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!
Welcome Dave, is that cat taped to your shoulder by any chance?
I'm sure you will like it here, just don't expect too much as it takes a while to build up a following.
Ill resteem this so my followers can hopefully read about your likes and such. :)
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Thanks! The cat was taped to my shoulder funnily enough! It looks like a great community, and have come across a lot of interesting stuff already. Really looking forward to getting involved. And cheers for the resteem, I really appreciate it!
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Welcome! :D
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Thank you! Am really looking forward to joining in the community! :)
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Hello Dave and welcome to Steemit! You seem a very interesting person - as much as the cat with an evil/conjuring expression on your shoulder - and I'm sure you will be able to create value for this platform. Are you a teacher by any chance?
However, I've to say that you already have the right mindset for here and you'll surely be able to create a coherent and interesting blog. On the other hand, If you want to feel less bound to certain topics and more free to wander from a subject to another, this Steemit is a borderless ocean of material and communities.
In case you want to join my Finish the Ficiton contest it would be nice to see what your brilliant mind can produce, also you'll gain some reward.
Also, allow me to tell you about..
The @greetersguild is a great community that cares for newbies and helps them. We at @greetersguild genuinely want to see users learn, earn and grow.
Join us and we'll grow together! This is our discord channel.
If you need anything, do not hesitate and contact me..enjoy and keep up the good steemin!
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Hi f3nix, thank you for taking the time to respond with such a warm welcome, and with so much helpful information. It's very much appreciated! :D I will definitely check out the greetersguild, that sounds like it will be really useful and helpful while I find my bearings and get used to the way things work. I'm really looking forward to my time here's everyone has been so friendly and helpful so far, it makes a really refreshing change to some of the other communities I've tried. And I'll definitely have a look at the Finish my fiction contest. It's not something I've ever really tried before so would be interesting and a new challenge! And no, I'm not a teacher, though do have plans on becoming a tutor locally soon hopefully, just finishing off a degree first!
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Great vibes and you're a cool guy Dave, I hope to see you both in my contest this Wednesday and in the amazing greetersguild. Steemit is friendly but also may show a certain level of indifference..at least till your vote is worth nothing or little. Try to interact, enjoy writing and partecipate to initiatives/communities with good comments. Another thing: you're skilled in writing, a well made and enough long-original article will capture the attention of @curie and its trail for a majestic vote.. there's a lot to learn, if you need help tell me 🙂
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I can live with indifference from people! Hopefully I'll still be able to find some interesting people to have discussions with on a wide range of topics. Am hoping to become active in other people's comments as well as my own, as discussion is what I'm mostly on the lookout for, as well as some exposure for my own work of course! And thank you for the offer of help, I definitely appreciate it and will more than likely take you up on the offer as I get to grips with Steemit. :)
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The steem/sbd/sp ecosystem is a bit more complicated than an average fb or reddit.. I am still learning many of the features and opportunities it offers. Let's see in each other blog.. ✌️
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Welcome to steemit Dave :)
You certainly have a lovely and exciting profile over here. Bring us your stories and socialise here . U will certainly be appreciated by wonderful steemit family . Welcome again
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Thank you for your very kind and warm welcome! :) I'm looking forward to sharing my blog and meeting other members of the community.
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Welcome to Steemit! Wish you all the best!
Looking forward to your next post :)
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Thank you for your warm welcome and taking the time to reply, I appreciate it. :)
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Hi Dave, I picked up your post from @steevc.
I'm based in west Wales. We had the first Wales steemit meetup a couple of months back.
Hopefully there will be another soon.
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I'm in North Wales, in the Snowdonia area, but a meetup sounds pretty cool! Let me know when and where in the future, would definitely like to try and attend!
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@pumpkinsandcats is near your way and she was interested in having a north Wales meetup.
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Hey! Great to see another SteemitWales Newbie!!! Yes not too far away at all. We often take the dog to Snowdonia.
Welcome @trolleydave
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Welcome... A bit late I know. rationality, science, atheism, religion, Wales and ZX Spectrum, are all things I have studied intensely in the last year as they all are part of the comic I am working on. I will try to follow your posts!
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Thanks for the welcome! :D That sounds like an incredibly interesting comic! What made you include Wales in it? Had already followed you because I saw your post about picking up the Seneca book. Had added you for future philosophy posts from you, but now I'm really intrigued about the comic! Will keep an eye out for posts on the comic, it sounds pretty awesome from the topics you mention studying for it!
