In the Spirit of Collegial Inquiry...

Colloquy:

Forty Personal Sketches of Charter Members

James:   (JP)   Age: 57   Residence: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA   Occupation: theoretical physicist, recently retired from Sandia National Labs   Companions: my wife and dog.   Interests: physics and math. They also include science fiction, classical music, and some history ... My most recently acquired interest is IQ tests and societies -- I joined Mensa about two years ago, saw ads for ISPE and Triple Nine, joined them, etc, etc, and now {this one}. I have found Darryl's Web Page on IQ stuff very interesting and valuable as a source of information on all the societies and many of the IQ tests available (great job, Darryl!). I liked Julia's article, The Philosopher's Stone, but it made me wish I knew a little more about the Latin classics, or at least who the Emerald Lady might be. I tend to be rather literal-minded, even when reading sci-fi, but I'm sure that reading a few more articles like Julia's will broaden my outlook. I always wished that I had taken the time to study Latin. Now I have the time, and have even bought a text, but haven't gotten very far with it.

Julia   (JCC)

Cal:   (CW)   Age: 35   Residence: Vancouver, Canada.   Occupation: in a security monitoring station at night and by day do freelance programming work.   Interests: a wide range in art, science, philosophy, "spirituality" and to some degree literature. I use the quotes around spirituality because I don't really consider it to be a separate topic from the other categories but more likely the inspiration for all of those categories. A topic that tends to be ignored given its elusive nature even if we consider ourselves to be so inclined.

Andrea   (ALP)   Age: 29   Companions: newly-married   Occupation: writer; in my business incarnation, I freelance for local advertising agencies, but my great passions are short fiction, poetry and scriptwriting (theatre and film).   Interests: Aside from my work, I'm captivated by literature & literary theory, chess, neuroscience, older musical theatre (e.g. Sondheim, Lerner & Loewe, Rodgers & Hart), G & S operettas (most of them...), learning Latin, certain mathematical domains (I'm limited by never having studied Calculus), logic puzzles a la Raymond Smullyan, and reading about my favourite "onomies", "ologies" and "ophies": astronomy & cosmology, psychology, theology, philosophy, anthropology. My musical interests include classical, New Orleans style jazz, old standards, and big band (to be distinguished from my interest in cosmology - ugh, *bad* pun!).

My current scientific reading-focii are fractal geometry (e.g. the Mandelbrot set and other iterative forms), the nature and possible function of dark matter in the universe, and the information garnered by the Hubble (telescope) Deep Field. While I'm generally steeped in the arts, I've also felt the recurrent tug toward the scientific realm since childhood, and tend to evaluate the world in accordance with the scientific method. I hold this view in one hand even as I elevate my felt-belief in an overarching synchronistic principle in the other hand. The poet John Keats would call this juxtaposition 'negative capability', the ability to hold two disparate ideas in mind without judging or trying to synthesize them. This will surely apply in this forum, as I enjoy discussing, and playing with, new viewpoints and ideas. I don't necessarily see my eclectic interests as separate from one-another; there's usually some metaphorical connection to be savoured.

Kevin, TimeLord   (KB)   Interests: Dr. Who, Sherlock Holmes, Commodore vintage computing, poetry, classical music (with an emphasis on Antonio Salieri), physics, philosophy, bibliomania, gardening, camping, playing with my new daughter, modern computing, NASCAR, racing sims, Victor Hugo, learning in general, cosmology and assorted other diversions that escape me.   Occupation: special education teacher focusing primarily on learning and behavioral disabled students. I am married and have a nine month old daughter.

Russ:   (WRW)   Age: 46   Occupation: External Audit Manager. I am not the type of auditor that you dread from the IRS. I audit contracts held by firms that do business with my government entity.   Interests: Although I am in a field that stresses quantitative measurements I am not totally one-sided in my interests. I read as broadly as I can and have dabbled in painting and have had some poetry published in regional chapbooks and small magazines. Still again, I do operate a small income tax business and am certified by the Internal Revenue Service an an Enrolled Agent. So, I am firmly in the grasp number crunching industry.   Companions: I am married and have a son and a stepson who are within two weeks of other in age. They are both avid sportsmen and I am busy with their activities either through coaching and/or fund raising.

William: African-American resource pages   (WRJ)

Vince:   (VWB)   Occupation: conrol tower operator on the suburban division of the Union Pacific railroad. It is sometimes busy but after being there for awhile like most jobs it has become somewhat day-to-day and not very interesting.   Interests: tournament chess, computers, tests, sci-fi, travel, learning new things, talking with others about almost anything interesting so long as we can all have our own ideas about things but still get along. I teach chess to a couple of area high school teams and direct about four or five events a year. In chess I have been a national master since early 93 but would still like to someday get an international title. Maybe someday when time permits.

