Wiki-philosophy and bio

17,000+ This user has made over 17,000 contributions to Wikipedia This user has written or significantly contributed to 8 Featured articles on Wikipedia. Anekantavada [1] • Vithoba • Nahuatl • Retiarius Youngstown Ohio Works • Jimmy McAleer Vampire • Lion • Iravan • each support contrib only

Projects

This user values third opinions and occasionally provides one. This user is a member of WikiProject Academic Journals. This user participates in WikiProject Books. This user is a proud member of WikiProject Religious texts. This user participates in WikiProject Bible. This user is a participant in WikiProject Languages. This user is a participant in WikiProject Writing systems. This user is a member of the Theoretical Linguistics Task Force. This user is a participant in WikiProject Video games.

Personal

This user is male. This user is of English ancestry. This user is interested in Jainism. This user is interested in ancient civilizations.

Politics

This user supports the European Union. This user is a member of Wikipedians against censorship. 1 This user submits to the doctrine of Unity of command. man This user pities him who strives for gender-neutral language. they he or she This user considers the singular they to be substandard English usage.

Church Politics

גוי This user is a messianic gentile. This user affirms the Five Solas of the Reformation 4 TULIP This user is a heretic of the species Amyraut sydneyensis. This user is a Preacher.†

Wikipedia:Babel en This user is a native speaker of the English language. ke-3 Ὁ χρήστης οὗτος δύναται συνεισφέρειν μετ' ἀνωτέρας γνώσεως τῆς Κοινῆς Ἑλληνικῆς. de-1 Dieser Benutzer hat grundlegende Deutschkenntnisse. id-1 Pengguna ini mampu bersumbangsih dengan bahasa Indonesia tingkat dasar. grc-1 Ὅδε ὁ χρήστης δύναται συμβάλλεσθαι ὀλίγῃ γνώσει τῆς ἀρχαίας ἑλληνικῆς. la-1 Hic usor simplici latinitate contribuere potest. Search user languages Writing Systems Latn-N A This user has a native-like understanding of the Latin script. Grek-5 Ω This user has full understanding of the Greek alphabet. Hebr-4 ש‎ This user has a near-complete understanding of the Hebrew alphabet. Phnx-3 𐤀‎ This user has an advanced understanding of the Phoenician alphabet. ipa-3 ə This user has an advanced understanding of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Egyp-2 This user has an intermediate understanding of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Egyh-1 This user has a basic understanding of the Hieratic. Xsux-1 This user has a basic understanding of the Cuneiform. Deva-1 झ This user has a basic understanding of the Devanagari. Teng-1 This user has a basic understanding of the Tengwar. Programming languages [[APL]]-4 This user is an expert [[APL]] programmer. BASIC-2 This user is an intermediate BASIC programmer. pas-1 This user is a beginning Pascal programmer.

Ad fontes! Ad fontes! Ad fontes!

On constructive Wiki-ing

• Read, read, read. The future of Wiki is written in sources. Read them and be part of that future. We are scribes not authors.
• Study the masters, not the pupils. — Niels Henrik Abel, Paris Notebook, 2:79 (margin of ms), 6 August 1826.

Memoirs de Mathematique, University of Oslo Library.

• An encyclopedia entry merely gift-wraps a bibliography.
• scire ubi aliquid possis invenire magna pars eruditionis est. — Latin proverb

Template:Cite journal

• dub-sar eme-gir₁₅ nu-mu-un-zu-a a-na-am₃ nam-dub-sar-ra-ni
• A scribe who knows not Sumerian, what kind of scribe is he?

— Sumerian proverb (2:47), translated by Edmund I. Gordon

On Wiki politics

• Aim for a common mind: so don't take sides! Don't vote: democracy divides, it is the enemy of con-sensus.
• To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is the next way to draw new mischief on.

— William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra III ii

• Abuse, if you slight it, will gradually die away; but if you show yourself irritated, you will be thought to have deserved it.

— Publius Cornelius Tacitus

• Honi soit qui mal y pense — Titus 1:15
• "Those are not our leaders!" — The Day the Earth Stood Still [John Cleese is.]

