Being 'new', so to speak, to the world of "Clandestine Chemistry" I have learnt much, however I still consider myself to be a 'newbie', with the attitude of 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'
My formal knowledge of chemistry is limited to a couple of years of high school chemistry, most of what i know comes from personal studies, mainly reading, as I only have one friend who I talk chemistry with 'in person'. In search of information I turned to the Internet, and in the course of my research, I came across a link to the Vespiary at SM, which turned out to be more my style, a little less formal, and happy to discuss drugs
I am sure that the Vesp doesnt want to teach anyone 'basic chemistry' or lab techniques--I do wonder why there are 'child' boards? (with "Publications" in it!)..but, I mean, what exactly IS a beginner? A beginner at chemistry or a beginner at practising some of the "organic chemistry" written about in this forum?
As for those who were fortunate enough to participate in the Hive, obviously they have been doing this stuff for years, and probably have little need for 'help' as such-- But for someone such as myself, most of this is 'new' chemistry,
Wading for hours through the archives of the Erowid or the Hive in search of an answer can be frustrating and fruitless :'( That's where forums like these are invaluable, helping to clarify or answer the multitude of 'problems' one can encounter in the wonderful world of chemistry
So far with most of the questions I've had, I've asked another member via pm; The one time I did ask a question via the forum,(How does one prepare SOCl) it was superbly answered by no1uno, with a series of photos outlining the process. In fact, I think there should be a separate section for posts of this quality
The archives of Erowid, the Hive & co. are fabulous with tons of material, but there are many 'styles' of writing there, and no matter how well something is written, it is always open to ambiguities and errors, leading to misunderstanding and mistakes; If one has made some basic error during reading, which isn't corrected, or doesn't understand a small part of the manuscript, it can be difficult to make progress until the 'problem' is rectified.
This is where teachers come into the picture: they can assist with explanations, and correct misunderstandings and errors as they arise, rather than letting them take root.
Unfortunately due to the legally questionable nature of some of the research being undertaken, many of us weren't prepared to discuss our endeavours with others, and without 'formal' training, the best many could get were copies of underground papers, which were few and far between, highly coveted and valuable
(which later led to the uncle festers of this world..)
So when the Internet arrived, it provided the anonymity desired to allow discussion of subjects, considered taboo in the 'usual places' of conversation, and as the old saying goes "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear" and so I imagine, these 'etalks' about making various psychoactive compounds, eventuallly became "the hive", and its spinoffs, until here we are at the Vespiary.
If you want this forum to 'grow' then you must allow different levels of knowledge to participate...maybe you could have a system of symbols that denote the 'level of difficulty' associated with a particular topic or thread, so those browsing can get an idea of the level of difficulty involved--just because a process 'looks simple' on paper, doesnt mean its 'easy' to do!!!
I'm tired and its time for bed, but I think some consideration should be given to those people who would REALLY like to do some good chemistry, and synthesize all sorts of stuff, but they are still 'learning the ropes' and as such, will inevitably ask 'stupid noob questions', Sure, nobody wants to spoonfeed some nimrod who wants to make 'drugz 4 fun and Profit$' but I think there are many members such as myself, who benefit greatly from answers such as the one mentioned above, After all, everyone has to start SOMEWHERE!!!
Thanx again vesp for providing and hosting such an amazing resource, and thanx to those members who have 'shared the love' with me
Hypnos
Poll
but I opened a few threads with begginer questions and never got yelled at. Back in 98 though the form seemed a bit more freindly then what I read in the archives now from later years. We were very small back in those days though and from what I understand there was never a real influx of noobs until the dateline fiasco.