Vexen Crabtree

By Vexen Crabtree 2011 Jan 15

Page Contents:

1. My Websites
2. Basic Biographical Details
3. My Philosophies and Beliefs
4. Favourites
5. Academic Credentials

1. My Websites

I launched my initial site in July 1998CE after purchasing "HTML 4 for Dummies" (IDG books) and "Instant JavaScript" (Wrox Press). HTML authoring turned out to be something I naturally loved. I used the simplest and most powerful editing tool: notepad.exe. From 2008 or so, I wrote and employed from own database-based content-management program called Ziggy. Ziggy does the bibliographies, subscript indexing, site structures, file management, notes, and many other bits and bobs.

Many parts of my websites are old and embarrassing and I am always on a constant mission to improve bad bits them with new, professional pages. It is a long journey.

My writings frequently verge on subjects and topics that are provocative and taboo. One main aim of my websites is to challenge and smash taboos, to make people think things they've not thought before.

- { [ ( qui scribendo proficiunt, et proficiendo scribunt ) ] } -

I do it because I am impatient with those who set humanity back intellectually and therefore technologically. The medical sciences, astrosciences and biological sciences such as psychology and neurology all have immense scope to improve the lives, and lifespans, of human beings, but countless religion-inspired and stupidity-inspired obstacles sit in their paths. So I battle against the worst of human nature, and I expect no rewards except to have lived a powerful life doing what I want to do.

“Some people write for fifteen years with no success and then decide to quit. Don't look for success and don't quit. If you want to write, write under all circumstances. Success will or will not come, in this lifetime or the next. Success is none of our business. It comes from outside. Our job is to write, to not look up from our notebook and wonder how much money Norman Mailer earns.”

"The Long Quiet Highway" by Natalie Goldberg

- { [ ( nulla dies sine linea ) ] } -

2. Basic Biographical Details

3. My Philosophies and Beliefs

In common with most English people I wasn't exposed to religion so remained an implicit atheist until my late teens. This means I didn't believe in God, because, I had never heard of the idea of God. In my late teens when I came across the concept, I found it ridiculous and without basis in reality, at which point I became an explicit atheist and a Humanist. I am still a Humanist.

Hard science is reductionist, realistic and the acceptance of science that seems inhuman; such as: we evolved in the same way as other animals, we have only existed for a tiny fraction of the lifespan of the Earth, we are insignificant in the grand universe, that our thoughts and feelings are biochemical in nature, not spiritual and our existence is a series of determined states over which we have no genuine control (i.e., there is no free will). The cold truth of reality humbles humanity, yet Human pride often makes us think we are important in the universe, or that a God cares deeply about whether we're nice to people or not, or whether we believe in religious myths or not. Our primitive egos once compelled us to make ourselves feel important in the universe and in our lives. This has adversely affected science. The solution is to actively embrace science that seems to belittle us. It requires honesty and humility.

When I left college and continued to study human biology and psychology extensively. I aimed to study cyborg technology with Professor Warwick and Reading University. I ended up doing computer science and artificial intelligence instead, and for a number of years now have worked in the I.T. industry supporting networks all over the world.

4. Favourites

5. Academic Credentials

4 A-levels: Maths(C), Biology(C), Physics(D), General Studies (C)

9 GCSEs: Including maths(A), physics(A) & biology(B). Total grades: AABBBCCCC

Computers:

• A+ Cisco Certification, Cisco CCNA Certification (2003)
• Undergraduate in Telecoms Engineering BSc (Foundation), Bournemouth University (completion in 2011)

GNVQ level 2: Safety, Security and Loss Prevention

Sociology:

• Certificate in the Social Sciences, Open University
• Undergraduate in Social Sciences BSc (Hons), Open University (completion in 2013)

I have contributed chapters in books on Satanism and religious studies, and have otherwise contributed to and been referenced in over thirty academic books on various subjects pertaining to religion and society. I have appeared on various TV and radio programs debating religious philosophy and representing alternative religions and lifestyles.

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By Vexen Crabtree 2011 Jan 15
Originally published 2001
www.vexen.co.uk/vexen.html

References: (What's this?)

Griffin, Donald R.
Animal Minds (1992). The University of Chicago Press.