I am…

“Crazy am I? We’ll see whether I’m crazy or not!”
(Dr. Frankenstein in the 1931 classic movie, ogg file)

Scientist, working on quantum control, computational modelling, machine learning, applied geometry and visual computing. Dark witch, who does not believe but thinks. Geek, developing free software and beyond – libertas aut mortem. INTP-A.

…a scientist, mathematician, computer scientist, physicist. Science has become a very important part of my life trying to explore, understand and explain natural, artificial and abstract patterns. Using mathematics as my basis I seek to apply it to various problems in computer science and physics to find practical solutions and deepen the understanding of the underlying structures and concepts. Besides my specific interests in control, machine learning, geometry and modelling applied in quantum technologies, computer-aided design and visual computing, I am interested in the general advancement and development of science. While science by now knows that it cannot explain everything, it is the only method which can actually explain anything about the universe. Any non-scientific belief systems are just fantasies which can never be shown to be true or false. But science is about understanding, not about exploiting. Thus, I’d like to see a scientifically rather than commercially driven society. The value of research is not its commercial applicability, but it’s advancement of the understanding of the universe and sometimes how this can be applied to living in it.

…a geek, hacker, free software developer, computer freak. Computers and network implement a fascinating virtual world on top of the physical world which allows to explore a wide range of patterns and concepts. Then, these machines are also very useful tools for plenty of activities. Since I first came into contact with one of these machines, a ZX81, I enjoyed writing software for all sorts of purposes or just for fun on various platforms. I prefer UNIX like systems and I am still waiting for a really useful user interface alternative to a shell running in a terminal window. I think that the only honest and useful way of distributing software is to share it with other people without limitations. Thus free software is the only software I can honestly develop and use. I do avoid any non-free, commercial software whenever possible. In an academic environment sharing rather than limiting information and its use has been very successful and I insist that the free software concept of sharing can be applied to far more than software.

…one of the fey seeking out alternative and unusual things on a constant quest to grow and expand, even if some may rather put me away in an asylum for that. I do not like societies, ideologies, religions and related which try to enforce their specific value system on everyone, but would like to see people choose their individual values and philosophies without limiting everyone else. The only limit is the freedom of the next and the boundaries are a discussion between individuals. Values and belief systems are individual and should help people to expand themselves rather than limiting them. I have some connections to witchcraft, paganism and magick, in particular their darker sides. While I do not believe in anything transcendental – believing is just too simple and irrational, I still seek to explore myself and my relation to the universe and expand my own mind. Thus magick for me is complimentary to science; about the areas that science cannot cover. As science is the only valid way to assess truth, this is not about truth, nor do I have any faith. Hence, I do not aim to impose this on anyone or claim that it contains any truth at all. Find your own personal questions and answers; there are no universal ones except in science.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.