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

I have found the book on amazon, used copies, paperback for about a tenner if that is in your price range and you can't wait till Christmas

Safe journey mvp and good luck with those Triffids

Looking forward to your return and to hearing news about your garden and any gossip from the Ethernet café

heheh, yes, bon voyage mvp, and, I love it, the gossip from the Ethernet Café, I'll be waiting also.

Thanks Peanut me darlin', for the book info, I didn't know there was a paperback version! Splendid!

Especially as Santa will no doubt be on strike again this year, small goods only, satsumas and nuts n'raisins. The reindeer aren't getting any younger,

Mind you, after SA's info, I'd perhaps be on safer ground with satsumas and nuts n' raisins. Very interesting SA, thanks!

So the previous book took quite a dunking from the guy from the Telegraph, then, well, more like a drowning. Interesting forum that followed. Very sparky.

Light haulage only. The reindeer are feeling the strain, dear.

Good rhyme eh? Reindeer, strain dear.

OK OK

'Light haulage only. The reindeer are feeling the stain, dear'

and 'reindeer, strain dear'

both have good rhymes

and completely different imagery

>> So the previous book took quite a dunking from the guy from the Telegraph, then, well, more like a drowning. Interesting forum that followed. Very sparky. <<

I like to find reviews from relevant academics (theologians / philosophers / historians in this instance) when deciding whether to read these types of books but I couldn't find any at a cursory glance. In this utube clip the author talks about the book - I thought the first part would make for interesting reading but the second part I would have to put my sceptical head on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM-We_-gsEM

Personally I get sceptical when people talk about the supernatural and I get sceptical when people claim the banality of the natural.

Will you continue to reign dear? Is it a strain dear? But not time to complain dear, as Charles would have you abstain dear.

pfft, just cos you are jealous

can someone do something with this?

I'm not complaining
definitely not abstaining
drinking champagne dear
dining on the reindeer
perks of reigning

Chapter One.
In the beginning there was the Word and that word was um "In".

He looked at the word and He knew it to be a good one. Splendid was it and there was much rejoicing.

But as He looked at the word He had a sense that He could do better, much better, He could have written something better than this, written can do better than this, um, better than "in". And as He gazed upon His handiwork he suddenly didst shout Eureka! and with a swish of a feather he didst addeth an n and behold ... an "Inn".

He raised his arms and dideth a celebratory jig then sat down quite exhausted and parched. Nowst with an Inn he could order some beers and take a well earned rest.

Chapter Two.
He had a headache.

Chapter Three ... to be contd.

you creative folks ....

These are great.

Reindeer agrees.

Is scepticism different to cynicism? I think it is. Scepticism, to me, at least in its pure form, somehow suggests a desire to know more, an intelligent enquiry, not accepting things blindly, not being led into a herd mentality, a desire to find the truth of a situation for oneself.

Whereas cynicism, to me, perhaps not in its pure form, suggests a more judgemental mind state.

What do you think?



mmmmm just had a lovely veggie curry in town.

And on the walls of the veggie restaurant there were these amazing mandala paintings. I'm really into the mandala as an image. The centre is the mystery, although mystery isn't the word, in fact, the centre, to me, is beyond words.

So that's that then. .



Check this, unless you are a bit sensitive about near misses, it's a warning. Beware cyclists,please please don't ride your bike over level crossings.

[Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]

Yes cynicism is an abomination not to be confused with cinnamon as in cinnamon buns (yummy) - it often takes the form of an irrational distrust, questioning motive rather than content etc - I mean sinisterism not sillymoon bunnys. Whereas scepticism is not necessarily believing things that people might assert to be true, so a more questioning approach of content and seeking supporting arguments & evidence ... and that's the troof mi loord, and it wasn't me govner.

Erm ... ..Thanks SA! That's important what you said, now I am glad I asked about the difference between cynicism and scepticism, I think about these things. I don't like cynicism, it makes me feel like I've been cut with thorns.

Plus you've made me want a cinnamon bun. mmm. I love cinnamon swirls, those swirly shaped cinnamon buns that you get.



Did anyone around here ever read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig?

I think I remember that my friend Mister D wasn't too keen on it?, I was always talking about it

.. but it's such a strange book, I keep re reading it, even though it is very intense, and I don't understand all the philosophy and everything, but there's something about it.

Like, when the lights are flashing, the barrier is down, and a train is coming.

What?? What's that got to do with ZMM?



I was thinking about that cyclist lady today, in the link, (we're cyclists so I guess it's a bit close, and mvp is a cyclist), and I typed please don't cycle over level crossings, and should have said ..like when the lights are flashing .... etc.

what??

I think I'm going to sleep now.

Here's a true story from the US. I believe it happened in Texas.

Somewhere in a small town, there's a level crossing. If you stop before the crossing, and put the car into neutral, invisible hands will pull you completely across the tracks. This is a fact.

The usual explanation: Some schoolchildren were killed there in the 1940s, when their bus was struck by an oncoming train. Since then, their spirits have been guiding cars across the tracks.

Actual explanation: There is a slight slope from one side of the crossing to the other. If you put your car into neutral, it will roll across the tracks. However, there's an optical illusion that makes you believe the car is going UPhill.

A cheery October tale.

Really? what a strange and remarkable tale!

And links in to what we're talking about, like truths and scepticism and things, the way you worded it, great writing, this is a fact, the usual explanation, the actual explanation.

I'm not making sense, I'm meant to be asleep, but you know what I mean. You do? .

So how does that optical illusion work then? What makes you think you're going uphill? How extraordinary. What creates the illusion? Now I'm obsessed. .

Aha - I found it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWl8eSGkAHs

No way! That's just so fascinating! Thanks! Shows how ghost stories start, and how, with a little scepticism put into practice hah! the actual facts can be revealed.



And what about that with the peacock cries! Even the audio soundtrack was in place, to add weight to the supernatural beliefs. And the tragedy didn't even happen in the same city, how quickly can a story become a reality and ... hah! yes!



And now I'll never get to sleep. I've never seen that before, a downhill that looks like it's uphill.



What is it in human nature that makes us sometimes be fascinated by the supernatural, the inexplicable, hoping for a mystery beyond rational explanation?

What, indeed?

The Prof says there are several places in the UK like that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gravity_hills

Elektra adds that she was spooked by peacocks as a child. They'd hide in the zoo bushes, and cry 'help!'

The brain creates a map of the external world which makes us appear to be separate from our surroundings. So when we turn our head the perception that is created is that the external world remains still while our head is doing the moving. This is a "trick" of the brain.

Now the visual sense of up and down is created to a large extent by the brain imaging the horizon - it tries to flatten the horizon to a horizontal plane and the up and down visual perception is subsequently fixed to that horizon. So ........ when the horizon isn't sort of horizontal ... lets say the frontward horizon is actually lower than the backward horizon then the brain turns the visual field to make it seem horizontal (on the level) ... and then we are surprised to see bottles of water rolling away in the forward direction. So it is all to do with the way the brain creates the visual field in which we (our bodies) appear to move in.

There was a horizon programme on this a few moons ago.