Your backgrounds?

[tame_deuces]

I'm quite impressed with this forum, I've been to a few forums of similar forums for discussing science/philosophy etc. and there is a lot of exceptionally good posters here.

So I'm just wondering what backgrounds you guys have? Education, career fields, related hobbies and interests and maybe give some honourable mention to favorite work/texts/articles to go with it all. I tried search but didn't find a similar thread.

Maybe the thread is a little off topic and if so I guess the mods can remove it, but as some minor excuse I'll claim that knowing a little about the persons behind the posts could certainly put some interesting perspective on them.

[bunny]

Juggler and acrobat for ten years. Then did a pure maths degree with a little bit of physics and philosophy. Ran a bridge club for several years. I've been running workshops/tutoring/lecturing in all those fields. Started working for a small engineering firm which makes components for racing cars. Now back doing post-graduate accounting qualification (I've been book-keeping through all those jobs).

Favorites:
Mathematician - Cantor
Physicists - Feynman
Philosophers - Dennett
Theologians - Augustine
Circuses - Cirque du Soleil

EDIT: I hope replying doesnt imply I think I'm one of the bright ones... [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[Subfallen]

Is Phil153 a lawyer? I think he is...oh the SUSPENSE.

[bunny]

[ QUOTE ]
Is Phil153 a lawyer? I think he is...oh the SUSPENSE.

[/ QUOTE ]
My bet is university lecturer in some scientific field.

[yukoncpa]

[ QUOTE ]
Juggler and acrobat for ten years

[/ QUOTE ]

Awesome, I’ve never known an actual professional juggler. My favorite comedian, W.C. Fields was a professional juggler way before he was an actor. He juggled for Kings and Queens all over Europe, if I have my story right. He never touched a drop of alcohol for fear of losing his perfect balance. When he became a traveling actor, he was lonely and was able to make friends by always having some booze in his trailer. Later he became an alcoholic and had all sorts of problems.

[Taraz]

I got my B.S. in Symbolic Systems with a concentration in Neuroscience. It is basically a cognitive science major with a mix of computer science, psychology, philosophy, and linguistics.

I just started a PhD program in Psychology/Neuroscience, so I imagine I will be doing more of the same for several years.

A lot of my interest in religion and philosophy comes from my parents who are both Baha'is. My mom is more of a mainstream religious person. I wouldn't quite classify her as a fundamentalist, but she definitely believes in God and some sort of over-arching "magical" power/force. My dad is actually much more interested in it from an academic point of view. He did his PhD on the history of religion and is basically an atheist who enjoys religion (or at least many aspects of religion). A lot of what I post here comes out of conversations I have with my dad about various things.

I guess I really don't have a favorite work, but I read a lot of psychology blogs, articles, and books. There are a million classic studies that I find fascinating, so if anybody is interested in that sort of stuff I can definitely provide recommendations.

[ChrisV]

I have a B.Sc. with majors in organic chemistry and computer science. I also have an interest in biology, psychology & neurology, cosmology, and philosophy.

[Metric]

[ QUOTE ]
So I'm just wondering what backgrounds you guys have? Education, career fields,

[/ QUOTE ]
Ph.D. student in theoretical physics. Thesis is turning out to be defining and creating generally covariant quantum information theory.

[ QUOTE ]
maybe give some honourable mention to favorite work/texts/articles to go with it all

[/ QUOTE ]
Quantum Gravity by Carlo Rovelli, available in preprint form here: http://www.cpt.univ-mrs.fr/~rovelli/book.pdf (far and away the best text on loop quantum gravity and generally covariant quantum theory)

Quantum Theory: Concepts and Methods by Asher Peres (best text on quantum information)

Quantum Mechanics of Measurement by N. Cerf and C. Adami, available here: http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/quant-ph/9605002 (a completely under-appreciated paper from ~10 years ago, which contains a truly beautiful idea on which much of my current work is based)

[vhawk01]

I have a B.Sc. with majors biology and chemistry, and I'm a second year medical student. Probably going to be an internist, or some internal med subspecialty.

[Drag]

Master degree in theoretical physics from a Russian university. At the moment I am a Ph.D. student in France, in engineering and telecommunications.

I switched to applied science as I didn't feel that there wouldn't be any major development in the theoretical physics in my life time. I am looking at it from a practical side, from which General Relativity Theory wasn't quite a big development. (We don't expect to have any application of this theory in the 100+ years to come.)

As for the interests, I am interested in AI development, and I believe that the next major breakthrough would happen with the development of AI in a strong or weak term. Hopefully, I’d find the courage to switch the field once again (after finishing my Ph.D.), and get into the development of AI.