While my concept of Questy dates back to 1977, I started using the online alter ego of Questy in the early 1990's. As I began developing web sites, and an online identity, the colors green and purple, along with the Questy character, have created my own brand identity. When I took the "World's of Questy" websites offline, I knew it was just for break, and in one way or another, they would be back.
Instead of being an alter ego, I wanted the new online identity, the one that would assume the role of the "mother ship" of my online world, to be the direct reflection of my thoughts and ideas.
In searching for a name for this new central theme I kicked around various combination's of words and phrases. I had used the term guru in other previous online adventures, and thought of how it might apply here. In the strictest philosophical sense the term guru is used to describe one who is regarded as having great wisdom in a certain area, and who uses it to teach others.
In my philosophical adventures I had often used variations of the name Questy, such as TaoQuest or PeraQuest (a word I coined to mean the journey throughout the possibilities.) In 1999 while hanging out on the Tripod online communities I became a community moderator, and created the identity of Philosophyguru for that role. Later as a volunteer for the Open Directory Project I used the screen name Philosophyguru. So I would again use the concept of the guru as part of my online identity.
While I liked the concept of the "guru" I wanted to spin just a bit off center so it would not seem that I was taking any particular slant. What better place could I look for an off center spin, than to look to the world of science fiction.
In the "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," (a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams), a
computer named Deep Thought is asked to calculate the answer to the "Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything." The answer was revealed to be 42. Douglas Adams would later create the 42 Puzzle, a puzzle which could be approached in multiple ways, all yielding the answer 42.
So now comes Guru 42, the satirical spiritual teacher, looking for the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Guru42 would be the core websites of my new universe, a place to reflect on the world around us, and without taking the stand of any one philosophy, to step back and try to understand a little behind the logic, or in many cases the lack of logic of the events of the day.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, "The various religions are like different roads converging on the same point. What difference does it make if we follow different routes, provided we arrive at the same destination."
No matter what your destination, or puzzle in life, don't get hung up on thinking there is only one way to approach it. My mission, to stretch your brain to see things in a different perspective. Even if you totally disagree with me personally, if you think about a problem or idea in a way you never have before, I have succeeded.