Ecology and Biodiversity Apes and evolution in the news 19 Jun 20094 Oct 2017 So there are a couple of interesting developments about fossil apes. One is the retraction by the author of the claim 14 years ago to have found a jaw bone that was evidence of Homo habilis, a precursor species (arguably) of H erectus, in a recent Nature. Previously he and… Read More
Biology Did Popper and Quine invent “Aristotelian essentialism”? 7 Feb 201221 Jun 2018 There are many narratives told about evolution. One of the most widely told is the Essentialism Story, replayed in textbook, popular storytelling and philosophy alike. It goes like this: Before Darwin, biologists were constrained by essentialist thinking, in which they were committed to species being natural kinds where there were… Read More
Philosophy How to do numerical taxonomy 9 Oct 20219 Oct 2021 Hint: use only original IBM punch cards Read More
First God tells us that not only is the end of the world nigh, but also upon us, who merely creepeth on the earth. Amidst our wailing and self flagellation, pleading and protestations the end comes. The mind, the world, is blank. Only the void. Then a voice from the heavens comes down. ‘Sorry for the leaky downtime at the end of the universe – bad plug in.’ Oh torture upon torture for our sins. I think I’ll go and sit in my wardrobe for an hour or two.
This is a pity John. More than ninety comments expressing that sentiment within a few days of your announcement. Ninety is surely not “almost zero”, considering that the expectation of visitors to your blog, whether lurkers or commenters, is quality not quantity. There is a malaise abroad in Australia at the moment, at least among those of us who look further afield than the state of a footy team, brought on by the antics of our elected representatives. A general feeling of anger and alienation. I think that this is true, whether you lean to the right or left and I am sure philosophers are not immune. I hope you will reconsider when things improve.