Thank you!

I am first and foremost a Wiki consumer, a reader, a beneficiary of the work so many people have contributed. Thank you to everyone who has contributed at Wiki, and opened my eyes to so many things. I hope my own small and limited contribution benefits others.

• Have a good time, all of the time. — Spinal Tap

And now for the serious stuff, for those of us

• qui proficiendo scribunt et scribendo proficiunt.

— Augustine, ad Marcellinum, Epistula 143:2

• Protagoras: No-one really knows anything.
• Socrates: Are you sure about that?

Knowledge ends Prejudice

Ashtavakra Gita 16:10

File:AHatUSyd.jpg
	Alastair lives in Bankstown, Sydney, Australia (see Joseph Banks).
	He is a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Theology.
	His thesis is on the Song of Songs —	שיר השירים

• My thesis in a single sentence: Solomon's Song of Songs is Mills & Boon not Playboy.
• teologia regina scientiarum est
• τρεῖς ἂν εἶεν φιλοσοφίαι θεωρητικαί, μαθηματική, φυσική, θεολογική ... αὕτη δὲ τῶν θεωρητικῶν
• now these three theoretical philosophies remain—mathematics, physics and theology—and the greatest of these is theology

— Aristotle, Metaphysics, 6:1026a:19–24 [paraphrased by AH]

• Christianity isn't a religion: it's the social technology introduced by the science of theology. — AH

Proudest contribution

• Supplying a missing of to the outstanding Tiddlywinks article. [2]

Areas of interest

• Ancient Near East background to the Bible
• ancient literature (especially Sumerian and Egyptian)
• classical literature (especially Hebrew and Greek)
• the history, philosophy and sociology of language
• culturally persistent conceptions of gender

I guess I'm interested in diachronic, semantic invariants (memes, perhaps) — the common legacy of our human family.

Qualifications

	Bachelor of Science (Honours, Sydney University)
	pure mathematics thesis—The subjunctive conditional
	Graduate Diploma of Education (Sydney University)
	Bachelor of Theology (Honours, Australian College of Theology)
	Old Testament thesis—The irredeemable offering of Leviticus 27:
	its relationship with the other offerings in the chapter and connection with holy war in the Hexateuch[3]
	Cambridge Certificate of TESOL (CELTA)

Other: Sydney University Regiment (1985–87) & Royal Military College, Duntroon (1988–89) posted to Signals Corps.

Hobbies

	backgammon (he:shesh-besh, el:tavli, la:nerdiludium, fr:tric trac, pt:gamão)
	watching cricket and documentaries (especially nature and history)
	reading, web-surfing, swimming, sailing

Proverbs

• If you understand, you will remember.
• Success depends less on ability than opportunity; opportunities are rarely equal, and all opportunities have costs.

It suffices to have no more than the ability to make the most of opportunities.

• Timing is everything.
• People have similarities and differences:

similarities make communication possible;

differences make it necessary.

• Mathematics is all about saying the same thing in different ways.
• Freedom of choice is an illusion, responsibility is not.
• Life is a sequence of mistakes and side-effects.
• Friendship is rare, forgiveness is rarer.
• We have not grasped justice if we are still balancing competing claims:

that which is good, is good for all—there is no conflict of interest.

• There is no such thing as "rights"; there is only love.
• We know every life matters, but we can never know why.
• The difference between men and women:

the men I admire most are nearly all dead;

the women I admire most are nearly all living.

• A man cannot live for something that he would not also die for:

living for something and dying for something are one and the same thing.

• If you can't trust them, don't serve them!

• The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. — Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on Virginia", 1782.
• A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. — Edward Abbey, paraphrasing earlier source?

Political comment

Congratulations to the British Government for recognizing two centuries of selfless Gurkha service to British interests all over the globe.

The whole world has seen the truth that the Gurkhas are the:

Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous,

never had country more faithful friends than you.

