Blog Entries from Vince Higgins

  1. Social Darwinism

    “If Adam and Eve had two sons, how do we have black people, white people and Asians?” I had an insight after reading Darwin's on the Origin of Species. I had heard of a doctrine called "Social Darwinism." I also heard from many reputable sources that it had no relation to what Darwin actually said. Now I have that from the most reputable source. Disclaimer: I'm only halfway through it. I am taking a break to explore nature and digest what I have learned so far. I have yet to read what, if...
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  2. Reconciling Religion and Science.

    I am a humanist. There are nearly as many definitions of humanism as there are humanists. Here is mine. It includes the belief that humanity's fate is entirely in the hands of humans. To me, this means it follows that it's incumbent on us to treat each other decently. Science is the study of the natural universe based on that which can be seen and measured. As such it cannot be reconciled with supernatural claims for which there is no irrefutable evidence. Humanism, however, can be somewhat...
  3. What is Next in Human Evolution. (Spoilers)

    My recent reading of Darwin's Origin of Species has me thinking about our evolution as a species. At quarter of the way through Darwin's work, I decided to re-read something I had read during my aborted attempt at graduate school. It was an excerpt from The Descent of Woman by Elaine Morgan titled The Escape Route: The Aquatic Theory of Human Origins. In it, she argues that that roughly five million years ago during a climate upheaval that turned much of Africa to desert, and drove our...
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  4. Dystopian novel

    We are living in dystopian times. Perhaps we always have been. I am starting to think Revelation may have been the first dystopian novel. I have been trying to wrap my head around the whole "End of the World" genre. Truly. Revelation. No, I do not believe in four headed beasts with tongues of fire any more than I believe in Klingons. Still I consider it a relevant work of dystopian fiction. Relevant in that the author, in and around all that Armageddon shit, spoke to the culture in the...
  5. Pacifist Rant.

    Everyone is concerned about the recent events in eastern Europe, as well they should be. Many are expressing confusion about who to blame. Even more are putting the blame squarely on Putin. Don’t get me wrong, Putin is by far the worst actor in all of this, but there are provocations. Russia, at the core of the old USSR, lost the Cold War. Some of the territories that split from the USSR at the end of the Cold War have joined their prior adversary, NATO. Now there is talk of Ukraine joining...
  6. Getting Focused.

    Ok, I have been having trouble focusing on my writing. This has not been a totally bad thing. I have been focused on two closely related things that I am doing in support of what has become my primary writing project. Since earlier last year I have been walking. Miles and miles of walking. Walking an average of thirty miles a week. You may have seen me. Really. For the very first time I will reveal in these forums an actual image of myself. Yes, I'm that guy you have seen around your town...
  7. Talking in my sleep.

    From how my wife described it, it's eloquent gibberish.
  8. A makeover.

    I have decided to give my pen name a middle name I am now Vincent A Higgins. Aloysius, after a saint in the church I left at the age of seventeen. At eighteen I was sent invitations to apply to several colleges. One of them was one I had never heard of, with a very funny name. It was in Spokane WA, and was called Gonzaga. I would later find it was named after Saint Aloysius Gonzaga.
  9. Plastics in the Pacific.

    Holidays over. New Year coming up you say? Nine PM rolls around I say; "It's midnight somewhere. Happy New Year, and good night." No walking today due to rain. Those walks have helped me focus on the direction of my #1 project. I will miss the 1/1 deadline of going live with it. Life, and a little writer's block, got in the way. The focus will be on a single watershed. The one I have been hiking was the one I originally intended to focus on, but the next one north is larger, and starts on...
  10. Progress on SBD

    Made another trip to the USS Midway Museum yesterday and got much more accurate measurements.
  11. Introduction.

    This is being posted here for reaction before going live on Blogger. Introduction In the last two years I have walked extensively through watersheds that are just miles from the Pacific Ocean. I pass miles of streets and streams that are often clogged with the waste of our consumer culture. It’s depressing. I now realize there is something I can do. I have started going around picking up plastic trash. No. I have no intention of ever attempting to pick it all up myself. I am starting by...
  12. Gone a Year and Four Days.

    Just over a year later. Time to light this up. I've been walking exclusively since a bike accident involving a potentially serious injury, but the outcome was fine. Last week I completed my longest walk since my health issues began well over ten years ago. Ten miles. I have started carrying a notebook to write down my ideas. Came up with some doozies. Offensensitivity alert. Involves politics. The 2nd amendment was intended to protect the American nation from the savage Indians, and...
  13. Alien Landscapes

    Not really a fan of the fantasy genre, but was a fan of many bands and artists during the seventies. Younger fantasy fans may or may not be familiar with this band. I found this video of one song featuring the artwork of the painter Roger Dean, who illustrated many of their, and other artist's albums. Enjoy.
  14. Had a decent walk today.

    I had a heart attack in 2008. I had gotten quite fat, and did not get much exercise. I have had a bicycle most of my life. In 2006 I got a nice one because an opportunity arose for me to commute to work easily by bike. By 2008 I was riding ten miles comfortably, and had lost thirty pounds when it happened, while I was riding the bike. A passer by saw me and called 911. When I came too, I felt much better than I had in weeks. I was getting tired, and having heart burn. I was back to...
  15. One final thought on the day.

    In one of my earlier posts I made reference to "channeling Kilgore Trout." Here is what that is about. For those unfamiliar, a recurring character over many novels by Kurt Vonnegut is a science fiction writer by that name. He is not exactly the same in all of the books he appears in, and in the case of Galapagos, he is a ghost narrator that haunts a ship that makes an ill fated journey to the islands made famous by Darwin. One of my favorite books is Vonnegut's 1978 novel Jailbird. In...
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