so I did a thing a while back

[Peter Kirby]

I helped a prof to complete a paper analyzing Chinese texts regarding a question in the history of philosophy.

Religion, Brain & Behavior
Volume 11, 2021 - Issue 1
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/IK5H ... 20.1742778

There was a 4-5 year gap between my work doing this and the eventual publication. The primary author did all the heavy lifting of writing. I did contribute some comments, especially regarding the presentation of the data analysis that I did.

As I understand it, and as you can read in the paper, the question is whether ancient China should be described as having a "moralizing high god" supposition behind the development of their culture. This is a particular instance of a general question in philosophy, where some people have theorized that advanced societies generally found a catalyst in their belief in a moralizing high god (not necessarily monotheism strictly). The main concern here is whether ancient China is a counter example (as the paper contends) or, instead, just conforms to this theory.

This is now my second time being a listed author on a publication, with the first one being something composed for the JHC over twenty years ago, when I was very young and more passionate about apologetics (or perhaps it should be called counter-apologetics). That one was "The Case Against the Empty Tomb." It was more often read as a contribution to the book edited by Price and Lowder.

I think that one thing I've learned is that the quality of a publication record is more important than its existence or extant. It wouldn't be very hard for a determined person to rack up publications with enough effort, somewhere and somehow. What's harder is getting them more visibility in more respected academic organs, getting positive reviews and reactions from others in the field, being cited as a reference used as support for other papers, and advancing the state of the field with new and genuine knowledge.

Or, just at the root of the matter, making a contribution that is meaningful.