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cory doctorow
ent where the bodies were buried on the way to arriving at what-
ever Truth has emerged. This is a neat solution to the problem
of authority — if you want to know what the fully rounded view
of opinions on any controversial subject look like, you need only
consult its entry’s history page for a blistering eyeful of thorough
debate on the subject.
And here, finally, is the answer to the “Mostly harmless” prob-
lem. Ford’s editor can trim his verbiage to two words, but they
need not stay there — Arthur, or any other user of the
Guide
as we
know it today [fn: that is, in the era where we understand enough
about technology to know the difference between a microproces-
sor and a hard drive] can revert to Ford’s glorious and exhaustive
version.
Think of it: a
Guide
without space restrictions and without edi-
tors, where any Vogon can publish to his heart’s content.
Lovely.
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