I named this blog after a quote by Richard Dawkins.
“The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference” Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (1995)
I love that quote because I firmly because the universe doesn’t care about us that it’s up to us to care about each other and make the most of the amazing ride we’re on. That’s why I’m here. Life’s too short to not have a forum to shout into the aether about whatever happens to be on your mind.
Over the years I’ve fired up and taken down several blog sites, each one an attempt at tackling a specific topic. Each time I found I couldn’t keep myself focused on any single thing long enough to contribute enough content to keep things interesting.
I debated about the wisdom of creating a blog to contain all of my varied ramblings, but concluded that there could not be a single other person on the planet that would share my unique, eclectic combination of interests. I mean who wants to read about String Theory one day, parenting issues the next, and my latest business intelligence thoughts the next? Damned if I know, but I concluded that I just don’t care.
So, I hope you find some things interesting and some things make you think and others just make you laugh. I promise I’ll be opinionated about just about everything. Hopefully you’ll end up caring about more stuff than you do not. And if it’s the other way around, then tough; at least my kids can someday read about what went on in the strange mind of their dad.
Oh boy, here we go...ramblings and eclectic combination; that's an understatement.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteJust thought you should know that Darwin never penned the words you attribute to him. The tone of the passage is, in fact, quite distinct from Darwin's own cautious writings, especially on the topic of religion. The namesake of your blog is a passage from Richard Dawkins's 1995 book, River Out of Eden. One ought not to trust online citations without any references.
Best,
Eric
Eric,
ReplyDeleteIn my hasty search for a nice, pithy title to my blog I went out searching Darwin quotes and fell in love with the phrase. While I did feel that it had a rather un-Darwin-like tone, I figured it was representative of his conflicted views on the topic of religion.
Sadly, River out of Eden is not yet among the Dawkins books I have had the pleasure of reading. (The Ancestors' Tale is one of my all time favorites.) Consider it on my reading list as of now.
Clearly, a bit of double-checking was in order, and I very much appreciate the tip. I've updated the site to reflect the proper citation. No shame in naming a blog after a Dawkins quote.
Cheers,
JN