Matus1976 - About Me
Intro:
My name is Michael, I was born in 1976 in CT, I lived in Washington state for a few years and then back in CT for the rest. I went to R.E. Fitch Senior High school in Groton and was not significantly important there. Since then my interests have developed widely and I have been on an intellectual and spiritual persuit to better myself as a person. I actively study philosophy, philosophy of science, ethics, science, physics, politics, history, and pretty much anything that is intellectually stimulating. I am also currently building a custom motorcycle, I also do free lance 3D artwork and rendering on the side and am an avid writer / reader.
I read almost exclsively non fiction works, and some of my favorite authors and intellectual inspirations are, in no particular order; Carl Sagan, Matt Ridley, Richard Dawkins, Michael Shermer, James Randi, Eric Drexler, Freeman Dyson, Richard Feynman, Isaac Asimov, Ayn Rand, Aristotle, Paul Davies, etc...I consider myself a skeptic (not to be confused with a cynic) and do not believe in God, paranormal phenomena, pyschic powers, astrology, witchcraft, demons, dragons, or the tooth fairy. I do, however, believe that humans are wonderfull and beautifully amazing creatures, that our lives, our cultures, our art and music, are some of the most fascinating and wonderfull things out there. I am a humanist above all, I have faith in people and thier drive to overcome challenges.
I do not drink or smoke although I have no fundamental problems with people who do either, I just choose not to. In fact, I align myself closely to the libertarian party, which is founded on a principle of individual freedom, I definately support the right to choose to smoke or do drugs, but I choose not to take part in it, because, to paraphrase Richard Feynman, I do not want to mess with the physiological mechamisms that make me me. Seperating an individual choice from one that is enforced on other seems to be something too many people have difficulty with.
I am Interested in philosophy, science, physics, politics, ethics, inventing, motorcycles, aircraft... 3D Animation, Movies and music, nearly any genre, art, poetry, living life to its fullest.
More:
I am hesistant to call myself a subscriber of particular 'isms' or groups, but some that I share much of my idealogies with include:
Libertarianism: In the most classical liberal sense, I respect and value peoples choices to do whatever they want as long as they do not hurt anyone. Personally though, some might consider me socially conservative as I do not drink or use any drugs and do little to advertise my personality externally, but upon further investigation youll find out I am a staunch atheist and humanist and I am content living a rich full life through studying, learning, reading, and most importantly doing things which make life worthwhile.
Ayn Rand / Objectivsm: Very influenced by Rand in her views on personal empowerment and values, her staunch moral stances which are reconciled so beautifully with secular humanism and rationality. I also found her views on sex, love, and emotions to be the most valuable yet made in the world, and her philosophical works on capitalism and individualism the most important lesson we need to learn today.
Minarchist: Some form of government must exist, in its most basic form, to protect people from foreign threats, establish rule of law, and be the final arbiter in disputes. But thats about all it should do.
Anti-communist: If there is one group that has not received the condemnation it has earned it is the communists. While 'Nazi' invokes a vile disgust in every reasonable person, few think much of Communism, yet soviet communism has killed 170 million people this century, almost 10 times as many people as Nazism, and every communist country has been nothing less than a brutal dictatorial hell hole. While communism is mostly defeated, countries still remain and millions of people still live in their brutal oppression.
Athiest: More accurately a weak atheist, in that there is no evidence suggesting as a simplest explanation that the universe was created by an intelligent being and no such being routinely interacts in our personal lives. We are alone with ourselves and must make our own purpose in life.
Extropian: Extropians embrace the opposite of entropy. If entropy is random decay into disorder, extropy is directed movement toward more order. Extropians embrace the use of technology to better ourselves, to extend our lives, to expand our freedoms, and to conquer aging, disease, and death in general.
Eudaemonist: Aristotlean Eudaemonist, Aristotle's wonderful concept of Eudaemonism, which is to embrace and nourish all the things that make being alive and human wonderful and worthwhile and is centered on reason and individual effort to bring about total human well being.
Scientist: First and foremost I denounce mysticism. Objective reality exists and science is the progressive effort to create an ever more accurate description of it. Our technology and formulas create ever better devices and predict ever more accurately the way the universe works.
Optimist: The world is not about to end, we are not all on the verge of starvation and environmental self destruction. Population growth rates continue to decline in every developed nation as women are giving more freedoms and standards of living increase. All across the world there are more people living in free representative countries than ever before, fewer people starving to death, and more people living longer, healthier lives than ever before. This pace is not as fast as it could or should be, but it is getting better.
On the informal side, I own my own house and do 3D animation work from home. I am also currently designing and building a motorcycle and perpetually reading anything related to the topics above. I like watching movies, but only ones I rent or own typically. I enjoy taking motorcycle rides, traveling, I hope to move to Las Vegas in the near future (or New Hampshire...) Writing articles, debating on forums, challenging my own ideas and growing and developing them and myself in general. I enjoy eating out, going to shows, drawing, designing and hanging out with my friends or family often.
- Michael (aka Matus)
See also
- MySpace Profile - http://www.myspace.com/matus1976
- Blog - http://matus1976.blogsome.com
- My Links - http://del.icio.us/matus1976
Selfish Reasons for Having Children
As a person interested in the philosophy of objectivism, I am amazed at the plethora of anti-children sentiments that abound in it, and among modern 'secular educated' adults. Usually, people feel themselves too selfish to have children, not wanting to sacrifice the time and attention required for raising a child well. On one forum, one responder went so far as to suggest a Ferrari is a better investment than child rearing, being of similar costs. Additionally often those making these sentiments revert to championing the virtues of dog ownership, as happened in the thread I participated in which spawned this post. One can not help but wonder that what drives someone to want a dog, but not a child, is rooted in the difference between the two. Could it be a that a dog perpetually remains loyal, obedient, and socially demanding (they are genetically social herd animals) while when raising a child a parent must contend with an individual intellect that could disagree and have countering opinions? ... Here are a few selfish reasons I would like to have children - (see more)
30 Years Old Today (July 26 2006)
I've hit one of the big milestones in aging as I am turning 30 today. I have lived 10,950 days and 262,800 hours. I have probably spent 100,000 of those hours sleeping, and another 100,000 working. Leaving a mere 60,000 hours to spend time with my family and friends, and to do the things I enjoy, which amounts to only about 2,000 days. As I experience each new day I am ever more grateful to be alive and continue to find more and more joy in living. As it is I have so many interests today, in philosophy, in science, mechanics, physics, ethics, music, film (I could go on) That often I cant decide which interest I want to pursue and feel bad at having to ignore other interests because there just isnt enough time. How a person can ever be bored from lack of interest in times like these is hard for me to wrap my head around. I want more and more time. (read more)
Links
My art links on del.icio.us
http://del.icio.us/matus1976/ethics
"Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgements. An artists recreates those aspects of reality which represent his fundamental view of man's nature". - Ayn Rand
"Art represents man and nature as it ought to be, not as it is" - Aristotle
"All art says something, it's up to the artist to choose the language its spoken in" - Robert Heinlein from "Stranger in a Strange Land"
