09-21-2015, 01:30 AM
I dunno, maybe I'm just a child of the digital age, but I really don't see the point of making a big expensive artifact out of the Ra Materials. There's no physical index of a book that could ever be more complete and easier to use than hyperlinking. I know a lot of people are very fond of books, but they're cumbersome and hard to use when dealing with very dense material. Why even use a physical index when a keyword search on LOO.info can create custom indices for ANY query a reader might have, with instant direct links to the relevant passages?
I also find it a little worrisome that people were talking about treating it like a Bible when Ra probably would not have wanted such a comparison. After all, It's very easy for people to start attaching too much significance to a form/object, rather than to the actual ideas within. (See also: Anyone who's ever uttered the words "But the Bible says...") Ra never wanted his messages to be taken as scripture, but rather as inspiration and a jumping-off point for people to cultivate their own ideas.
Digital materials, by being more ephemeral, don't inspire the same level of attachment or sense of objective permanence.
I also find it a little worrisome that people were talking about treating it like a Bible when Ra probably would not have wanted such a comparison. After all, It's very easy for people to start attaching too much significance to a form/object, rather than to the actual ideas within. (See also: Anyone who's ever uttered the words "But the Bible says...") Ra never wanted his messages to be taken as scripture, but rather as inspiration and a jumping-off point for people to cultivate their own ideas.
Digital materials, by being more ephemeral, don't inspire the same level of attachment or sense of objective permanence.