User:RickAguirre

About Me
I was born in the spring of 1972 in San Francisco, where I've lived all my life. I feel fortunate to be from here, and realize how lucky I am whenever I leave and come back. For its great food, the topography and close proximity to mountains & ocean and everything in between, and for the more astute intellect of the people here (although this can also be very frustrating).

My interests include critical thinking, progressive politics, information & industrial design, and cooking & eating, among others. Currently I work as a FileMaker database developer, and I'm very fortunate to work with some very clever people. I've done some instructing (snowboard and database instruction), and very much enjoy teaching, largely because I've found it's the best way for me to learn.

Wikipedia
Seems like most people who have anything to say about Wikipedia have both good & bad things to say. I'm no exception, though I think the benefits far outweigh any complaints. Along with the potential for encyclopedic entries to be up-to-date, Wikipedia very successfully exposes what no written encyclopedia could—that controversy is inherent in history. So these edit wars people have, they're a microcosm of how we think about the world. I haven't been involved in any. My guiding principles in debate: Be reasonable; Don't try to be "right"; Don't get emotionally emphatic. I enjoy debating with people of differing outlooks who can at least with me respect these principles; I find we usually have something to learn from each other, usually in unexpected ways.

Wikipedia does seem to suffer from lack of credibility, but I am convinced this will be overcome with persistence and technology. It will be interesting to see how this project's interfaces evolve visually as we think differently with data.

To Do

 * Define:
 * Radicalism
 * Conservatism
 * Progressivism
 * Extremism
 * Preservationism
 * Being a Gentleman


 * Update:
 * Versit
 * US Senate Salary chart adjusted for inflation