Who I Am
Hi Steemitters! I'm Andrea, a 28-year-old Dutch native. I was born, raised and will probably die in Amsterdam. I'll receive my MA degree in Philosophy this fall (just finishing my thesis). Because I am the type of person who likes almost every subject, I ended up with way too many courses in completely unrelated corners of philosophy. The result is a patchwork curriculum comprised of but not limited to bioethics, philosophy of law, philosophy of language, philosophy of technology, philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of quantum mechanics (Everettian Many Worlds quantum mechanics is the subject of my thesis. Now you know why I still have to finish it..).
Yesterday, I celebrated 4-years of being married to my amazing, brilliant and hilarious husband Wouter. Here is a picture of us on a recent trip to Crete:
Before all the good things happened, like getting married and studying philosophy, I went to Art School (visual arts) and absolutely HATED it. After four miserable years going through the motions I graduated having learned only that being good at something when you're in elementary school doesn't mean you should make it your career. I didn't just want to do things, I wanted to know WHY I was doing them and what they were. That desire to know what the heck I was doing started my journey down philosophy road and here I am, writing a thesis on parallel universes.
Here is a picture of my sausage dog Teddy, because he is awesome in every universe:
Very recently, I started writing some articles in English, which was pretty scary, since it is considered taboo in civilized circles to write about important things in a non-native language. So I write about unimportant things instead, like the US presidential elections (four paragraphs in and I already outed myself as an anarchist). I have written quite a few shorter articles and columns in Dutch, and have given several lectures and speeches on voluntaryism and law. One of my speeches even got published (w00t!) and can be read on actual paper and bought in an actual bookstore. Don't believe me? Here's proof:
Translation: The Best State We Never Had. It is published in the chapter Chaos and Resistance, which makes me feel really proud for some reason.
Now I want to win a Pulitzer Prize. Gotta have goals.
I'm also pretty serious when it comes to voluntaryism, my particular branch of anarchism. Going through Art School AND lots of soft science courses as someone who vehemently opposes parliamentary democracy and the welfare state was, to put it mildly, not always easy. It did give me a great poker face.
But Muh Roads!
(I tried to smile for a picture once, it was awful. If you want me to post it, I will. Maybe.)
But there you go, that is me. If you think you like me and want to read my things, please follow me so we can start doing cool stuff!
Don't be shy to get in touch. When in doubt and in need of courage, I remember these wise words by my favorite fictional politician:
come at me bro
Hi @andreaspeijerb and Welcome to Steemit! Thank you very much for the "Follow" also :)
I really enjoyed your post... I would vote for you! I had a Dutch partner for several years. Dutch girls are the best, haha... ok, maybe a slight bias!
Anyhow, yes, an infinite number of parallel universes makes life a very exciting proposition. That even batting my eyelids, or the speed at which I am writing this post could affect all present and future outcomes of every possible universe and "reality" model. That all things have their function and purpose in the overall whole. It makes one pay more attention and consider every action and response in the present moment, moment by moment. Well, that's my take. I will be very interested to read yours.
May I make a suggestion? I think your post would reach a much wider readership if you make #introduceyourself your first tag. Best wishes! :)
P.S. If you haven't done so already, then join: Steemit.chat and repost your blogs on the forums for wider exposure.
Hi David. Great tips, thanks! And yes, if you believe that there is no collapse of the wave function and that branching can occur at any moment, triggered by anything, then you are possibly continuously branching off into parallel worlds where you are doing something else at the same time without ever knowing it. Crazy stuff for sure. Good to know there are more people who like that sort of thing :)
I think/believe we can sometimes get to know/experience this in lucid dreaming. I think of identical twins that may swap positions for a little while to experience what it is like to have the life of the 'other'.
I sometimes wonder that if I am temporarily occupying the space of an alternate "David" in a parallel universe, then where is the "David" from that universe? Is he occupying my space simultaneously? Hope this makes some sort of sense, crazy though it sounds.
I think the price you pay for many worlds is divergence. David from this world-branch cannot cross over to David from some other branch. This is also why we can never know if there are more David-instances in other branches and the theory of many-worlds will remain forever outside empiricism.
Hi Andrea,
This is so awesome to meet someone here as soon as I join steemit who has interests in philosophy and parallel universes. I can share many stories of those other worlds with you. Pure Spirit is the meaning of my shaman name 'White Eagle.' (Dee is the name I'm commonly known by) Naturally I experience the parallel worlds when I journey. I would love to read your thesis. Due to tech issues with my computer I haven't been able to post my intro yet. Will have to try again later. I've clicked the follow button and will be looking forward to sharing with you. Cheers