Eric: Tales of the Mine Country   (EM)   Residence: Lutherville, Maryland, USA   Age: 68  Companions: married, wife Florence, son Edgar. Education:   mostly music. I played in the big bands in the 1940's (none famous, but we all played the same music). At that time I played in concert bands, marching bands, jazz combos, and for Polish weddings, also church performances of all sorts. Later, I went to Peabody Conservatory for about 7 years, then played classical and chamber music. I studied, in order: saxophone, clarinet, piano, oboe, recorder, and organ. At one point, I had a Steinway grand and a Conn theatre organ in the living room, which were tuned to each other at least twice a year. I actually bought the house for the big living room, to have the instruments and room enough for musicians and guests to be comfortable. When I was young, I decided to play 50 years and quit, which I did. I wanted to be a writer, and I did so. I am now an author and publisher, also editor and book dealer. I have two books in the Library of Congress.

Laura   (LDL)

Lisa:   (LM)   Age: 38   Education: Ph.D. in Sociology last August ('97)   Occupation: assistant professor at a university in Texas. In my professional life, I study marriages and family interactional processes. Basically what that means is that I'm interested in how people interact, how they think about how they interact, and how what they think influences their behavior.   Interests: lean heavily toward the social sciences, including sociology, social psychology, psychology, and anthropology. I have a particular interest in the Freudians, and in the history of psychoanalysis, but from a critical standpoint, a la Russell Jacoby and Jeffrey Masson. I know little about, but am interested in literature, poetry, the Classics, spirituality, etc. I know more about art (have 3/4ths of a master's degree in art history). I have few interests in and know basically nothing about technical subjects. I'm still not clear as to whether I believe that high abilities influence people's social adjustment, or if there are other factors, perhaps in combination with high abilities. In line with the subject of emotional adjustment and giftedness, I'm a real fan of Dabrowski

Patrick   (PTW)   Sex: M   Age: 45   Residence: on Colorado Front Range.   Education: MA in Math.   Occupation: Not employed in my field   Test history: includes a childhood WISC I don't quite believe, but also {six supervised} verifiable scores. I usually avoid racist trolls and politely decline to debate religious doctrine.   Politics: an odd mix of pseudo- Randite libertarianism and Yippie leftism; both wings tolerate another's right to hold variant opinions.   Interests: I will discuss philosophy, but eschew learned jargon. As someone who occasionally breaks test ceilings, I have a hobby interest in IQ tests and evidence for extreme human ability. I am particularly intrigued by questions about the rarity of high IQ, or, if you will, the frequency of extreme ability. I also like to think about the variant suites of abilities individuals have. For example, I'm stellar in some areas, yet lack a visual memory of my own wife's face, and prefer not to sing or dance.

Adriano:   (AMu)   Age: 31   Residence: Rome   Companions: my girl friend and a cat.   Occupation: physicist, in telecommunications, a Network System Engineer   Interests: science, science fiction ( books and films ), sport (I love flying with my glider in the blue sky ! ) and psychology. I joined Mensa Italy ( International ) about one and half years ago.

Hyung-min:   (KHm)   Residence: Seoul, Korea   Birth: 1964   Companions: married   Occupation: clerk   Interests: Mensa member since 1985.

Kevin's Domain   (FWM)

Ulf's Artwork   (UN)   Sex: M   Age: 38   Residence: Huddinge, Sweden   Education: M.A. In Theoretical Philosophy (Uppsala Univ., 1981), certificates in Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science   Occupation: Systems Development Engineer   Interests: Computers, Photography, Painting, Walking in Nature, Literature. Read about the Greatest Geniuses of history.

Ed's Radio Resume  (ES)   Residence: Colorado, USA. There is additional insight into my persona at estival.com/annual.htm. I hope to contribute to the ongoing discussions in the future. I'm still reading what's up on the site now. Great fun!

Jarrod: resume, with more to come   (JN)   Residence: Indiana, USA.   note on the URL - It's dry. Very dry.   I'm currently finishing up a Ph.D. program and am in job-search mode, and so I don't have much there that isn't related to that. I'm told that web sites can spook potential employers. I'm working (albeit slowly) on a parallel, less staid page that will, most likely, end up on the tctc.com site. Since that site isn't done yet, I'd probably go with the brief-sketch- in-the-first-posting route, or whatever alternate means is needed.

