Canceling the Scholar's Edition of the Law of One material

[rva_jeremy]

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.

Shoot, I was hoping we could force you to buy ten copies. ;-)

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?

Oh, man, that's an easy one: backlit screens are tough on the ol' eyes. Granted: the kindle, nook, and other e-ink displays go a long way on this. But reading a physical, tangible book is wholly different than reading on a device that has no "umph", no substance or gravity. It's totally a preference thing. I mean, I'm a big tech nerd but when it comes to things I really need to read carefully, printing to paper is still indispensable. There's something about the tactile experience that the digital has not yet approached.

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.

The concern about bible-izing the Ra Material is well taken, and I'm on your side that the material should not be treated with the unquestioning reverence many reserve for that old sacred story of sex and violence (I actually wrote a blog post about that a few years ago). I was simply pointing out that high quality bindings allow for years of daily use. The goal is not to turn the Ra Material into the Bible, but to recognize it's usefulness to us as the Bible is useful to Christians, and to produce an edition that can stand up to the same physical rigors that most Bible bindings do. Additionally, those of us who like to collect and amass books tend to prefer hardcover editions.

I'm afraid I don't see any danger here inherent in the desire for a new edition of any kind of binding. I think, as usual, it's all about intentions, and you'll have to trust me when I say I have no intention of being a "Ra-Material-thumper".