Me. Hello.
“After we came out of the church, we stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley's ingenious sophistry to prove the nonexistence of matter, and that every thing in the universe is merely ideal. I observed, that though we are satisfied his doctrine is not true, it is impossible to refute it. I never shall forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone, till he rebounded from it: "I refute it thus." (August 6th 1763, as told in James Boswell’s 'Life of Samuel Johnson, Vol 3'; 1791)
I admire Samuel Johnson's feet-first approach. I enjoy metaphysical questions such as whether there is a fundamental kind of stuff (I don't know yet) and whether mind is emergent from matter (most likely it is). I consider methodological naturalism to be far and away the most fruitful approach to investigating reality. Call it scientism if you like. I don't. Agreed, 'kicking stones' is (maybe) limiting and doesn't afford the same level of certainty as some others claim to possess. But I don't perceive much of a consensus emanating from those indulging solely in armchair metaphysics and theology. Far too much appears to be predicated on logical word-games constructed with premises carefully designed to safely generate some a-priori desirable conclusions. Reality is what it is; it has no obligation to conform to any philosophical or theological argument or to anybody's intuitions. The universe owes us nought, indeed, it seems pitilessly indifferent.
Thus, I have little respect for claims, assertions and beliefs lacking coherent support from empirical evidence; except when they are presented as mythology, which I do appreciate. I'm an atheist, but very occasionally if you were to twist my epistemological arm I might sort of subscribe to some vague notion of impersonal ietsism. Nonetheless, I have sometimes worshipped at the altars of Bacchus, the god of wine and Veronica, the patron saint of photographers (and, apparently, laundry workers). I have two nationalities but ideally I'd prefer none because I'm not really a patriotic type. I have a strong aversion to right-wing ideologies rather than conducting any kind of love affair with the left. I play no musical instrument but a day experienced without listening to music is a rarity. I write crap poetry and fiction and draw and paint like a child, which is why you'll find none of it here. Photography is my recreation and my artistic outlet of choice. It allows me to combine a PhD level training in visual cognition/neuroscience with my wholly self-taught love of artistic pursuits and I value both domains.
I don't do any of the standard social media. Never have. Sartre surely foretold this with his "hell is other people" quip. So it wasn't me that wrote that there, even if they do have the same name as me. Nor do I write in the third person; good God, that would sound even more pretentious.
This is a sister site to my photography only website telltaleimages.com
I admire Samuel Johnson's feet-first approach. I enjoy metaphysical questions such as whether there is a fundamental kind of stuff (I don't know yet) and whether mind is emergent from matter (most likely it is). I consider methodological naturalism to be far and away the most fruitful approach to investigating reality. Call it scientism if you like. I don't. Agreed, 'kicking stones' is (maybe) limiting and doesn't afford the same level of certainty as some others claim to possess. But I don't perceive much of a consensus emanating from those indulging solely in armchair metaphysics and theology. Far too much appears to be predicated on logical word-games constructed with premises carefully designed to safely generate some a-priori desirable conclusions. Reality is what it is; it has no obligation to conform to any philosophical or theological argument or to anybody's intuitions. The universe owes us nought, indeed, it seems pitilessly indifferent.
Thus, I have little respect for claims, assertions and beliefs lacking coherent support from empirical evidence; except when they are presented as mythology, which I do appreciate. I'm an atheist, but very occasionally if you were to twist my epistemological arm I might sort of subscribe to some vague notion of impersonal ietsism. Nonetheless, I have sometimes worshipped at the altars of Bacchus, the god of wine and Veronica, the patron saint of photographers (and, apparently, laundry workers). I have two nationalities but ideally I'd prefer none because I'm not really a patriotic type. I have a strong aversion to right-wing ideologies rather than conducting any kind of love affair with the left. I play no musical instrument but a day experienced without listening to music is a rarity. I write crap poetry and fiction and draw and paint like a child, which is why you'll find none of it here. Photography is my recreation and my artistic outlet of choice. It allows me to combine a PhD level training in visual cognition/neuroscience with my wholly self-taught love of artistic pursuits and I value both domains.
I don't do any of the standard social media. Never have. Sartre surely foretold this with his "hell is other people" quip. So it wasn't me that wrote that there, even if they do have the same name as me. Nor do I write in the third person; good God, that would sound even more pretentious.
This is a sister site to my photography only website telltaleimages.com