Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hi, my name (alias) is dawnofthelight, which is quite obvious, and you can call me dawn, light, or THE light, or THE dawn. Anything you want to call me is acceptable, unless it's degrading, derogatory or is used purposely as an insult. I like philosophy, psychology (behaviorism, learning, emotion, consciousness, psychoanalysis, and some other ones), and, sociology (culture, and more that I can't remember). To put it bluntly, I like science, whether it be the rough, or soft sciences. Out of the rough sciences, I'm interested in biology (genealogy, etc.), chemistry, and quantum mechanics (time etc). If I were to discard science I would like algebra, calculus, and certain history. I love classical literature, especially one's made by Dante (the Inferno, the Paradiso), I also enjoy Emily Dickinson's poems; I also like some of today's literature, but classic is better. I also enjoy graphic novels; mostly manga, and enjoy anime more than any western cartoon. I am eccentric, according to my peers. I somewhat am uncomfortable with mainstream society. I'm Hispanic. I follow the following philosophies: Cynicism, Determinism, Agnostic Atheism, Nihilism, Philosophical Pessimism (all I can remember right now).

I'm a shut-in, a bit introverted, and have social anxiety IRL. ummm...that's about it.

Want to know more? Either converse with me, or read the about me section in my pro. *sighs* I have much more to share, but I'd say this is enough.

Hello all, I'm just Dryctarth. I'm a 2nd year college student majoring in Chemistry and Education. I'm about a year ahead on the first and a year behind on the second, so it averages out pretty nicely. My interests are pretty broad: Chemistry, Classical Music, video games, classical literature, psychology, religion/spirituality, stories, and other things that catch my interest. My actual knowledge base is a good deal more limited to Chemistry, Psychology, the US education system (still not too great there), general science stuff, and a little bit of music stuff.

I don't post in ED that often, as I'm not too opinionated or knowledgeable about a lot of it, but I do peek in from time-to-time to see if there's anything to catch my eye. When I do, I tend to stay in the general forum and the Sci-Tech forum.

An interesting guild to be invited to, especially when one is not given a reason why. I have a strong suspicion that there is both satire and irony at play. But, that's quite alright. Jabs, even subtle, I can understand and even appreciate to a degree.

I am not a nice person when I debate, especially when my ire is raised. I have a low tolerance for careless stupidity, especially when someone is at the same time trying to convince me that their arguments are most assuredly reasoned and sound. Unfortunately for my social life (but fortunately for my sanity), I am all too willing to call utter tripe for what it is. Had, perhaps, I received more gentle critique of my errors as I matured, perhaps I would have a more silver tongue. But, sufficient low blows upon me and several drinks in me later, I have more skepticism than compassion when in debate, so it often takes longer for the latter to arrive and no time at all for the former.

To give you any clue as to what an incredibly unpleasant b*****d I am to debate with, I look up to Christopher Hitchens as a role-model (and I would love to argue with him, too, as there are a couple of things that drunken sage has completely wrong).

Well, I think now we may make at least a less random guess as to why I was invited here. Perhaps someone has hopes I will be less scathing in future debates. I am afraid I can promise no such thing, but if there is anything of merit here, you can be assured I will use it to my full advantage.

All the best.

Why all of you were invited: I saw you in the ED or one of its subforums at some point. You demonstrated the ability to articulate yourselves, and used that ability to present relevant points and arguments.

There isn't any secret test or rubric I 'grade' your posts on, and no one was invited because I thought they lacked something. If you're here, it's because you've been in the ED at least once some point in the past. If you've written any threads, that's probably how I found you.

I don't feel like copy-pasting my old intro from the old guild; so here's a new one:

I'm Mordfabrik, formerly Modern Death, formerly The Silent KJingdom, formerly Fear Is The Mindkiller. Got the current username from a song title. Dont' ask me what the word means; I don't know, and I don't really care.

I'm hard to spot in the ED, since I've mainly been only lurking there. And I, like many other EDers, am not happy with it's current state. Too many n00bs posting too many repeat topics, and more and more spam has arisen there. It's so sad to see the one place on Gaia where intelligence lies go to the dogs.

Eh.

If you want to know more about me, read up on my profile. I'm too lazy to re-type a self-explanation/auto-biography.

Hi, I'm Jeff. I just joined Gaia in early September. IRL, I am founder and president of Propagate Ltd, a dot-com enterprise seeking to convert what is now digital piracy into fair use (it's a win-win solution). It keeps me very busy, and Gaia is one of my diversions during brief breaks or late at night (like 11pm or 1am) when I finally quit work for the day.

ED was one of my first discoveries at Gaia. I've been interested in science since early childhood, and I've been interested in politics since high school. I am especially passionate about politics, and one of my missions in life is to give young people some thoughtful alternatives to government-approved propaganda dished out by US public schools as history, economics and civics. I plan to run for Congress if/when my dot-com venture succeeds.

I grew up as a moderate republican, but I have drifted ever more toward libertarianism (not to be confused with anarchism) as my thinking has matured. That means that I oppose both Democrats' and Republicans' intrusions into the ways we live, work and spend our money. My idea of the perfect position is one that enrages both of them. I have studied a lot of history and economics along the way.

I don't like to waste by scarce free time on emotion-laden, thought-dead flame wars, so I tend to avoid certain hot topics. However, I will interject out-of-box alternatives into threads suffering from false dichotomies, and I will teach history in threads lacking perspective, and I will rarely miss an opportunity to point out how and why government intervention usually causes more problems than it solves.

Oh yeah, my degree is in physics, and I taught freshman physics at Berkeley for a year (as a TA). I have enjoyed illuminating the subject (with or without calculus) ever since. I can also contribute to most amateur discussions on chemistry and cosmology as well.

Thanks for inviting me.

PS: Yes, I am the same Uncle Jeff who led the late human raid into the vampire base during the recent Halloween event. Far from being banned for recognizing the entry, I am now on first name basis with several Gaia admins and developers (and I've offered to fix the Wordbump 'botting problem for Gaia). I guess that's par for the course for someone who has written and rewritten the PHP and HTML code for his own commercial web site.

Hi...Vote Kira will do just fine for me. I'm relatively new to the ED and having a blast. I'm in my first year of university and studying geography. I also am interested in subjects such as psychology, sociology, philosophy as well as many things too numerous to post here.

I'm -epic!insomnia-. Most people address me as Epic, which I'm totally cool with, though I wouldn't mind being called Insomnia as well. I'm a writer, an artist, and a musician. I also am interested in science and computers. Basically I have no idea where I'm going. I have a fascination with human beings and the way they work. I'm an introvert (to be more specific, an INFJ according to the Myers-Briggs).

I'm very, very optimistic. Chances are I will like you, and I'll definitely respect you.