Contents
Essays on Charles Darwin, theology, creationism and other pseudoscience, Welsh and Australian history, photography and related topics
On The Myth That Darwin Influenced Hitler
•CHARLES DARWIN •HISTORY •THEOLOGY •BIOLOGY
An extended, book-length (unfinished) work investigating claims that Adolf Hitler's political views were directly influenced by Charles Darwin's scientific findings. Using numerous primary source historical documents it is shown that this was not the case. Rather, the evidence points to strong commonality between Hitler's political philosophy and some historical and contemporary influential schools of thought within fundamentalist Christianity.
The Fictitious Influence Of Darwin On Marx And Engels
•CHARLES DARWIN •HISTORY
It is claimed by some authors that Darwinian evolutionary theory acted as the necessary precursor for Marx and Engels to formulate their political philosophy. This extended essay presents evidence from primary source documents that strongly refutes this claim. First, the timeline would need to be reversed. Second, Marx and Engels consistently showed little respect for Darwin or for those trying to meld Darwinism with socialism. Third, proponents of a Darwin-Marx ideological link depend heavily on both misrepresenting Darwin’s scientific findings and ignoring Marx and Engels' misunderstandings of Darwin's work, particularly concerning Malthusian theory.
You Cannot Count Back From Infinity: An Infinitesimal Argument Against A Past Eternal Universe
•THEOLOGY •MATHEMATICS •PHYSICS
A comprehensive discussion concerning the claim, popular in both Christian and Islamic apologetics, that ‘you cannot count back from infinity’, thus negating a past eternal universe. The claim is shown to be spurious, being predicated on misrepresentations and misunderstandings of physics, philosophy and mathematics. Particularly so the latter.
Eating Ken’s Ham
•THEOLOGY •MORAL PHILOSOPHY
A satirical, though ultimately quite serious, look at what could ensue if members of an extra-terrestrial civilisation visited Earth and encountered the kind of moral arguments expounded by Christian fundamentalists like Ken Ham.
Is God A Finite Being Or A Simulation?
•THEOLOGY •PHYSICS
A cogent argument exists that there is at least a modest probability that the universe is an artificial simulation. Furthermore, the very nature of a simulated universe suggests we may have no viable way of discerning whether this is the case or not. Whether this is the case, or is even acknowledged as plausible, however, leaves profound and unpleasant consequences for classical theology.
Opposition To Same-Sex Unions Is Mathematically Wrong
•MATHEMATICS •MORAL PHILOSOPHY
Using mathematical set theory, conservative Christian activist Andrew Schlafly speciously attempted to demonstrate that opposite-sex unions are morally superior to same-sex unions. In rebuttal, two mathematical formulae are presented demonstrating that opposition to same-sex unions has no mathematical-logical basis unless the a-priori assumption is made that one biological sex possesses a greater degree of moral and personal autonomous value than the other.
The Blood Of The Lads, It Falls Like Rain: Portraits Of The Slain From The Rural Welsh Parish Of Llanfrothen In The First World War
•WELSH HISTORY •BIOGRAPHY
An extended historical essay discussing the impact of the First World War on the small, predominantly Welsh-speaking parish of Llanfrothen in North-West Wales, with biographical details of each of the 17 men who died, and what we know of the roles they played in the conflict.
The Cottager’s Reply
•LAND OWNERSHIP •HISTORY
A brief essay, inspired by a work by Cotswold poet Frank Mansell, concerned with the economic and cultural damage caused by holiday-home ownership in rural areas of the United Kingdom.
Four Graves At Ynyscynhaearn
•WELSH HISTORY •BIOGRAPHY
A brief history of the now redundant ancient Church of St. Cynhaearn in Gwynedd, North-West Wales is followed by biographies of four of the people buried in its churchyard; the composer and harpist Dafydd y Garreg Wen; the railway pioneer James Spooner; chemist, writer and publisher Robert Isaac Jones (aka Alltud Eifion), and the reluctant West African emigré Jack Ystumllyn.
Once A Not So Jolly Swagman: The Story Of Joseph Jenkins
•WELSH HISTORY •AUSTRALIAN HISTORY •BIOGRAPHY
A biographical essay of the 19th century Welsh farmer, poet and diarist Joseph Jenkins who, without giving any warning to family or friends, left his farm and family to become a swagman and labourer in the Australian colony of Victoria for 27 years, with his experiences and thoughts meticulously recorded in his diary.
Rev. Paley Finds A Watch: A Poorly Designed Argument For Design
•CREATIONISM •PSEUDOSCIENCE •BIOLOGY
Discussion of the reasons we have to doubt Rev. Paley's notion of design in the natural world and its modern equivalent in the intelligent design movement. There remains no viable methodology in which to identify purposeful design in biology because natural mechanisms are observed to regularly and effectively mimic the claimed designed characteristics of organisms without recourse to supernatural explanations.
