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Thinking About Population

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On 31st October 2011, according to the UN, the world’s population reached 7 billion. They may be wrong. These things are hard to estimate. But, if they are, it is only by a year or two. Most of those people have arrived since I was born. The BBC has a cute calculator that shows [...]

The Mind is Not a Soul: Why Uploading to a Computer Won’t Bring Immortality

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I just read about a Russian “tycoon” called Dimitry Itskov who is putting money into a venture called Initiative 2045, “a non-profit organization focused on creating an international research center where scientists will research and develop the technologies to make eternal life possible,” according to nextbigfuture.com. Apart from the tragic news that people still [...]

A Writer’s Interview

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I’ve been interviewed a few times now. That part of my life and thoughts which pertains to writing has been explored beyond all relation to its importance or interest. It’s as if a group of botanists descends on my back yard to study it, mark out a square metre of ground and then pore [...]

The Dunning-Kruger Effect Explains So Much

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He was better than average too.

I came across the Duning-Kruger effect in a series of tweets by an amusing fellow called @GodlessAtheist who argued that it is the reason why religious people are so smug. I don’t doubt that this is true. (Have you ever heard a religious type arguing any scientific [...]

‘The Next Big Thing’ Meme

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Aaaarghhh! Tagged! I usually avoid these meme things like the plague they are, but when Meryl asks, how can a guy say no? Also, she caught me just after I’d finished revising my latest novel, and I’m dying to tell people about it.

What is the working title of your novel?

Heaven is a [...]

This and That

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Yes, an inconsequential post. A mere update. The kind of thing for which the weblog was invented, but whose current home is on Facebook and Twitter where ideas are few and gibber rules the roost. But I’m in a nostalgical state of whimsy and the urge to talk trivia is upon me.

Why this [...]

Why I’m Sick of Writers’ Forums On the Web

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Some time today, I’m going to go through all the writers’ groups I belong to online and cancel my memberships of all but a couple. It’s something that I’m very sad about since I love chatting with other writers about books, genres, ideas, and the craft of writing, but I’ve had enough. The problem [...]

Am I a Writer Yet?

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Someone tweeted that old chestnut by Richard Bach today, “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” It’s an irritating quotation, like so many, because, while it sounds like a tautology, it is only half true (or some much smaller fraction, in fact). Not quitting is a necessary but not sufficient condition for [...]

Autumn Leaves

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These could be our last days. We could meet our end tomorrow With the dull incomprehension Of hooked fish, Pieces of Kentucky Fired Chicken In our open mouths. Then the wide, straight roads That led us here Would crack and decay To nothing. The trees would stand in the quad, Blasted and poisoned, Watched [...]

Please, let’s not even go there.

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I came across this article recently in SF Signal. It is about how to adapt literary criticism so that it can be applied to science fiction.

Sadly, I just don’t get it. I mean, I understand the article and what the author is saying, but I don’t see why on earth anyone would be [...]