The general masthead for this blog (currently) says: "Writing about
computers, life, and society from the perspective of a 'poly Quaker
Taoist' living in the Triangle region of North Carolina." I thought
it might be helpful to say a little more about what "my perspective"
actually is, when writing about "life" or "society". There are
more facts about me that could help you to understand "where I'm
coming from", beyond the fact that I label myself as polyamorous, and
as simultaneously a Quaker and a Taoist.
One of those facts is that ... while almost my entire working life has
been as a computer professional, of one sort or another ... my
academic major was Philosophy.
In fact, I have three degrees: an "A.B" (Bachelor's) from Cornell, and
an M.A. and Ph.D., both from the University of California at Berkeley;
and all three of them are in Philosophy, not (for example) Computer
Science.
So how does this help you understand "where I'm coming from"?
Well, for one thing, if my writing, despite my efforts to the
contrary, sometimes sounds like something written for an academic
journal ... this could be why.
But [perhaps] more importantly, I'd like to tell you [at least part of
the reason] why I chose this particular major, and pursued it
all the way to a Ph.D.
From an employability standpoint, there is, for the most part, only
one thing you can "do with" a Ph.D in Philosophy: teach philosophy in
a college or university. There are exceptions, that is, other
jobs for which an employer may choose specifically to look at
"philosophers", among others, as potential recruits; but, in my
experience, they are rare enough to fall into the "exception that
proves the rule" category.
As it turned out, I didn't end up having a career in teaching
philosophy (and how, and why, that happened is a whole
'nother story). But at the time that I enrolled in the
Ph.D. program, that was the career that I intended to pursue. So
why did I want to do that? The academic life, in general,
appealed to me; but why philosophy and not one of the other subjects
which held a lot of interest for me, such as mathematics (my declared
major when I first entered Cornell as an undergraduate) or physics?
That's one question, but can be viewed from two sides: the negative
side (why not [e.g.] physics?), and the positive side (why
[specifically] philosophy?). I will be addressing both sides of
the question ....
... Real Soon Now.
Categorie(s) for this post include:
About me;
Philosophy.
5:38:08 PM 
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