Many comments and suggestions fall into a few categories. Please check this frequently made comments (FMC?) list for our suggestions about them:

• Do you really have a comment or suggestion?

• Do you think you've found a mistake?

• Are you going to tell us a great new way to present a topic in Life's Big Instruction Book, or a great new idea for something to add?

• Do you want us to link to your site?

• Looking for a debate?

• Want to tell us we're basically wrong/stupid/evil?

Now that that's taken care of, send us your comment or suggestion. Please be patient in waiting for a response, we're all volunteers here.

• Do you really have a comment or suggestion? If you want to tell us something, the yes, you have one. If you want to ask us something, then you have a question, so you should look at that page.

• Do you think you've found a mistake? While we try to keep Life's Big Instruction Book correct and up to date, we do sometimes make mistakes. If you think you've got us, please answer these questions to help us correct the error:
  • Where is the mistake? Please send us at least the name or URL of the page containing the mistake. Even better: cut the offending text from your browser and paste it into your email as well.

  • What is the problem? We'd hoped it would be self-evident that people should tell us what's wrong, but we were mistaken about this too. Please tell us what you think is wrong, in detail. Saying "It isn't right." doesn't help us fix the problem.

  • Why do you think this is the case? Please tell us the source of your better information: the name of the book that says it (please include the page number, too); the name and date of a magazine article; or a citation from the technical literature. If you're not sure that you're right enough to give us a place to check, we're certainly not sure enough to make the change.

  • When will we fix the problem? As soon as we can. We'll have to look up the new information you sent us, check it against our sources, and fix the site. Since we're all volunteers here, this could take a while. We'll try to drop you a note along the way, but please be patient. It's also possible we'll think we were right to begin with; please don't be upset if we tell you the reasons we think there's no need for a change.

• Are you going to tell us a great new way to present a topic in Life's Big Instruction Book, or a great new idea for something to add? We're always glad to listen. If we can, we'll try to incorporate your suggestion. Keep in mind, though, that the site is maintained by volunteers. Your suggestion may be so excellent we can't do it justice, or require such a big change to the site that we can't do the work. Nor is there anything wrong with you creating your own web site; do a good enough job and we'll link to it.

• Do you want us to link to your site? Send us your URL; we'll take a look. We won't necessarily add a link, but we will see what you have to offer. Please note that even if we do link to your site, the link will go in the bibliography, along with all the other interesting stuff to look at. We won't put outbound links in the middle of Life's Big Instruction Book.

• Looking for a debate? You won't find it here. If we wanted to discuss biology or biotechnology with everybody who was interested, we would, but we don't have the time or inclination, so we made a web site instead. If you're looking for a debate, try these Usenet newsgroups:
  • talk.origins Talking about evolution
  • talk.environment Talking about the environment
  • sci.environment Science and the environment
  • sci.bio.ecology Scientific research about ecology
  • sci.bio.evolution Scientific research about evolution
  • sci.bio.technology Scientific research about biotechnology

• Want to tell us we're basically wrong/stupid/evil? Save your strength. If you've got some evidence that we've made a truly horrendous mistake, see our suggestions above for how to let us know. If you just want to disagree with us, please be polite. We suspect people will disagree with us; otherwise, we wouldn't have needed to make this web site. However, there's no reason you can't be civil about it. Don't expect we'll do anything just because you disagree with us. If you think we're so wrong that The Public Must Be Informed, you can always make your own web site. If it's interesting enough, we might even link to it, even though we disagree with you.

• Why are there two different pages/addresses for questions and suggestions? There are two different groups of volunteers here: people who answer questions and people who maintain the site. Sending your question/suggestion to the right address puts it in the hands of the people who are likely to do something about it.