Frank presents the Pragmatism of C. S. Peirce   (FPP)   Residence: New York City, USA.   I am very pleased to see the Colloquy site. I belonged to TNS and ISPE about ten years ago, but got fairly little out of either. The Internet is just what was missing.

Mike R:   (MR)   Formal education:   B.S. in math, psychology, certificate in programming. Employment:   programmer/analyst. Some favorite movies:   2001, Dr. Strangelove, Annie Hall, The Terminator, Before Sunrise, Pulp Fiction, Dark City, His Girl Friday, A Boy and His Dog, Choose Me, Gregory's Girl, Romancing the Stone, Pauline at the Beach. Some favorite authors:   Alfred Bester, Robert Heinlein, Pauline Kael, Stanislaw Lem, Henry Miller, Ian Fleming, Robert B. Parker, Joseph Wambaugh, Theodore Sturgeon, Frank Herbert, Robert Silverberg, Ray Bradbury, Olaf Stapledon, James Clavell, Michael Crichton. TV:   Outer Limits, King of the Hill, Star Trek, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Prisoner, The Gong Show, Then Came Bronson. Music:   McCoy Tyner, Johnny Winter, Pete Christlieb, Dave Frishberg, John McLaughlin, Poncho Sanchez, Chet Baker, Art Tatum, Charles Fambrough, Bobby Watson, Nat Cole, Jeff Beck, Beatles, Dan Hicks, Kid Creole, Nick Lowe, Todd Rundgren, Roger Miller, Lisa Stansfield, Liane Foly, among many others. Some interests:   computers, reading, running, guitar, investing, uncluttered living, quantum reality, science fiction, Sam Adams beer and beer making, travel, trivia, photography, scuba diving. Some interesting experiences:   Dove down to 800' at Grand Cayman in a 3-man submersible, saw the shuttle Discovery take off with the Hubble telescope, lived in Lille, France for 3 months, visited Esalen-Big Sur, tried out for Jeopardy!, made a couple of parachute jumps, travelled to Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong.

Video Mike   (ME)

Bill: Website Ailanto   (WPP)

Alex   (TsC)   ... born in Mainland China, and grown-up in Hong Kong. I'm working towards my PhD in physics in Florda. My work is related to the theory of magnetic nanostructures, which are devices of the size of 1/1000 micron ... interests: science, astronomy, computing, web-surfing, photography, listening to music, and recently business, economy, politics.

Adrian: (AMi)   birth:   1959 in a Jewish family in Bucharest, Romania. There, I had a difficult childhood and adolescence because of anti-Semitism and a somewhat abusive father. I education:   graduated in 1984 from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest with the equivalent of a MS in Electronics and Telecommunications. After the "Romanian Revolution" I left Romania for Paris, France, where I met my future wife. family:   wife and daughter at home in Sunnyvale; brother in Paris and mother and most of my other relatives are in Israel. vocation:   Software Engineer for the last 14 years in different companies, start-ups or research labs, now at CommerceOne. interests:   sciences, philosophy, technology, mysticism, yoga, internet, stock market, nature, driving, ping pong, Aikido, travel, hiking, computers, soccer, videos.

Derrick   (DPG)   Born: September 12, 1956 in Menen (Belgium)   Family History: My family belongs to a very old family settled in Normandy before the year 1000. Part of the family moved to Great Britain with William the Conqueror in 1066 an other part remained in Normandy (Rouen) till the French Revolution. Nearly the whole family was killed in France in 1792.   Life Companions: I am living in Belgium, married with Belinda. I have 2 daughters Anne-France and Marie-Charlotte.   Mother tongue: Dutch and French.   See link for more information on my professional career ... Interests: Mainly in Strategic Thinking, History of mathematics (how did people arrive to certain conclusions), History, genealogy and heraldry (how did societies organized themselves and what were the power mechanism of decision taking ), Didactic (How can one be thought in such way that he learns quicker and that he becomes more skillful or Intelligent ).   Sport: Golf   Membership: Mensa and TNS.

Juan   (JRG)   Name: Joan (John in catalan language)   Age: 39   Residence: Barcelona (Spain)   Occupation: Telecom Engineer, I work in Telefónica, a spanish PTT   Companions: my wife, my three children and my cat.   Interests: Math, Physics, Philosophy, Neurology, Classical Music. Lastly, I am trying to have an overview of Math sciences from the point of view of their history. I also have interest in high-IQ aspects.