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The comic is free for all and you can start reading it here: phillfromgchq.co.uk. It is the kind of project that authors love and the readers only sometimes love, where nothing is decided from the beginning and everything is new and interesting... also for the creator. It is satire and it touches the subjects mentioned in a not too serious way. Wales and ZX Spectrum plays important roles though. Wales was chosen because I needed the Celtic heartlands and Wales is the one closest to the GCHQ headquarter in Cheltenham. After having studies the history of Wales I am actually happy I choose it. Ireland and Scotland often runs with the Celtic kitsch trophy. But Wales has the language and some interesting and crazy stories.
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Welcome to steemit. I hope you like this. Beautiful introducing post. Upvote and Resteem done.
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Thanks for the very kind welcome! And thank you for upvoting and Resteeming, I really appreciate it! :D
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Hello and welcome. I am interested in most topics you announce that you will write about, so I will follow your writing. I wish you great Steemit experience!
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Hi! Thanks for your very kind welcome, and for following my writing. I really appreciate it, and hope you find at least some of it interesting. And please don't hesitate to comment with any questions or matters you want to discuss, I always enjoy discussion on the topics mentioned. :)
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You are welcome!
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Welcome here, Dave!!! Steemit is a cozy community full of nice people!
Ps: that cat is simply wonderful, wow!
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Hi silviabeneforti! Thanks for the very kind welcome! :) The cat is definitely wonderful! He's known locally as 'the bus stop cat', and comes and keeps people company while they wait for the bus. It's one of the friendliest and most affectionate cats I've ever met!
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I would make a meme of that picture around the theme of a serial killer cat :-P (I agree simply wonderful, and evil hahah)
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That would be awesome, f3nix! And I might actually pinch your idea, the owners of the cat would love it! He's something of a local celebrity, so the village would probably enjoy seeing him turned into a meme! :D
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(an evil one, may I precise)
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Interesting article, you're done! Welcome to Steemit, I wish you successful development. I followed you, I hope you will follow me. Upvoted! ;)
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Hi! Thanks for the best wishes, and for following me, I really appreciate it. :D I'll definitely follow you back!
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Hi @trolleydave, you have made an impressive intro, I just put your intro reference in my post, if you like it then please upvote and follow me, otherwise please comment in that post, then i will remove your link.
https://steemit.com/life/@sultanmr/best-new-steemers-introductory-posts---page-2-1524436155-07368
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Thank you for sharing my intro, I really appreciate it! :)
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Welcome to steemit @trolleydave. Join @minnowsupport project for more help. Checkout @helpie and @qurator projects.
Send SBD/STEEM to @treeplanter to plant trees and get an get an upvote in exchange of your donation (Min 0.01 SDB)
Upvote this comment to keep helping more new steemians
Send SBD/STEEM to @tuanis in exchange of an upvote and support this project, follow for random votes.
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Thank you for the welcome, and for the very useful and handy information about getting started!
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Love your cat. I love Pac-Man. I was born in 1985 in Oregon and grew up with Mario and Sonic. Love video games and basketball and cats. Grew up in a ghetto. I love films too.
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Mario and Sonic are good games to grow up with! I was always more of a fan of the Mario games than the Sonic games, mostly because the Mario games had a little more 'depth' to them and also the nostalgia of Donkey Kong behind them, but the Sonic games were always really good fun. Well, except maybe Sonic Spinball! Hopefully you'll find a few of my future posts about games and films interesting and we can get into discussions about them. Always happy to chat with film and game fans! And sadly, it's not my cat. It's basically the village cat! He has an actual owner, but spends most of his time wandering around the village greeting people, and keeps them company at the bus stop. It's affectionately know in the village as 'Bus Stop Cat'!
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Welcome to steemit Dave! Came for the funny pic but stayed for the nice content :D Looking forward to reading more from you about philosophy and related topics. Followed you :)
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Who could resist the picture of the cat! I'm glad I took my girlfriend's advice and used it, she said the picture alone would have pulling power! :D Hope to chat philosophy with you in the future. Thanks for taking the time to welcome me and follow me, I really appreciate it!
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Welcome to steemit Dave!
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Thank you! :D
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Welcome to Steemit Dave. My friend @slobberchops mentioned you. Looks like your first post is doing well, but that's not guaranteed. It takes time to build a following here, but there's a very interesting bunch of people here. Great material for a psychologist.
Have fun!
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Thanks @steevc! Yeah, I'm definitely not expecting to get this kind of response again in all honesty. Am shocked that I got such an incredible response. If it wasn't for @slobberchops helping me out with the resteem like he did I probably would have got 1% of the response I did. And thank you for resteeming it as well, I really appreciate the helping hand, it's really kind of you. Have already been looking through the tags I'm most interested in and have found a lot of good pieces and people that I'm hoping to join in conversation with. I'm a little strapped for time until my degree ends in June, but plan on joining in much more regularly after that. Like you say, there's a very interesting bunch of people here!
