Re: Welcomes & Introductions
by lichen on December 3rd, 2016, 11:04 am
Hello, forum members.
My name is Brent, but I've taken "lichen" as my handle. Lichen is an amazing expression of life: animals and plants living in a community that benefits all other life, creating new opportunities by its cooperation. Modest and powerful. Inspirational and optimistic.
I am a software developer by trade. I currently write mobile software for Apple devices. I work for an e-commerce and online shopping company. No, not the obvious one. As a socialist-leaning person with a distaste for unbridled consumerism, it is a bit of a sacrifice, perhaps even hypocritical. But it's a good company, full of great people. While our values aren't really aligned, they aren't at odds, either. Usually.
It's actually pretty hard to find a software company that isn't elbows deep into the greasy side of commerce, especially in Toronto, where I live. Toronto is a city full of media companies. And finance companies. And post-secondary institutions which teach media and finance. Oh, lots of medical jobs, too, but I've never been that interested in that. And government. But I like my city for its geography, and its culture. Although it's growing too fast, now, and changing drastically. And I like my country for its politics and its public health care, and its not being a global superpower.
I've always been curious, creative, and ultimately a thinker about many topics. I'm interested in "why", but more often, "how".
I'm really interested in how the human civilization, and I myself, can do great things with more knowledge. That includes a lot of science and technology. I don't think we can do great things without exploiting more energy, and larger and more sophisticated social structures. Perhaps that's a simplistic assumption. Maybe I just like to think in those terms. Maybe I read too much science fiction. Or too much Hacker News.
I'm highly opposed to the social driver to accumulate wealth. And yet I'm to some degree under its influence, as I try to save money and acquire capital in order to start my own software business, or otherwise achieve enough financial independence to enable creative independence. Unless of course I can find sympathetic collaborators or investors.
I have memories from the 1970s, but no earlier.