Dangerously e-books: How do I know if my ebooks have been altered?

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Originally Posted by MikeB1972 View Post
Also, some personal information so we can be sure yours is the philosophy we want to follow (make sure to include mothers maiden name and date of birth)
>>
Why is that necessary? The OP didn't need any of that for HIS role models.

Ah, but the OP needs to know no data has been changed, so obviously I need to check your birth certificate and check with your grand parents that you are who you say you are.

I think we've got away with it pynch

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Oh. Well the answer is much simpler then: don't do that. Use everything to build your "mental foundation," and you won't have to worry so much about the occasional ebook that has been altered. Books, life, conversation, classes, your own ideas. It would be a mistake to base (unquestioningly) your entire "foundation" on non-fiction ebooks even if they were guaranteed to be unaltered in any way. There are very few 100% factual baselines to start building a personal philosophy upon to begin with. You should always make allowances for your foundation to be shaken from time to time anyway.

Altered ebooks are the least of your stumbling blocks in your pursuit.

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Then you have failed to take into account the very real posibility that the author himself is either deluded or downright lying. Pretty much everyone is at one point or another.

Sufffice it to say, malicious censors are the very LEAST of the problems with that approach.

^ This.

The only self-help writings not bearing the danger to create a guru-follower relationship are the instructions on how to use masturbation toys.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by EbookNovice

How can I trust that an e-book hasn't been manipulated?

You can't.

This is how this thread should have ended after one reply. At this point your insistence in keeping this thread alive after it had peacefully passed away over a week ago is akin to

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by DoctorOhh

This is how this thread should have ended after one reply. At this point your insistence in keeping this thread alive after it had peacefully passed away over a week ago is akin to

But what if the horse isn't actually dead and -- due to its questionable upbringing and secret collection of patent leather feed bags and hoof restraints -- is only quiet during floggings because it feels tingly and wanton?

[doubleshuffle]

What if it only believes it enjoys being flogged because it once read it in a manipulated self-help book?

[pynch]

What if true wisdom cannot be found in books, but only in an empty peanut butter jar suddenly falling from the sky.

[DoctorOhh]

I stand corrected and cede to the wisdom of the thread.

[exaltedwombat]

Ever since ebooks became a reality, I have devoted my life to re-loading slightly modified versions containing hidden Satanic messages. The individual effects are small, but cumulative. And IT'S BEGINNING TO WORK!

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by exaltedwombat

Ever since ebooks became a reality, I have devoted my life to re-loading slightly modified versions containing hidden Satanic messages. The individual effects are small, but cumulative. And IT'S BEGINNING TO WORK!

Could be worse, dyslexic devil worshipers have ended up praying to Santa.

Sorry, couldnt resist

[exaltedwombat]

Don't forget the dyslexic, insomniac agnostics who lie awake at night wondering if there's a Dog.

[alanHd]

Originally Posted by exaltedwombat

Ever since ebooks became a reality, I have devoted my life to re-loading slightly modified versions containing hidden Satanic messages. The individual effects are small, but cumulative. And IT'S BEGINNING TO WORK!

But do these books have to be read backwards?

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Ah, but the OP needs to know no data has been changed, so obviously I need to check your birth certificate and check with your grand parents that you are who you say you are.

I think we've got away with it pynch

The Way of Eschwartz is accredited to the MobileRead member "eschwartz". That would be me, and the proof lies in which account posted the philosophy.

I have thus proven I am who I claim to be, and all messages fom MR-user "eschwartz" are valid sources of knowledge about what "eschwartz" is thinking.

If I were to go on Facebook and claim to be MR-user "eschwartz" I'd need to prove it.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by alanHd

But do these books have to be read backwards?

Not if you just want to be influenced.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by pynch

What if true wisdom cannot be found in books, but only in an empty peanut butter jar suddenly falling from the sky.

This sort of talk might have transformed my rainy day polyp into a bright-bandaged burn victim of bliss had I not witnessed the horrors of the self-help emergency room just now. Suffice to whine the conditions were harrowing - sick people should not be given anatomy charts and disposable scalpels. If it weren't for the carefully undocumented edits in the mandatory self-surgery pamphlets, untold innards might have been fatally rearranged. Thank you, torrents. Thank you, trolls and bitter grammar dabblers. Once again, you've saved lives with your clandestine text-blunting addiction. No one will know how many flashlight-impaled hedonists have survived without their artificial sphincters because of you.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by alanHd

But do these books have to be read backwards?

You have to get the audiobook for that