A busy fortnight 9 Dec 201122 Jun 2018 So, I have been rather active for the last fortnight (that’s two weeks for Americans). I visited Canberra to work on a species concept paper with a colleague, Brent Mishler. I attended a philosophy of biology workshop in Bundanoon, a sleepy little town outside Sydney. I got a love kiss from a huntsman spider there – s/he didn’t mean it; s/he was in my towel and I rubbed him/her hard against my leg. This is what a love kiss from a huntsman looks like. They’re not [very] venomous, but they typically don’t brush their chelicerae after meals, so you can get nasty infections. The image at right is nearly two weeks later… Here’s a huntsman, also known as a wolf spider. Pretty, ain’t it? After I drove back (ten hours’ drive) I then turned around and flew back to Sydney due to bad organisation, where I attended my nephew’s wedding. Back to Melbourne where I gave a talk to the Invertebrate Biology conference at the University of Melbourne. I tried to convince them that species do not have theoretical meanings. We’ll see. I’m quite busy with my present work, so I can’t do anything substantial for a while (every time I say that, though, I write something within 24 hours. Maybe it’s a geas). So have fun in the lead up to Summer (or, if you are unfortunate enough to live in the north, Winter) Soltisial Celebrations… Administrative Philosophy Species concept
Biology Genes – the language of God 3: Why genes aren’t information 16 Jun 201410 Aug 2014 Genes – the language of God 0: Preface Genes – the language of God 1: Genes as Language Genes – the language of God 2: Other popular gene myths and metaphors Genes – the language of God 3: Why genes aren’t information Genes – the language of God 4: Why… Read More
Philosophy Focus on the “how”, not the “why” 12 Aug 2009 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH40zaUxTTE&hl=en&fs=1&] Read More
Accommodationism Accommodating science: Faith and reason 5 Mar 2014 [This is the penultimate chapter. I can’t be bothered trying to get the references or footnotes included in the posts, so you’ll have to wait for the book. Some of this has appeared on the blog before in less well written form, so don’t worry about the deja vu] All… Read More
Unusual to see the Scottish spelling the Irish geis is more usual. Wiki definition is far better. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geis
Well, several Americans have given me That Look when I used the term in their presence. I just assumed you all had some objection to the term.
Are huntsmen and wolf spiders really the same? My understanding was that huntsmen were large and relatively harmless (unless you rub them against your leg), while wolf spiders were smaller and more dangerous. Plus male wolf spiders did that wonderful dance during courtship. In any case, sounds like a hell of a week.