Foodofthegod's Introduction

[jwerdal]

Hello, and Welcome To The Machine.

My name is Jonathan and I am currently unsure what to "Do with my life" which is why I have come here,

to the expertise of a warming scientific community and although I understand there are a few trolls in

here I can, like the introduction page states, take constructive criticism with a grain of salt.

 

I am 19 years old, have my G.I. bill, and recently was discharged from the 101st ABN, and to be honest,

I am incredibly intelligent, and am not shy away from my full potential as a fellow intellectual. I have

through my youth, been exposed to various narcotics (Plantae, and Hallucinogens) and am not shy in stating

that I have become absolutely fascinated with Mycology and Psychopharmacology, obviously due to my

experience with these "Drugs", and need I reinerate that I find it hard to argue how a human being cannot

(As these natural plants have been exposed to human beings for thousands if not millions of years) at their

own discretion consume these narcotics, at least in the United States, this is the unruely case. I am forever

thankful to being raised in an open-minded atmosphere in San Diego, California (East County), and seeing that

being sick and tired of war, and having a large ammount of motivation for helping my country the way it needs

to be helped, I want to know the different scientific fields that deal with biology, and as well as physics.

 

I have a very decent knowledge of Quantam Physics, which was started by reading 'Michael Chrichton: Timeline' at

the age of 10, and Biology like I said was an interest in my life from my experience with hallucinogens, but

I have also read 'State of Fear' and 'Lost World' at a very young age. I have already read 'DMT: The Spirit Molecule',

'Gartz Jochens: Magical Mushrooms Around The World', and am increasingly expanding my knowledge to various fields,

but I just don't know where I want to focus my intelligence, so to speak. I know one day I will do great things for

the scientific community with my willpower to help people, and further the progress of humanity. I just at this young an

age, am unsure of where I should turn my focus itself, to. I have always been an overacheiver, and believe you can never

judge anything until you yourself, have experienced (Being my reason for going to war, and never having killed/harmed a

human being, which I am quite proud of, being a prior infantryman) it. Although I am sure this will one day, be the death

of me (My overwhelming curiosity), I know it will not be for quite some time as I am at the same time cautious, and keep

my head down.

 

I am writing this introduction in hopes that there is maybe a professor that is interested in what I have to say and can

provide some enthusiasm to me, and enlighten me, show me some sort of direction of focus, if you will so kindly. Thank you

for your very much needed time. I am currently located in Tucson, AZ. I love to travel and experience the world, and I love

helping people in the process. Peace, Love, and Logic.

 

My main influences at this time are:

Karl Strauss, Timothy Leary, Richard Shults, Albert Hoffman, Gartz Jochen, Stephen Hawking, Michael Crichton,

Albert Einstien, and Dr. Suess. :P

 

-FOG

[Turtle]

hi jonathan. nice introduction & welcome to the menagerie. thank you for your service too by the by. anyway, as you didn't mention it, thought i'd suggest The Botany of Desire to you. :bouquet:

 

The Botany of Desire review @ wikipedia

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World is a 2001 nonfiction book by journalist Michael Pollan. This work explores the nature of domesticated plants from the dual perspective of humans and the plants themselves. Pollan presents case studies that mirror four types of human desires that are reflected in the way that we selectively grow, breed, and genetically engineer our plants. The apple reflects the desire of sweetness, the tulip beauty, marijuana pleasure and the potato sustenance.

 

Pollan narrates his own experience with each of the plants, which he then intertwines with an exploration into their social history. Each section presents an element of human domestication, or the "human bumblebee" as Pollan calls us. The stories range from the true story of Johnny Appleseed to Pollan's first-hand research with sophisticated marijuana hybrids in Amsterdam to the paradigm-shifting possibilities of genetically engineered potatoes. ...

 

looking forward to your contributions.

[jwerdal]

Thank you, I will have to get this from the library tomorrow, much appreciated :D

[CraigD]

Hello, and Welcome To The Machine.

Hello, Jonathan. Where have you been? / It’s alright we both know where you’ve been. :note:

 

I’m a computer programming old (b 1960) hippie Math major/voracious reader of SF, so likely have a not-too-inaccurate idea of where you are now, except for the military business - being of the “what if they threw a war and nobody came” generation/political persuasion, the closest I’ve been to the military, and about the limit of my professional comfort zone, is some medical IT work for the VA and Bethesda Naval Hospital.

 

I have a very decent knowledge of Quantam Physics, which was started by reading 'Michael Chrichton: Timeline' at the age of 10 ...

I read my first Crichton, The Andromeda Strain, at about that age (had to be a year or 2 after its original pub year of 1969, as I found the paperback in my grandmother jumble). I’ve never read Timeline – I found myself turned off of Crichton ca. 1990, after reading Sphere (it overtaxed my suspension of disbelief at a time I was turning increasingly to hard SF), and heard bad thing about State of Fear – but Timeline sounds pretty cool. I’ll it in the next couple of days – I’ve a pathological disliking to not having read something others are talking about :)

 

My main influences at this time are:

Karl Strauss, Timothy Leary, Richard Shults, Albert Hoffman, Gartz Jochen, Stephen Hawking, Michael Crichton, Albert Einstien, and Dr. Suess. :P

Karl Strauss? Richard Shults? Don’t know much about them. Aren’t they famous brewers?

 

Had to drop outa my work network into a public one to get past netnanny-ish blocks to reading a bit about Gartz Jochen – he’s a bit late for me, 1990s+, vs. other writers on psychedelics like Leary, John Lilly, and Ram Dass (my personal favorite, mostly because, like thousands of others, I’ve met him, and he’s a really wonderful guy).

 

I’d recommend adding to your influences list one of my major influences since about the age of 20 – Doug Hofstadter, in particular via his written-in-his-late-20s masterpiece (not my opinion only – it won the 1920 Pulitzer) Godel, Escher, Bach, and one of my most recent ones, Olaf Stapledon, who wrote some amazingly mind-bending SF as far back as 1930. I’d love someone else to read his Last and First Men, and see if they agree with me that that novel’s late First Men are a non-cartoon version of the Jetsons. ;)

 

Peace, Love, and Logic.

Right on.

[Moontanman]

Welcome FOG, I look forward to your input...