User:Sj/Whole Earth Catalog

This was a proposed wikibook, originally at Whole Earth Catalog. The idea was to reproduce the original, updated with modern information about its contents and where to acquire them; as the WEC was effectively a textbook/manual on how to live a full and independent life, this is more suitable as a wikibook than its title alone might suggest. I still hope to carry out this project, but do not currently have access to a convenient way to scan the small-type 9"x12" pages. Sj

This is a recreation of the original Whole Earth Catalog, with updated notes about the catalog entries alongside the original content. For images of the original pages, see commons:Whole Earth Catalog

FUNCTION

The WHOLE EARTH CATALOG functions as an evaluation and access device. With it, the user should know better what is worth getting and where and how to do the getting.

An item is listed in the CATALOG if it is deemed:

Useful as a tool,
Relevant to independent education,
high quality or low cost,
easily available by mail.

CATALOG listings are continully revised according to the experience and suggestions of CATALOG users and staff.

PURPOSE

We are as gods and might as well get good at it. So far, remotely done power and glory - as via government, big business, formal education, church - has succeeded to the point where gross defects obscure actual gains. In repsonse to this dilemme and to these gains a realm of intimate, personal power is developing — power of the individual to conduct his own education, find his own inspiration, shape his own environment, and share his adventure with whoever is interested. Tools that aid this process are sought and promoted by the WHOLE EARTH CATALOG.