The Generation Game: No Prizes For Young Earth Creationists
•CREATIONISM •HISTORY
According to Biblical literalists, Homo sapiens suffered a population bottleneck of eight people (five of whom were closely genetically related), around 2348 BCE. If this is true, then no more than about 200 generations of humans can have lived since the purported Noachian flood. Current genetic and historical demographic evidence demonstrates that this is a physically impossible scenario.
An Honest Look At Flood Mythology Leaves Biblical Literalists All At Sea;
•CREATIONISM •HISTORY •MYTHOLOGY
Close examination of the mythology of diverse cultures reveals that tales involving floods similar to the Noachian story are not nearly as globally prevalent as young earth creationists claim. Examples are given in which accepted methods of investigation have been ignored and/or evidence is knowingly presented dishonestly. The essay concludes with a general discussion of the psychology of mythology and how it negatively impacts on creationist claims.
Negative FaceSpace: Exploring The Uncanny Valley
•PHOTOGRAPHY •PSYCHOLOGY
The uncanny valley refers to an observation in psychology and aesthetics whereby humanoid faces and figures elicit sudden feelings of revulsion and creepiness in some people. In this ongoing project I blend psychology and aesthetics via photography in order to explore the phenomenon.
Admiration And Inspiration
•PHOTOGRAPHY •OPINION
Brief introductions to a few photographers whose work I admire and, at times, have unashamedly tried to emulate. Basically, I'm envious. These photographers captured the images I wish I had captured.
Imaging Cultural Chauvinism
•PHOTOGRAPHY •OPINION
It's commonplace in many developing countries to be approached by children for a photograph in return for money. Is perceiving this interaction in terms of an ethical problem a form of cultural chauvinism?
Musing On Street Photography
•PHOTOGRAPHY •OPINION
A short piece outlining my philosophy toward the genre of street photography; why I dislike much of the genre yet love taking part in it, and how much it's akin to wildlife photography.
Collected Quotes A - E
Things people have written or uttered that have inspired me, made me feel emotional, made me laugh, despair or face-palm, made me appreciate the irony, made me think, or perhaps made me wish that I could write like this (or be glad that I don't).
Collected Quotes K - O
Things people have written or uttered that have inspired me, made me feel emotional, made me laugh, despair or face-palm, made me appreciate the irony, made me think, or perhaps made me wish that I could write like this (or be glad that I don't).
Collected Quotes U - Z
Things people have written or uttered that have inspired me, made me feel emotional, made me laugh, despair or face-palm, made me appreciate the irony, made me think, or perhaps made me wish that I could write like this (or be glad that I don't).
The Fictitious Influence Of Darwin On Nietzsche
•CHARLES DARWIN •HISTORY •PHILOSOPHY •BIOLOGY
Primary source historical documents show that Nietzsche neither admired nor was influenced by Darwin. This extended essay demonstrates that claims of a Darwin-Nietzsche ideological link depend heavily on misrepresenting Darwin’s scientific findings and ignoring Nietzsche’s profound misunderstandings of biological evolution.
No, Jerry Bergman: Charles Darwin Was Not Psychotic
•CHARLES DARWIN •HISTORY •PSYCHOLOGY
Creationist author Jerry Bergman has developed a cottage industry attempting to place doubt on evolutionary theory by invoking ad-hominem and argumentum ad consequentiam attacks on the person of Charles Darwin. This essay is a comprehensive refutation of his charge that Darwin was psychotic and sadistic and his 'psychiatric illness' has influenced evolutionary theory.
Henry Melville And Charles Darwin
•CHARLES DARWIN •HISTORY •PHOTOGRAPHY
A chance finding of a carte de visite led me to investigate the photographer Henry Melville which uncovered his brief, though historically significant professional relationship with Charles Darwin, as well as a sad tale of coincidence and tragedy.
Probabilities, Deductive Arguments And Theology Don't Add Up
•THEOLOGY •MATHEMATICS
In recent years there has been a rise in the number of p-inductive arguments for God’s existence (which require only that each premise in an argument has a >.5 probability of being true). This is problematic for theists for two primary reasons. First, when prior probabilities are unknown, estimates are too easily weighted by belief. Second, even in cases where premises are known to have a >.5 probability of being true, conclusions do not necessarily yield a probability >.5. Examples are given.
Desire The Horse, Depression The Cart
•THEOLOGY •PSYCHOLOGY
A comparison of the Buddhist attitude to human desires and quest for psychological permanence with those of Christianity and Islam. Buddhism, though not entirely convincing as a psychologically-based approach, appears nevertheless to be the more reasoned approach.
