Zaskoda

Introduction

You might be used to short and focused “about me” pages. This is not one of those. I was born in 1976 on the day of June 30th. I’m a white male and my parents are still married. I have a wonderful younger sister. I have an extended family of half siblings from both parents.

As far as I know, I am the only remaining name carrier in my branch of the Dudley family. I am still unmarried and, as much as I want them, I have no children.

I consider myself a fortunate soul.

Professionally

I like to work on projects I feel give value to the world. This isn’t always an option, sometimes I just do what it takes to pay the bills. Mostly, I work with technology. I hold a BS in Computer Science with a minor in English.

I tend to gravitate towards issues of user experience. I’ve worked on videogames, social networks, and oil rigs. I have a strong imagination and dream up ideas on a regular basis.

I’ll link to a portfolio here when I get one. Meanwhile, you can find me on LinkedIn.

Personality

I love to play and I crave new experiences. I invite adventures. I’m keen on activities like snowboarding, surfing, scuba diving, mountain biking, dancing, and way more than I should bother to list here. I enjoy a chunk of media and art. It’s always hard for me to describe what genres of entertainment attract me.

I’m a “thinker-feeler” meaning I typically like to talk and think about something a bit before jumping in. I’m the kind of guy who has to say and hear, “we’re in a relationship” before I’ll call a girl my girlfriend.

I’m an “artisan” archetype. I tend to have my head in the clouds while I rummage through random patterns looking for new ideas. When pieces come together, I try to bring them down to the ground so that others can see them. Nothing makes me happier than having one land, grow feet, and become something.

I am not a natural leader nor a natural follower. I typically end up in leadership roles. I often enjoy being a center point for group collaboration. However, I do not enjoy working with people who are not self motivated. Most of all, I loath the struggle for dominance in group dynamics. Ironically, I enjoy competitive activities.

I move a lot. I’m nomadic by nature. I seek the feeling of home but have yet to find it. I suspect it has more to do with where I am in my mind rather than where I am in the world.

Ethically

I’m a proponent of what I call “Intellectual Sustainability.” I see copyrights and patents as a damaging force. It seems that the practice of owning ideas ultimately holds back innovation. This prevents our technological evolution. The free culture movement resonates well with me.

I strongly support good science. Science represents a systematic approach to deciphering reality. From my experience, it seems to work very well. I believe XKCD summed it up nicely.

In our current political system, I tend towards Libertarian ideas. Still, I think our system is so far out of balance that I can’t truly adopt any party affiliation. Honestly, I think ideas like ‘money’ and ‘ownership’ are pretty darn silly.

I’m a proponent of equality and identify with egalitarianism. Many modern movements and efforts preach the notion of equality while not living up to the purpose. While feminism speaks of equality, the movement has never fought for equal rights for any other group. While affirmative action is billed as an equal rights solution, it is merely a band-aid while the core issue goes unresolved; meanwhile, this “solution” generally creates more imbalance. As far as I can tell, egalitarianism is the only notion that speaks from one true love for all.

I love the idea of equality. I love equality because I like the idea of balance. From what I’ve learned about history and people, I can’t see a time or place where some group hasn’t dominated another. From what I understand about nature, I’m not entirely sure we can ever have equality… but I’m very hopeful.

I embrace a world of dynamic sexuality. Although I’ve never experienced the lifestyle, I’m particularly supportive of Polyamory. It seems to challenge a very fundamental aspect of our culture in a way that I feel needs some re-evaluation.

I love honesty. I’ve always felt that if we could be fully honest, transparent, and open with one another – something wonderful would happen. There’s part of our conscious mind that loves to filter what we communicate. We adjust the truth or even tell lies. Somehow, I don’t think we need that. However, I don’t think the amazing “thing” can happen unless we all choose to play along. Still, it’s something I strive for, as best I can.

Spiritually

I can’t communicate my faith with a single title. I’m a bit jealous of those who can, because it is so much easier for them to begin a conversation about their faith. I have found no belief system that resonates with how I feel.

I was born and raised a Christian. It took years and a fair amount of anxiety to abandon the faith I was raised with as it was taught to me by those I trusted most, my parents and family. After a spell of devout Atheism, I finally came to terms with the damage done to me by Christianity. With a clean slate (sort of), I allowed myself to consider what lies beyond our perception of reality.

I don’t have complete faith in anything beyond the fact that I exist. Everything else, no matter how strongly I suspect is truth, is still subject to scrutiny. I tried to consider that I didn’t exist once. I couldn’t seem to break through on that one.

I base all of my spirituality on the idea that there exists a single truth; and that it is true with or without anyone knowing it or being able to grasp it. I believe we all should strive to uncover that truth. Unfortunately, I also tend to think we’re not capable of figuring it out. Still, to pursue it seems important, maybe because the false part of our current faith systems seem to be harmful to us. And, who knows, maybe we can figure it out.

I subscribe to the Gaia hypothesis. I think the Earth is no less a living single organism than any individual human. I have a hard time understanding how anyone could believe otherwise.

I believe that most modern practiced faiths have value of some kind. I’ve been particularly inspired by Taoism and Buddhism. Taoism seems like such a core logical way of understanding the life experience. It presents seemingly simple answers with huge impacts. Buddhism seems more mythical to me, but the value of meditation and mental focus are hard to ignore. Most of all, neither of these seem to conflict directly with science.

I do not believe in the same notion of good and evil that seem to permeate other belief systems. This is the aspect of my own spirituality that I have the most difficult time integrating into my life. To me, most things can be considered from the perspective of causing harm or providing benefit. Ironically, the most “evil” ideas can provide great benefit while the most noble acts can cause great harm. I also feel that this struggle to define our own ethics is a crucial part of the human experience.