Truth

There are no souls, no ghosts, no afterlife, no supernatural deities.

No magic, no supernatural demons, elves or witches.

No fate, no luck, no destiny or telling the future.

There are no vast conspiracies of doctors or scientists.  Our planet has not been visited by intelligent aliens.  There are no psychic powers or shared dream time.  Global warming is happening.  All living species share a universal common descent.  We did land on the moon.

And you know what?  The universe is still a beautiful place...

Beauty

Belief in a supernatural deity is not a pre-requisite for having moral values.  My ethics are precedent Utilitarian and my personal style is Taoist.  I'm an altruist, an optimist and generally a nice, helpful and constructive person to live with.

I think we could all benefit from being a bit nicer to one another.  Ideally before we destroy each other and the entire planetary ecosystem.  How to manage that is a question of politics...

Freedom

Politically I'm financially conservative and socially liberal.  However bear in mind that I'm from the United Kingdom, so that probably doesn't mean what you think it does.

I'm pro-tolerance and anti-discrimination on grounds of gender, race, nationality, age, non-relevant ability (eg blind or wheel-chair bound), sexuality, and a number of other things.

I'm for balanced budgets but also investing for the future; the rule of law but also rehabilitation; freedoms of travel, thought, association and political publication, but also public scrutiny and the Social Contract; the freedom to make binding agreements between consenting adults, but also a social security net.

Love

I love my family.

I love myself.

I love science.

I love nature.

I love crisp snow in the sunlight.

I love snuggling under a warm duvet.

I love drinking mead around a camp fire on a clear night.

I love definitions that are both precise and useful.

I love big ideas.