computer, I guess.
Favourite author and book: Hocus Pocus, Vonnegut
Favourite quote: "What Cat? What Cradle?"(currently)
Favourite food: s

What do you consider your greatest achievement: I'd rather not consider it...
When and where were you happiest: twirling in the sunlight. (This is, a true answer!)
What is your greatest regret: Not reading more.

What is your most treasured possession: N/A
What is your greatest extravagance:Uh, bottled water?
What is your favourite journey:Cross country train travel.. (It tends to be very interesting!)
What is it that you most dislike: People in general.
What age would you like to live again: I'm fine, thanks.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be:Preferably something not yet noticed by people...
If you could travel in time, would you go backward or forward:Backward.

Favourite piece of technology: The Hi-Fi .. ahhh music!
Favourite author and book: Author - Roald Dahl. Book - The Beach
Favourite quote: I have nothing to declare but my excellence - Oscar Wilde (I think)
Favourite food: Ermmm I dunno really

What do you consider your greatest achievement: Getting to the 3rd and final year of uni
When and where were you happiest: anywhere with my boyfriend and my family
What is your greatest regret: None

What is your most treasured possession: Love
What is your greatest extravagance: My new colourful shoes
What is your favourite journey: To see my boyfriend during hoidays and the journey to Glastonbury festival
What is it that you most dislike: Moths
What age would you like to live again: Im only 20 so none of the ages Ive been already

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be: a giraffe.. I have a strange fond liking for giraffes
If you could travel in time, would you go backward or forward: Id go back don't know to what era but Id like to see the past.

Favourite piece of technology: The Pencil…
Favourite author and book: So haaaard!… Neal Stephenson / Enigma ….Hunter S Thomson / Songs of the Doomed.
Favourite quote: “…a gun rack? What am I going to do with a gun rack? I don’t even own ‘a’ gun, let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire rack. What am I going to do, with a gun rack?” – Wayne, Waynes World
Favourite food: Chunky home-made vegetable soup and fresh granary bread

What do you consider your greatest achievement: Learning not to take anything personally.
When and where were you happiest : Canada, 3 months ago, early morning standing barefoot on a log, staring out to sea, training with a makeshift wooden sword.
What is your greatest regret: Breaking up with a particular girlfriend who I still really love.

What is your most treasured possession: My Guitar.
What is your greatest extravagance: Trainers……..I’m still searching for the perfect pair.
What is your favourite journey: The slow disorientating loveliness of moving from a dream to being awake.
What is it that you most dislike: Roasted Garlic getting stuck in your teeth.
What age would you like to live again: 7 and 3 quarters.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be: I think, maybe a dolphin, or a planet.
If you could travel in time, would you go backward or forward: Backwards, to the court of some Egyptian Monarch or to a small village in the Scottish Highlands (As long as there was a pretty Celtic redhead who I could go pick potatoes with)

Favourite piece of technology: Digital Camera (so many pointless photos and film clips)
Favourite author and book: Scott Adams the dilbert future
Favourite quote: God: Noah, build me an ark. Noah: I'm working on a speed boat right now, much faster. It will make great photos for the bible ( ah the genius on Monsieur Izzard!)
Favourite food: Beef with green peppers in black bean sauce.

What do you consider your greatest achievement: I'll let you know when i achieve anything
When and where were you happiest: A sunday morning last april sat in the glorious sunshine in central park (totally at peace with life and my place in it)
What is your greatest regret:I don't have any, any bad thing that has happened has at the very least taught me a lesson.

What is your most treasured possession: i don't treasure belongings.
What is your greatest extravagance: computer games and/or Cd's
What is your favourite journey: leeds to whitby by motorbike
What is it that you most dislike: small minded people
What age would you like to live again: happy as i am thanks.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be: a dolphin just to spend my time mucking about in the water (and it would be nice to be thesecond most intelligent species on the planet instead of the third).
If you could travel in time, would you go backward or forward: forward (bring on the hover cars!)

Favourite piece of technology: computer
Favourite author and book: Author: Iain Banks Book: All the ones written by Iain Banks (including Iain M. Banks)
Favourite quote: "Winston, You're drunk!" "Madam, you're ugly! But I shall be sober in the morning!"
Favourite food: A well-hung fillet steak, cooked medium rare, with green peppercorn sauce. And chips.

What do you consider your greatest achievement: Living this long.
When and where were you happiest: Summer of '83. In Folkestone (of all places!)
What is your greatest regret: Not finishing uni.

What is your most treasured possession: Not really into possessions, but my unique CD collection probably counts.
What is your greatest extravagance: Expensive whisky.
What is your favourite journey: the taxi ride to the airport.
What is it that you most dislike: gratuitous cruelty.
What age would you like to live again: If I knew then what I know now, 18.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be:
If you could travel in time, would you go backward or forward: Forwards - to a time when the Age of Scarcity is over.

>> ..the Age of Scarcity..<<

Sorry to interupt but I am not familiar with that phrase.
Is it a subjective reference to some personal deprivation?
Or have I missed some broader current of contemporary thought?

It would never occur to me to call these modern times an Age of Scarcity. They seem more an age of waste and squander (which will of course lead inevitably to much want and scarcity - if that's what you meant).


~jwf~

Well, jwf, we in the Western world may superficially consider ourselves to be in the age of oversupply, but the world as a whole isn't. And, in fact, once you dig deep into western consumerism, everything is rationed, from healthcare, schooling etc., defence, all public goods are rationed based on what the populace will put up with in terms of taxation.

But in fact, everything is rationed by money. The more money you have, the more freedom to buy in the services you require: private healthcare and education, private defence (home security/bodyguard).

One of the major costs of industry is energy. Another is staff. What I refer to by the end of the Age of Scarcity is when human beings are no longer required in the manufacture or processing of anything - it all being automated by robots and computers. Also, having finally figured out how to harness the energy of the sun, the energy for these processes is effectively cost-free.

This leads to a proto-utopian situation where money is no longer required as a rationing mechanism for such goods. By this time, the concept of *charging* people for the consumption of music, films etc. should have disappeared entirely. Food and shelter are available to all on demand, not only on Earth but on purpose-built satellite environments.

*That's* what I mean by the Age of Scarcity.

Nicely put

Ithangyow

>> By this time, the concept of *charging* people ... should have disappeared entirely. Food and shelter are available to all.. <<

Ah, so it was a utopian scifi scenario of Christmases yet to come.

That's good.
For minute there I was worried something mighta happened while I was hiding my head in the sandbox, trying to ignore all the insanities and cruelties of modern times.

~jwf~

Yup, you got it.

I think it is something we should aspire to as a species (after we've formed a world government, eliminating all that unnecessary "defence" spending). Once energy is free, matter ( and the transubstantiation of it) also becomes free. Just as E=MC2, M=E/C2. But if E is free, who cares? So you can create matter from energy in a cost-free manner. OK, OK it's a way off yet. I was trying to time travel to the future, remember?

>> E=MC2, M=E/C2. But if E is free...you can create matter from energy in a cost-free manner. <<

An idea worthy of a separate conversation which I hope you will post so we can all investigate the possibilities and let the nice folks here get back to answering the original question without me blathering on.


~jwf~

Done. Now go post