About Laird Shaw
Autobiographical
๐ซ Straight โ๏ธ male of ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scottish, ๐ฎ๐ช Irish, and ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ English descent.
๐ฟ๐ฆ Born in South Africa in 1977.
๐จโ๐ฉโ๐งโ๐ฆ One younger biological ๐ฉ sister, plus an older ๐ฉ stepsister, and an older again ๐จ stepbrother. ๐ชฆ Deceased ๐ฉโ๐ผ mother. Living ๐จโ๐ผ father and ๐ฉโ๐ผ stepmother.
๐ฆ Australian resident and citizen, having immigrated here with my family in 1987.
๐ซ Completed high school in 1994.
๐งโ๐ Enrolled in a Bachelor of Engineering (๐ฅ๏ธ Computer Systems) at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) immediately after high school.
๐ฑ Beset by existential psychospiritual difficulties, I abandoned my degree about two thirds of the way through.
โฉ Since then, I have ๐งณ travelled around Australia a couple of times, taking about a year for each trip, ๐จ๐ปโ๐ผ worked - occasionally, on and off - an assortment of jobs, had a few adventures including at a ๐ฒ forest logging protest camp, and otherwise lived a fairly insular, mostly ๐ online life.
Views
๐ชฝ Generally left wing, with some exceptions.
๐งฌ Basic ethic of respect for all life (sentience), human and beyond.
Causes
โ Animal (and non-human living beings in general) rights and liberation.
โ๏ธ Restorative justice for the dispossessed, colonised, and occupied.
๐ Ending coercive psychiatry.
โฎ Peace.
๐ณ๏ธ Direct, aka participatory, and especially digital (online), democracy.
(Not a comprehensive list, just those uppermost in my mind).
Interests
๐ช Percussion (playing and listening to).
๐ถ Music in general (listening to).
โ๏ธ Philosophy (contemplating and debating more so than reading).
โ๏ธ Poetry (writing more than reading).
๐จ๐ปโ๐ป Software development.
๐ฅผ Parapsychology and related matters.
Personal website
This (creativeandcritical.net) is it.
Other sites of mine
On withrespect.net.au, I have made a start at outlining a philosophy and world vision.
Other sites I help maintain
I am one of the ten co-founders of Psience Quest, a discussion board focussed on parapsychology and related matters, and I help with its hosting and administration.
Many years ago, I helped to set up the comp.lang.c wiki, and developed its treeview skin. I currently host and administer that wiki. It is very incomplete and a bit of an abandoned ghost site at the moment. I welcome contact from anyone (potentially) interested in reviving it.