Education Is Brian Blessed a monkey or an ape? 22 Apr 201122 Jun 2018 One of the recurring creationist attacks on evolution is, “If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?” I responded to this once before but it is time to revisit it. Why? Because Marty Robbins has attacked the British media, itself always a noble thing to do, for constantly… Read More
Epistemology My Absent Career 10: Contra Quality 1 Jan 20231 Jan 2023 So, taking this extreme parsimony approach leads me to sharply distinguish between things that are and things we think there are. A good many of our most favoured ideas are projective. Qualia are the primary example for me (because I first learned of them as an undergraduate). For those who… Read More
Biology The difference between population concepts and “population thinking” 8 Jan 201224 Nov 2022 The late Ernst Mayr is remembered for many things, but a number of his historical and philosophical claims are unravelling. The very clever and perspicacious Rutgers geneticist, Jody Hey, has published a paper in the Quarterly Review of Biology on one of these. Jody is a very good reader of… 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.