  Andrew:  (AJ)   23 yr old, male, philosophy graduate student. At the moment my interests are of necessity quite specific to my studies (philosphy of language and philosphy of mind, and science) ... but when I had more freedom I enjoyed visual arts and literature. My favorite playwright is Tom Stoppard, and Ludwig Wittgenstein my favorite philosopher.

Frank   (FT)   Residence: Schenectady, NY, USA   ... currently a member of American Mensa, the Camelopard Society, Intertel, the Triple Nine Society, and the I.S.P.E. My autobiography was recently published in the August 1998 issue of Telicom, the journal of the I.S.P.E. In short, I am a 42 year-old male, engaged to my beloved .... I am employed as the Marketing and Sales Manager for an environmental firm that recycles hazardous industrial wastes. Hobbies and interests which consume me are sailing, wooden boat building and restoration, astronomy, short-wave and amateur radio, reading anything factual, cooking, etc.

Jake:  (TJW)   Residence: Florida, USA   Birth: Brownsville, Texas, 1940's   ... My first language was Spanish; I had difficulty with English, especially spelling, from my first years in school. To this day, I speak Spanish more fluently than English, even though I score high on verbal aptitude. My early schooling, through high school, was dominated by athletics, where I was a state champion sprinter. I did not put much effort into academics until the last two tears of college. Thereafter I earned three graduate degrees including a PhD in information science ... I continue to powerlift, another not common hobby of the high IQ ... have lived and travelled all over the world, Europe and Latin America mostly, maintaining a home in Cozumel, Mexico ... currently teaching computer classes at a career college.

Paul:   (PFK)   Residence: Virginia, USA   Birth: Pittsburgh, 1956.   married; BSE in Nuclear Engineering from U. Mich, with extensive postgraduate studies in physics and engineering sciences; MBA; has worked in scientific, intelligence, and diplomatic spheres and is a holder of several software copyrights.   Avocations: flying, reading, sports, movies, woodworking.

Cindy:   (CYD)   Lately from Spokane, Washington; originally (1957) from the L.A. area, land of delicious fruit. My marital status fluctuates periodically; currently I’m single (widowed 1997). I work as support staff for a government education agency and I have access to your FBI file, so be nice. Recently I realized my kids were nearly grown, so decided to return to college and pick up where I left off, my junior year, pre-law. Since that was over 20 years ago, there are a few credits to make up, but I’m determined to plod away until I have B.A. in hand, probably in sociology. I’m by turns intense and laughing out loud whatever I’m doing, whether it’s spouting my opinions (I have an unlimited supply), watching foreign films, dancing (at clubs; or contra--a hugely fun type of folk dancing; or ethnic), reading (from novels to doctoral dissertations), or remodeling (the one constant in my life--house built in 1905). Not an expert in anything, I'm interested in just about everything, except technology, and every kind of music, except Yanni (I also perform a bit). Uniqueness? I’ll put down my irreverent sense of humor: I can find humor-irony-satire in virtually every situation. Pet subjects at present: cultural literacy,  and cosmology. Pet peeves at present: hoaxes being passed along by e-mail, and contrived attempts at being heartwarming.

Wayne:   (WAP)   Birth: 16 Nov '54 ... married since '77, with a son and a daughter in their teen years   Residence: Colorado, USA   Vocations: middle school instrumental music teacher (band/orchestra) 20 years; church youth director (part-time), 20 years   Degrees: Bachelors in Music Education; Masters in Education (secondary math emphasis) equivalent of Bachelors in Mathematics   Interests: running (marathons), martial arts, music, education, math, reading, theology, computers, psychology   Motto: " The only difference between what is possible and what is impossible is that the impossible takes longer. "   Narrative:   I was first made aware of my intellectual potential in 8th grade when the school district allowed us to see our IQ scores ... However, I have never joined a high IQ society because I am significantly introverted. The idea of joining a " club " is not very appealing to me ...   In recent years, I have realized that I have also been hiding or masking my intelligence in order to avoid standing out and drawing attention to myself.   At the same time, I am becoming more and more interested in learning/intellectual stimulation. Colloquy caught my attention because it is online, which offers me the best of both worlds: I can remain comfortably introverted and be challenged at the same time.

Mick   (MoR)   Residence: Oklahoma, USA   Age: 63, male   Occupation: real estate sales   Education: BS Geology   Odd Jobs: ice man, roughneck, geologist, stockbroker   Talents: IQ, honesty, curiosity, and persistence.