A Determined Critique Of Free Will Theodicy
•THEOLOGY •NEUROSCIENCE •MORAL PHILOSOPHY
Free will theodicies are often touted by theists as incontrovertible responses to the 'problem of evil'. This comprehensive discussion outlines numerous philosophical, logical, theological and demographic shortcomings with the notion. Finally, a review of the experimental neuroscience literature reveals no physiological or behavioural evidence for human contra-causal free will.
Destined to Fail: The Ministry Of William Meirion Evans
•WELSH HISTORY •AUSTRALIAN HISTORY •BIOGRAPHY
Biographical essay concerned with the life of William Meirion Evans, an idealistic 19th century Welsh Calvinistic Methodist preacher from North Wales who played an important role in colonial Australia, establishing churches and supporting Welsh language and culture in the colonies of South Australia and Victoria.
Owning Assynt
•LAND OWNERSHIP •SCOTTISH HISTORY
This essay tracks the history of land ownership in Assynt, a region of the north-west Scottish Highlands, through the 20th century, from a feudal-style system and attitude, which largely ignored the needs and wishes of the people living on the land, to a more democratic system which better considers these inhabitants.
A Walk Around Cwmystradllyn
•WELSH HISTORY
A short history and travelogue about Cwmystradllyn, a sparsely populated valley in North-West Wales.
And Now There Is Nothing But Trees
•LAND OWNERSHIP •WELSH HISTORY
Inspired by a poem by D. Gwenallt Jones, this is a brief commentary on the damage caused to the Welsh landscape by commercial pine forests.
Tales from Tunisia
•TUNISIAN HISTORY •TRAVELOGUE
The North African nation of Tunisia is sometimes considered one of the more secular-friendly Islamic countries and in some ways, this is so. However, a dark undercurrent of fundamentalist Islam is also noticeable. This travelogue describes a visit to the Tunisian towns of Sfax, Madhia and Sousse in 2011, soon after the 'Sidi Bouzid Revolt' or 'Jasmine Revolution'.
A Fallacy Of Gamblers: The Collective Noun For Creationists
•CREATIONISM •PSEUDOSCIENCE •MATHEMATICS
Analysis of the likelihood that, if discovered, the mechanism underlying abiogenesis will demonstrate physical causation rather than some supernatural 'miracle'. Creationist misunderstandings regarding the concept of randomness, how probability calculations are made, and the distinction between concurrent and consecutive events are discussed.
The St. Fagans Pterodactyl: Lies, Damned Lies And Christian Fundamentalism
•CREATIONISM •PSEUDOSCIENCE
On their American TV show, fundamentalist Christian hosts Eric Hovind and Paul Taylor made the ludicrous claim that eyewitnesses reported pterodactyls swooping on a battlefield in 17th century Wales. Unsurprisingly, no historical documents or even local folklore verify this. Yet similar untruths are regularly found in Christian fundamentalist school textbooks, as well as in Kent (Dr Dino) Hovind's hilarious, diploma mill 'PhD thesis'.
Confessions Of A Praktica Geek
•PHOTOGRAPHY •HISTORY
I confess to being a Praktica geek. My first serious camera was a Praktica SLR and it proved to be the cause of a bad dose of gear acquisition syndrome. I started collecting them. Eventually I had every mass-produced SLR Praktica ever made. I'm cured now but still harbour an attachment, hence this homage to the marque.
The Dark Ages: Christian Imagery, Atheist Interpretation
•PHOTOGRAPHY •THEOLOGY
Despite being atheist, as a photographer I find myself visually drawn toward Christian imagery and symbolism because they easily invite a dark, morbid or macabre interpretation. Here are some thoughts and examples of this work.
Istanbul Suburbs Of Balat And Fener
PHOTOGRAPHY
The formerly wealthy, now poverty-stricken inner city neighbouring suburbs of Balat and Fener are my favourite places to photograph in Istanbul. Relatively few tourists venture here. Those that do find their way tend, like me, to have a camera around their neck.
Dungeness
•PHOTOGRAPHY
A selection of images from one of the most unique and atmospheric, quiet and unromantically beautiful places in England; the shingle beach boat graveyard of Dungeness.
I Am Not A Number, I Am A Free Man!
•PHOTOGRAPHY
Celebration of the 50th anniversary of the screening of the first episode of the 1960s British surreal cult TV series 'The Prisoner'. Images were captured in April 2017 at the village of Portmeirion, Gwynedd, Wales, including a re-enactment of the second episode.
Collected Quotes F - J
Things people have written or uttered that have inspired me, made me feel emotional, made me laugh, despair or face-palm, made me appreciate the irony, made me think, or perhaps made me wish that I could write like this (or be glad that I don't).
Collected Quotes P - T
Things people have written or uttered that have inspired me, made me feel emotional, made me laugh, despair or face-palm, made me appreciate the irony, made me think, or perhaps made me wish that I could write like this (or be glad that I don't).