Hi all! My name is Dave Rowlands and I hail from Wales in the UK. I currently write for another group blog called Answers in Reason. However, I have been looking for a new outlet for my writing recently, and a good friend introduced me to Steemit. While I love what I do for AiR, I am generally limited to topics based around reason, rationality, science, atheism and philosophy of religion. The writers at AiR can expand into other topics such as politics, law, ethics and similar ideas of course, but I feel that Steemit will allow me to write on a much more diverse range of subjects without feeling like I’m going 'off-topic' and also allow me to keep it collated in one area while still (hopefully) reaching a wide audience. In essence, it allows me more creative freedom.
My first passion is philosophy, and as such, much of my writing will be based around the topic of philosophy. I will, hopefully, not only be writing about various topics based around philosophy, but also be writing about some of my own ideas and arguments. I will be writing about various topics within philosophy, including ethics, philosophy of religion, philosophy of war, epistemology, philosophy of mind, the self, and much more. Hopefully sharing interesting ideas, arguments, and thought experiments. I am atheist, so much of my writing about the philosophy of religion will be from that paradigm. Another intent is to convince others about why they should investigate and get into Philosophy, and to pass on helpful suggestions about books to read, podcasts to listen to, various contemporary philosophers, YouTube channels, and the like. Plus, I will always be happy to engage in conversation with anyone who is interested!
Another topic I hope to cover is psychology, including social psychology. Psychology is an interesting topic, and one that is relevant not only to all our lives, but also, like philosophy, can help us understand ourselves at a deeper level and with deeper meaning. It also has a much wider range of subject matter than many realise. Some of the topics I hope to cover are the psychology of learning, perception, memory and evolutionary psychology to name just a few. As mentioned, the field of social psychology will also be covered. Social psychology is a subject I love almost as much as philosophy. It covers a different are to standard psychology, and looks deeper into the psychological processes behind the social-individual interface that affects all our lives. Topics such as protest, citizenship, employment, and much more will be covered. If you are interested in the workings of society and how it influences the psychology of the individual then this a topic you will really enjoy. Hopefully you will be as convinced as I about its importance in our lives, and how interesting it is.
As mentioned previously, topics of personal interest will also be covered. As a big fan of film I hope to write my thoughts and reviews about a wide range of films, from classics to contemporary, and especially about my favourite genre – horror! It’s a genre I have loved ever since I was a kid. As a fan of video games hopefully there will be lots of video game related material too! Though it will mostly focus on retro-gaming more than likely. This is because some of my fondest gaming memories come from the early arcade days of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, along with home computers like the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum. I then moved on to the Atari ST and the Commodore Amiga, and then on to the Megadrive and the SNES and onwards up to the Xbox 360. While I do still enjoy gaming on my PC, I still have a fondness for the retro-gaming and love discussing them. So not only do I hope to blog about them, I hope to get involved in discussions with other retro fans about the games and machines.
I will be blogging about much more too of course, as I will be posting my thoughts on contemporary events and just things that happen in my day to day life. However, the above mentioned things are what, at this time, I feel that I would like to, and will be, focus on in the main. Basically, I hope to cover a wide range of topics, with a more focused approach on a handful of subjects. Hopefully there will be something for a wide range of people to read, and hopefully enjoy too of course! Not just to read and enjoy though, but also to engage in discussion with as I love discussing these topics with like minded people. I look forward to meeting many of you, and also reading your contributions to the community. Hopefully there will be much for me to enjoy and digest. Until then though, thank you for taking the time to read my introduction, I really appreciate it. See you soon!
