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

"frank, bordering on direct"

I always prefer the term "a full and frank exchange of views" myself.

no i don't Kerr.

illiterate - unable to read or write

i can write. i can read. i am not illiterate. not liking my writing style does not mean illiterate.

if you want i can not use any grammar at all in one long line.
or, i can just not use capitals, which is my normal style.
If you really, really want, I'll can use capitals too. I have the right to my own writing style, and that does not make me illiterate.

spook

Correction: I'll can use capitals too = I'll use capitals too OR I can use capitals too.

Spook, that is merely the primary definition of 'illiterate'. Look in a dictionary, and you will also see "2. violating accepted standards in reading and writing: 'an illiterate scrawl'". You will also find "3. uneducated, ignorant, or uncultured." It was, however, the second definition to which I was refering.

And a source to back Kerr's definition-http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=illiterate definition 2b.

i saw that definition kerr, however, it does not apply to this situation as there are no accepted standards of writing for h2g2 conversations, which would be the only examples.

however, there are for h2g2 guide entries intended to be edited, and for h2g2 entries i write that i submit to peer review they follow Standard English and no-one could claim i was illiterate in any way from those entries.

spook

In deference to the request made of me by the h2g2 Editors in their email yesterday, I shall henceforth only be responding to posts from adults.

If there are any children posting to this thread who are so egotistical that they see references to themselves in every post I make, I can only hope their parents explain to them that the world does NOT revolve entirely around them, and not everything they see refers to them.

If there are any children posting to this thread who have misunderstood the nature of proof and its limitations, I can only hope their parents send them to a better school soon.

H.

Ahh, your lucky day hvl. I'm 16. Don't need parent permission. Made the adult group. You can respond!

That might have a tad more impact if you had in fact replied to a posting from an adult

()

Good point, Madent, but I did say "henceforth", so I'm going to pretend that meant starting with my *next* post, i.e. this one

On a not unrelated point, can any adults posting here please suggest how it might be possible to determine whether or not a person claiming, in the teeth of the available evidence, that they deserve to be treated like a grown-up, is in fact not simply lying about their age as many children often do when attempting to buy cigarettes, view pornography, or join the army during wartime?

In every situation I've ever seen, the principle is that unless one can prove, by presenting independent proof of identity and birthdate such as a driving licence, that one is over the required age, ones protestations are rejected. This is in fact the legal requirement placed on, for instance, tobacconists. Seems a reasonable enough principle for me to follow, I'd say.

H.

Good question, HVL.

Last time I was in the US, I was refused a bottle of wine in a supermarket until I produced my passport, which proved not only that I was over 21, but that 31 wouldn't be seen again either.

hvl - prove your an adult and i'll prove i am.

spook

*collapses in a heap after getting through the last of the backlog*

ing and continuing to lurk

HVL

It is going to be extremely difficult. Even if the person in question gives you their real name, address etc, you could never be sure that they haven't borrowed someone else's idendity.

Even if they gave you say, credit card details which would I guess only be available to someone over 18, they could have taken them from someone else.

Even if the person in question had previously been to a RL meet, their account details could have subsequently been forced out of them and they could be being impersonated.

As I recall from the discussion about Justin the Preacher, it's impossible to prove that the 'person' on the end of the line is indeed human, let alone a human of a certain age...


Sprout

Indeed - one must therefore apply a notional "Turing Test". Justin did, eventually, pass the Turing Test and convince most of us he was human, albeit ignorant and blinkered by his religion almost beyond belief and certainly beyond anyone else in my direct experience.

Therefore I must needs apply a sort of "adulthood Turing Test", and I shall make my own judgements on who passes and fails that, and respond to users accordingly - those whom I judge adults I shall engage with, those I judge to be children shall be ignored, at the specific behest of the h2g2 Editors.

I might suggest that if any children have a problem with this policy, they take it up with the Editors rather than with me, as I am perforce unable to reply to them. Sorry, kiddies.

By thy words shall ye be known, you might say.

H.

there isn't a 100% way to know, unless there are other people who know the person and can confirm their details etc. that would probably work.

spook

Except, how would you know the reliability of the source? Can you trust the person who knows the person you're trying to judge the age of.

which means you would probably need a neutral party to meet the person, be shown proof of identity and age and access to researcher ID that is theres. then, as long as the neutral party is not corrupt, that would be solid evidence of age.

spook

ps. since i am an adult you should be speaking to me hvl. however, if you do not consider me an adult then i advise you unsubscribe since all posts in this thread are in fact replies to my original journal entry and this thread is part of journal.

Perceived age when going from the UK to the US does seem to be a recurring problem. My cousin was similarly astonished to be refused service/admittance on the grounds that she appeared to be underage. I can't remember whether a passport sufficed on that occasion. It seemed that American children were so much mroe "sophisticated" that they routinely went around looking more adult than English twenty to thirty year olds. Things may have changed a bit since then, though not for the better, in that some UK children probably now try to look/dress older too.