Awards

		OMG!!! Ha ha ha! Award
		Re: Talk:Genesis creation myth Weaponbb7 (talk) 22:37, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

		The Copyeditor's Barnstar
		This barnstar awarded by Vithoba to Alastair Haines, to say Thanks for Alastair's great work in copyediting as well as his suggestions in other aspects, which made the article a FA. Redtigerxyz Talk 05:49, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

		The Copyeditor's Barnstar
		This Copyeditor's Barnstar is a sign of my gratitude for your cleaning up after me, especially in the articles Papyrus 110 and Uncial 0212. Your work is really excelent. Wikipedia is good with you. Cheers, Leszek Jańczuk (talk) 13:29, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

		The Christianity Barnstar
		I, Kensplanet award Alastair Haines this Christianity Barnstar for his smart and excellent contributions towards Christianity related articles. Keep it up. You deserve it. May God bless you. KensplanetTalkContributions 12:16, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

		A Lucky Penny
		In the spirit of "See a penny, pick it up. All the day you'll have good luck", this penny is offered to Alastair Haines for his incredible WikiWorld endeavors:--Buster7 (talk) 03:36, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

		The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar
		For your diligence in promoting and defending Wikipedia principles both in public and in private. You have continually promoted faith in Wikipedia to get things right. You have publically defended Wikipedia in Newsweek. You have promoted faith in Wikipedia even when things turn upside down. Even when an attack on yourself had so discouraged me that I wanted to quit the task of editing, you continued to defend the very process that had been twisted against you. Thank you. Tim (talk) 00:51, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

		Civility Award
		I think it was Oscar Wilde that said, "Damn the Critics"...no, wait...it was Oscar the Grouch. O well...its the thought that counts. Your steed awaits, good Sir! --Buster7 (talk) 02:31, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

The Barnstar of Jainism I award Alastair Haines the first ever Barnstar on Jainism. This is a small token of my appreciation to Alastair for many things; to name a few: for nominating Anekantavada as a featured article and ensuring that it gets a featured article status (the first ever article on Jainism to reach this status), for copy editing, for challenging all the assumptions, references and facts, for changing the structure of the article and when the things were getting tough, encouraging me to go on; in short he selflessly mentored the article and saw it through from unrated to GA to FA. Thanks Alastair, you deserve it! --Anish (talk) 17:52, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

		The Barnstar of Diligence
		I may not like your unwavering diligence to your editing but you surely deserve this! Rushyo (talk) 12:40, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

		The Reviewers Award
		For your review effort during the Nahuatl FA nomination process. Thanks, you did a great job!·Maunus· ·ƛ· 13:06, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

		Vampire Barnstar
		Vampire is now a Featured Article and I just wanted to thank you for your contributions to the article or its FAC in order to get this goal. You really helped! Spawn Man (talk) 11:59, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

		The Copyeditor's Barnstar
		This Copyeditor's Barnstar is a token of my appreciation for your outstanding work on Jimmy McAleer, a sports biography in need of conditioning. Cheers, -- twelsht (talk) 07:29, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

		WikiGnome
		I hereby award this Wikipedia:wikignome award to Alastair Haines for help in chiselling away at the mighty lion, which is now featured. cheers, Casliber (talk) 03:23, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

		Barnstar
		This is a small token of my appreciation for your help on Youngstown Ohio Works--and for helping to make Wikipedia a great place! Best, -- twelsht (talk) 04:34, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

		The Editor's Barnstar
		For being awesome in adding ancient Historical evidence to wikipedia LoveMonkey 23:45, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

The Barnstar of Civility I award this Barnstar to Alistair Haines for the successful resolution of a transient hypothetical conflict. cheers, Cas Liber 23:45, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

		The Barnstar of Diligence
		For work, diligence and ardently protecting the God and gender article from bias and ulterior motives Drumpler 06:12, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

		The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
		For being a kind contributor, lightening up the mood, making positive comments and helping me piece and keep together my emotional sanity, especially when I've felt like punching other editors in the face ;) Drumpler 06:04, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

		The Friendship Barnstar
		For your most excellent efforts in friendship towards your fellow Wikipedians, User:Buster7 would like to award you the Barnstar of Friendship.