Author: Paul Anlee

Canadian author Paul Anlee writes provocative, epic sci-fi in the style of Asimov, Heinlein, Asher, and Reynolds, stories that challenge our assumptions and stretch our imagination. Literary, fact-based, and fast-paced, the Deplosion series explores themes in philosophy, politics, religion, economics, AI, VR, nanotech, synbio, quantum reality, and beyond. "When I was very young, a teacher asked our class to write about what we wanted to be when we grew up. My story was titled 'Me the Everything.' I've been fortunate to come close to fulfilling that dream in my life. Computer programming, molecular biology, nanotechnology, systems biology, synthetic biology, mutual fund sales, and photocopy repair; I've done them all. I've spent way too much of my life in school, eventually earning degrees in computing science (BSc) and in molecular biology and genetics (PhD). 'After decades of reading almost nothing but high-tech science fiction, I decided to take a shot at writing some. I aim for stories that are true to the best available science, while pushing my imagination far beyond the edge of what we know today. I love biology, particle physics, cosmology, artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, politics, and economics. My philosophy is empirical physicalism and I blog regularly about the science and the ideas found in my novels. I believe fiction should educate and stimulate, as much as it entertains. "I currently live in Cuenca, Ecuador where I study Spanish and Chen-style Tai Chi , when I'm not working on exciting and provocative new stories. Visit my web site and blogs at www.paulanlee.com."

Objective Morality: An Empirical Physicalist Approach (Pt. 2)

Free will, determinism, and moral responsibility. As a pragmatic, empirical physicalist, I try to take an evidence-based and reasoned approach to morality. In the first part of this series, I claimed that objective morality is a principle that operates exclusively at the level of species survival. But how can morality ever be objective? After all,…

Philosophy

What “Proof of God” justifies your position? (part four)

This is part four of a four-part series. So God isn’t omnipotent. He’s still the Creator. When believers say, “God is beyond understanding, beyond definition,” they don’t really mean it. At the very least, I would say, there is one characteristic that provides a very clear definition of God: “God is the entity that can…

Religion

What “Proof of God” justifies your position? (part three)

This is part three of a four-part series. Is God all-knowing? Well, this is absurd on so many levels. If God was all-knowing then why were Adam and Eve punished (kicked out of the Garden of Eden) for eating of the forbidden fruit? Didn’t God see that one coming? Is it fair to punish someone…

Religion

What “Proof of God” justifies your position? (part two)

This is part two of a four-part series. What is the nature of the Abrahamic God? Besides creating the universe and life, what does He do? What are His superpowers? There have been many secondary claims made about the Abrahamic God: He is variously claimed to be omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent (all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving). These…

Religion

What “Proof of God” justifies your position? (part one)

What “Proof of God” justifies your position? I begin a four-part series today. Philosophers, theologians, and scientists have been grappling with the issue of God’s existence for millennia. Much of the discussion in past centuries may have been motivated simply by curiosity or by a protest against theological dogma. For many of us in the…

Atheism

Could a “virtual particle chaos” explain the origin of the universe?

In preparing to write the Deplosion series, I wanted to give my ideas as deeply scientific a basis as I could. My formal university training was in Computing Science and then in Molecular Biology and Genetics, so I’m no cosmologist. But Cosmology and Quantum Physics have always been hobbies of mine (begin “geek” comments now)…

Philosophy

Do we have a soul?

Do We Have A Soul? I’ve encountered a number of atheists asking if there are those among us who believe in “ghosts” or “souls.” As you may know, I not only do *not* believe in any God or gods, but I also assert the reality of the physical universe and our ability to understand it…