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Whalecum to Steemit! Looking forward to reading your posts, I feel like I could learn a little something new from them.
Also that kitty is too cute! Why don't any of my cats want to chill on my shoulder like that :(
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Thanks! :D And if you do find anything interesting in what I post, please don't hesitate to comment with questions or counter-arguments. I enjoy good discussion!
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Will definitely do, I look forward to that! :3
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Greetings @trolleydave, welcome to steemit and please improvise all your thoughts and hobbies here, but i'm interested in your cat, he looks like my cat “Timmy” please sey hello to him
![IMG20180420205934.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXA16CCm94Ps6Et1do5h5Kz2sMPgK5bFUpPBd8Bm9WTx3/IMG20180420205934.jpg)
https://steemit.com/animalphotography/@total88/timmy
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Hello Timmy! :D And hello @total88! That's definitely a lovely cat, and really does look like the one in my picture. Unfortunately the one in my picture isn't mine, it's a village mascot. It wanders around the village all day greeting people, and likes to keep people company while they wait for the bus!
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oh yes its friendly cat and happy to accompany people, nice @tholleydave
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Excellent introduction, far too many big words for my limited intelligence but the fact I saw 'atheism' and 'c64' piqued my interest:-)
Have a dictionary in hand ready for your first post!
Welcome
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Thanks! :D And nah, you won't need a dictionary ready for my first post! I try to write in a way that's readable for as many people as possible. How are people supposed to tell me how wrong I am if they can't read the post in the first place! But if you're interested in arguments to do with atheism then hopefully you'll find something you like, it's what most of my writing in the past has been about and I'll be sharing it all here over the next month or so. The c64 stuff will mostly be me suffering from nostalgia, so am always happy to join in conversations with other beige box fans!
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Welcome! Looking to hear your film related musings!
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Thanks for the welcome!
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Welcome Dave, from another Brit.
Good luck on your Steem journey!
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Thanks for the welcome and the luck!
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As a stoic, I rid myself of all passions but Philosophy :)
Welcome to Steemit. Good to have you here.
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Thanks for the welcome, I really appreciate it!
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Welcome @trolleydave look forwards to your content
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Thanks for the welcome! Hope you find some of my content interesting. :)
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Hi Dave,
Sounds like a diverse and in-depth range of subjects. We will keep your mind in mind. I find philosophy is interesting, though I do like it best when it is poetic sounding.
There are unexpected finds of philosophers all over the world, and even if one doesn't agree it's a delight to engage.
Bless ya and warm welcomes
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Thanks for the very kind and warm welcome! I can understand preferring philosophy when it sounds more poetic. It gives it a far less dry feel, and a kind of warmth that straight forward analytic style doesn't. It's one of the reasons I really enjoy reading philosophy written in the style of a dialogue. Unfortunately my writing skills aren't that good yet! But hopefully in the future I'll get there.
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welcome![sigpic vrvisuals.png](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmVsBvnCgVbM7YnZ8hdvCY9BjqDWsDQw7itFyoTpMRJPXd/sigpic%20vrvisuals.png)
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Welcome to Steemit @trolleydave!
I wish you much success and hope you find Steemit to be as rewarding and informative as I have.
Here are some links you might find useful.
Your stats on SteemNow
Your stats on SteemWorld
Your stats on SteemD
How to use Minnow Booster
How does Steemit actually work?
Introbot is hosted and managed with donations from @byColeman to help make your journey on Steemit be truly rewarding. Your feedback is always welcome so that we may improve this welcome message.
Oh yea, I have upvoted you and followed you. Many blessings from @introbot & @bycoleman
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Welcome Dave. I found your post thanks to @slobberchops. I look forward to reading your posts and hopefully some interesting discussion.
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Éxito, saludos desde Venezuela.
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Hi Aaron! Thank you for the kind welcome! Had a check of your page and found some pretty interesting stuff, so have given you a follow and look forward to more content in the future. If there's any way I can help you out just give me a shout. In a community it's always better to lift up than punch down! :)
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Hi Dave. I followed you back. I'm not an expert but one thing I've learned so far is that on steemit your network matters. Good content is great but it doesn't matter if no one is seeing it. And if you're able to build a network of followers interested in your preferred topic you'll do well. But I recommend reading the FAQs and any related articles you can about how steemit works. I'll keep an eye out for your future posts and good luck.
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