h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am delighted to find that you are not a Manic Philosopher -- those of the kind that have no grounding in the life that they are so fond of dicussing. Nice page. And I must confess, I am a crossword addict as well, although I have somtehing of a Boggle fetish (sp?) as well. I'm working on your Wittgenstein article -- where were you a philosophy student?

Terps

Hello Terpsichore!

Yes I did two degrees at the end of the sixties, in music and in philosophy. I have worked in music ever since, but kept my philosophical interest alive, in Wittgenstein and Berkeley particularly.

Are you starting into the study of philosophy? No, I see from your PS that you work and have hopes of studying acting . . . I'd say a philosophical standpoint would be a big plus in acting, go for it.

What pushed me in the direction of philosophy, apart from two older friends who had studied it, was the discovery of the essays of T H Huxley, Darwin's apologist, while I was at school. I didn't pursue the subject, but just browsed them one day and thought "evolution changes how we have to think about everything". I found when I got to university that evolutionary attitudes hadn't seeped into college thinking much, but in the last twenty years the books I would like to have written, or to have read as a student, are now appearing: Dawkins, Dennett and Pinker particularly. I also find myself persuaded by Chomsky, but haven't made a study of him.

At the moment I'm reading a fascinating history of the Reformation by Diarmaid MacCulloch. Like Eco, only more exciting.

That doesn't answer your question -- I overlooked the little "where". Trinity College Dublin, same as George Berkeley. More info on my home page, http://www.Andrew.Robinson.net (including a little poem about Berkeley).

I agree that a philisophical grounding could be extremely useful in acting. Anthropology wouldn't hurt either. I got hooked on both subjects in a very unusual school called the School for Environmental Studies -- we read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and Sophie's World by Jostein Garner and A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Anthem by Ayn Rand and Silent Spring by Rachel Carson... I found that though there were many philosophers who believed things I didn't believe, I still recognized their curiosity, discussion and thought processes as very similar to my own. Though I love the stage and the reactions and changes that a gifted actress can elicit from an audience I think, perhaps, I will study philosophy someday. Unfortunately I can only do so many things at a time -- so that may have to wait. You seem very well rounded, so I'm sure you can understand having more than one thing that you'd love to study. Thanks for the answers and I'm going to make time to explore your page

If you read philosophers' own words, they don't disagree nearly as much as their commentators want them to!

Steven Pinker's "The Blank Slate" has lots of fascinating facts of anthropology. They are mostly unpleasant facts, but it helps to face them.

I would have loved to be an actor, though I may not have been any good at it. My wife is a natural actor, though her career is in music (like mine). Acting is tremendously practical (paradoxically) and challenging in a way that most jobs never can be.

I find that acting can be quite educational as well. It's a bit like learning from other people's mistakes, except, as an actress, you learn about those mistakes firsthand. You're absolutely right, acting is challenging, and I find it impossible to be bored by it. I spent many of my younger years being bored out of my skull and would love a job that I can't ever seem to find boring.

My boyfriend is also a very talented actor -- except he's in college for mechanical engineering. I tell him all the time that acting is still something I think he'll find he's glad he's done. Interviews are easier, presentaions to the company, etc., and I can imagine, in both you and your wife's careers, stage presence can be a very useful capability. Do you have any music you've done that is downloadable of at least able to be listened to online?

Thanks for the reading reccomendation. I just finished my current reading material (unfortunately, with the whole making a living thing, I find much less time to read than I'd like) and so the suggestion is well timed. I don't really mind books with unpleasant facts in them -- as long as the unpleasant facts are properly supported. I fully believe that not everything that's right is beautiful. I did a unit on Population Biology in school and it was a very not beautiful subject, but I find it to be an important one to comprehend.

Off to work I go... Terps

There are three songs listenable to on my page. Youthful outpourings . . . recorded in 1972. Thanks for your interest