Blog by Armen Danielian

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! It was originally started as a place to store ideas (my brain was running out of memory space), but having it online makes it easier to share those thoughts with others. The range of topics is quite wide, and some of them are very niche; hopefully, there is something of interest…

armendanielian

December 26, 2021

Uncategorized

A Lasting Environment and Lasting Institutions

Originally submitted for Oxford Energy Society blog Climate change is a hot topic (pun intended). As with many hot topics, the momentous forces of the often well-intentioned activism and not-so-well-intentioned political catering threaten to melt away the institutional framework on which progress depends. Two recent examples of such risk come to mind: one from Europe…

armendanielian

September 1, 2023

Social Sciences

climate change, environmental policy

The Bitter Lessons of Roe v Wade

The challenge before the Supreme Court Abortion is not an easy topic to discuss. It is unique in that the contention between the two sides is on a fundamental level. On one hand, it is about woman’s autonomy over her own body; on the other, about the life that is growing inside her body. In…

armendanielian

June 30, 2022

Social Sciences

abortion, law, roe v wade

So, who created God?

It is not rare that in an argument there is a point which one side feels is decisive and powerful, while the other side sees it as hardly worthy of consideration. Arguments on the existence of God are not an exception to this, and probably the most famous example is the question “If God created…

armendanielian

March 12, 2022

Christianity, Philosophy

On political representation and parliamentary quotas (applied to Armenia)

Introduction Someone once said that if philosophers used consistently the same meaning for a given word, most philosophical debates would be instantly resolved. It is worth considering whether the same can be true of political issues, where words like “rights”, “freedom”, and “justice” often carry very different (even opposite) meanings for different people. One that…

armendanielian

January 21, 2022

Social Sciences

Two Essays on Philosophy of Science

Note to the reader: I wrote these two essays as assignments for an online course in philosophy of science. There was a pretty strict word limit, which is why these works are rather packed with ideas and arguments. I decided to leave them here just as they were written, especially since both got a pass…

armendanielian

January 8, 2022

Christianity, Natural Sciences, Philosophy

Philosophy of Science, Problem of Induction, Pseudoscience

Four arguments for the irreducibility of mind

One often reads about the ambitions to explain our minds with chemistry and physics, with algorithmic equations, and the corollary aspirations to create artificial intelligence that would achieve the kind of consciousness and reason that human being possess. Whether such a thing is possible has been a topic of many philosophical debates and discussions. I…

armendanielian

January 4, 2022

Natural Sciences, Philosophy, Social Sciences

AI, Mind, Reductionism

Is there a gender pay gap in Armenia?

Introduction Certainly, some people think so. Lara Techekirian, writing for the Erevan report [1], cites a study from 2020 by UN Women [2], arguing that there is a roughly 10% adjusted (i.e. taking into account differences in occupation sector, job level, working hours, etc) wage gap, and follows up with recommendations of the study on…

armendanielian

December 29, 2021

Social Sciences

Armenia, gender, pay gap

Did orthodox scribes corrupt the New Testament? (Book Review)

Introduction Has the original text of the New Testament been altered by what became the orthodox, traditional Church, and if so, to what extent? The answer to this fascinating question is sometimes presupposed without any reading or investigation. The modern assumption is that history is written by winners, and therefore, precisely because the traditional Christianity…

armendanielian

December 28, 2021

Christianity

bart ehrman, new testament, textual criticism

Random Thoughts on Darwinian Evolution

This post originally appeared as a 3-part series on my Facebook page. I decided to not change anything, and just copy it here. Random Thoughts on Darwinian Evolution It can be discomforting, but also refreshing, to know that scientists are human beings like the rest of us, and can sometimes fall prey to fallacious reasoning…

armendanielian

December 26, 2021

Natural Sciences

darwin, evolution