Carl   (CRS)   Residence:  Pasco, Washington, USA   Birthplace/ year:   Moscow, Idaho, 1954   marital status:   Happily Married   education:   Electronics Engineering, 1975   interests/ hobbies:   Not enough room to list them all.  As with many, my interests and hobbies are constantly in flux.  Of late, the Internet is consuming wads of time.  I also am involved in community service, currently  as an elected member of the Pasco City Council, and serve on several state,  local, and private boards and commissions.  I dabble in Amateur Radio, trout hunting, astronomy, gardening, boating, firearms collecting shooting and reloading, writing fiction for fun with near zero chances of becoming a NY Times best seller.   my non-uniqueness is that I feel very unique, but I'm not sure why. . . ?

Ange-Marc :   (AMA)   Residence: Lyon, France   Age: 43   marital status: divorced   vocation: computer analyst   interests/ hobbies: member of Mensa France; I seek through Colloquy a fertile and major dialogue, without forgetting the possibility of working my English with intelligent people!

David   (DGH)   Residence: Tom Bean, Texas   Birthplace/year: Roswell, New Mexico/1956   Marital status: Married, two children   Vocation: Mechanical engineer currently working as the manager of a small technical team.   Interests/hobbies: Mathematics, computers, bread-baking, growing tomatoes, all things mechanical.   List of favorites ...   author: Mark Twain   movie: Animal House   tune: Darktown Strutters Ball -- played on my 1912 Edison record player   beer: Weisse Bier   wine: That pink stuff with the screw-on cap. Better yet, give me a beer!   foods: Crawfish etouffee. Also, the fried pork dumplings I used to eat at a small eatery in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Thu   (TPN)   My area is religion, science, medieval theology, issues of consistency, boundaries of reason, nature and existence of God and comparative cosmology of both the scientific and mythological. I hope to pursue a PhD in religion. I lost faith in philosophy due to several professional and personal reasons. On the side, I also work as a market data researcher for the U.S. Postal Service Headquarters here in Washington D.C. 28/F.

T.M. Lukas Hughes   (TLH)   Residence:Eastern Kentucky, USA / Berlin, Germany   city & nationality: US American   Marital Status: Single/Divorced   year of birth: 1963   vocation: multi-media artist, photographer and fillmaker   avocations: Childrens book illustration and writing, equine sports, bow-hunting, precision shooting, antique firearms, planetary astronomy, antique photography, postcard collecting, acarology (ticks and mites), symbolic Logic, foreign languages and cultures, sociology, philosophy, theology (world religions) and Contemporary Expressionism.   Languages: English and German.   Favorite books: The Little Prince - Saint-Exupery, Man and His Symbols - Jung, Jonathan Livingston Seagull - R. Bach, Zarthustra's Discourses - Nietzsche, Alice in Wonderland - Carroll, The Metamorphosis - Kafka.   Favorite Films: Jean d'Florette - Berri, L'Argent de Poche - Truffaut, My Dinner with Andre - Malle, Le Grand Chemin - Hubert.   Artistic Inspirations: Graham Ovenden, Brian Froud, Jock Sturges, Lewis Carroll, O.J. Reijlander, VanGogh, DaVinci, Monet, Grant Lund, Truffaut, and Malle.   Personal Inspirations: The concept of God, people, drinking Earl Grey with honey at an outdoor cafe in Paris in the fall and my wonderful children Clair, Derek and Jessica.

Aji   (AKA)   Residence: Arizona, USA  Birthplace: Kerala, India

Mary :   (MTR)   Birthplace/Residence: Born in Berkeley, CA; now reside in Texas.   Education: MA, history; MS in biology (in progress).   Vocation: Graduate student in neurobiology, applicant to medical school. I run a small medical transcription service.   Interests: Nutrition, the healing arts, cognition enhancement, weird science, philosophy of physics, history of science.   List of favorites ...   recent books read: An Anthropologist on Mars (neurology) by Oliver Sacks, The Physics of Immortality (on AI) by Frank Tipler, Jupiter's Daughter (sci fi) by Tom Hyman.   movies: Revenge of the Nerds, Back to School, Emma, The Shawshank Redemption, The Razor's Edge.   scientist heroes: Rosalyn Franklin, Barbara McClintock, Candace Pert, Kilmer McCully, Kary Mullis, Jacques Benveniste.   Hobbies: Cats, gardening, experimenting with food.

Notes from Julia:   No e-mail addresses here, in support of privacy, while recognizing that servers generally do not support relaying, anyway. We leave it to members to provide any e-mail links and more complete identity on their own pages. These listings are intended for member- to-member introduction ... and also to reveal a bit of the intellectual diversity of Colloquy. It's quite an interesting group!

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