User:Kevin Kidd

Introduction

Currently resident in Alberta, Canada. Throughout my life I've lived in many different countries and am interested in the variety of experiences we call Being Humans being Human.

I prefer the role of skeptic, but am constantly on guard against the tendency towards cynicism. I think we are inherently biased by our life-experiences, each experience drops in a new lens which colours our view of the world. The trick is not to be driven by bias, this is challenging and too easy to forget.

I enjoy discussions of philosophy, religion, sociology and politics. I applaud Wikipedia's emphasis on NPOV as an essential target for which to strive. I do think it is possible to present an issue neutrally, although the presentation may be the product of an evolution from a POV to NPOV.

For me it is vital to critique the presentation, not the presenter. I am as subject to the woes of ego as the next person, but I try as much as possible to keep it out of the presentation. As such I tend to ignore personal slights or comments in favour of waiting for something pertinent to the discussion.

Wiki Work

I am relatively new to Wiki, and so far haven't done much. I hope to extend my participation slowly over time.

My contributions to date have included:

Discrepancies (Dune)

Systems thinking

Ken Wilber

Brian Herbert

Scuba diving

Interests

A few areas of interest include:

Awareness I'm interested in the phenomena which lead to Consciousness. Many philosophies and religions discuss or embody different approaches to awareness and even to our awareness of being aware...

Religion What is it and why do we do it repeatedly?

Gnosticism I've always been interested in Gnosticism, doesn't mean I particularly understand it, just that I find it curious.

Politics What is the role of the individual, cog in the machine or grist for the mill... Politics is about Power, in all its myriad forms and expressions.

Frank Herbert I have enjoyed Frank Herbert's writing since high school.

J. R. R. Tolkien LoTR and Silmarillion are my favourites. I find myself fascinated by Tolkien's creation myth in the Silmarillion.

C.S. Lewis The Narnia series are just good stories, and you can take or leave the intent behind them.

Faded Sun Trilogy This is a favourite of mine. Written by author C.J. Cherryh. Can we ever be anything but human?

David Gemmell Has written many good books, I can't comment on all of them, because I haven't yet read them all...

scuba diving More than a passing interest.