About me
Contents |
Me in a nutshell
If you just came here to get a short introduction about me, this section is for you.
My name is Alexander Krivács Schrøder, I'm a 22 year old man, born in Norway, living in Norway, engaged to a beautiful American woman named Hannah Elisabeth Carter, I'm studying computer science at the University of Oslo, and I currently work for the company Headline.TV as.
If you came to get to know me well, read on. I give lots of details about myself in the secions below.
Details
Name
My name is Alexander Krivács Schrøder. The name Alexander is originally Greek and derives from Alexandros, meaning “defending men”.
My first last name comes from my mother's father, who came to Norway from Hungary as a 16 year old. As such, the name is Hungarian. I do not know its meaning, however it does resemble the name Kovács, which means “forger” or “smith”, but I cannot say if they are actually related, since I do not speak or even comprehend Hungarian, nor do I know anybody who does.
The name Schrøder is a Norwegian variant of the German name “Schröder”. This name has two origins, and I do not know which one originally applies to mine, as we Schrøders have been here in Norway for longer than anybody who is alive today can remember.
Age
I was born on a Sunday evening, at April 6, 1986 at 19:17, Norwegian time (1986-04-06T19:17:00+02:00), which means that I am currently 22 years old. I was born at Aker Hospital in Oslo, the capital of Norway.
Whereabouts
Currently, I am in the same city in which I was born. I am in Oslo, the capital of Norway. I live in the east part of the city, i.e. east of the Oslo fjord.
Looks
I have brown hair, brown eyes and my skin is geeky-white. I am averagely built, by which I mean that I am neither skinny nor large and bulky. I am approximately 175 cm tall (5'9" for you unenlightened).
As for what I like to wear the most, if I am given a choice, I'll wear jeans and a t-shirt. You will hardly ever see me without jeans on. During summer, though, I like to wear shorts. Even though Norwegian summer doesn't compare to summers in the south, wearing jeans during the peak of summer is just uncomfortable. The t-shirts can be replaced by shirts if I want to look more fancy.
On my upper body, I normally (read: through spring, summer and fall) only wear t-shirts, although I might put a shirt and/or blazer on as well. If it is a bit chilly, I might wear a sweater or a thin jacket. I prefer branded t-shirts, i.e. they should have some sort of logo or slogan on the front.
I wear glasses, something which seems to be a common trait among my fellow geeks. I'm not blind without them, but I would rather like to see perfectly, so I wear them.
Aliases
I usually go by Alex. Not such a big surprise, yeah? On the Internet, I try to go by the nickname of Phoenix. Due to the overwhelmingly widespread use of this alias, you will also find me using other variants, such as DN-Phoenix (which I use when I chat on IRC networks), DarkPhoenix (which I commonly use on forums), FirePhoenix and IcePhoenix. On other kinds of services, like VoIP, e-mail and IM networks, I usually go by alexschrod, which is also what I fall back on in other cases if I find no nice Phoenix-combination to use.
Languages Spoken
- See the Languages page
To be brief, you can talk to me in Norwegian and English. I comprehend German to an extent, but I am not confident enough to answer back.
Love
I'm engaged to a beautiful American woman named Hannah Elisabeth Carter. We met in fall 2006, got engaged in summer 2007, and we're just waiting for the right time for one of us to move to the other's country, so we may spend our lives together.
Miscellaneous
Here's a collection of things about me that do not deserve a whole section to themselves:
- I have Photic sneeze reflex, which causes me to sneeze in response to bright or quickly changing light.
Labels
These labels will attempt to give you a deeper insight into who I really am. Using labels alone to describe someone is typically not a good idea, since people tend to have different connotations when it comes to labels, so if you tell somebody you're, say, a liberal, some people will think you're an anarchist, others will think you believe in free markets, and others again will associate something else with the term.
For that reason, I am not only going to place labels on myself, I will also give a thorough explanation of what I mean when I use the labels, in order to hopefully remove any ambiguity surrounding them. So, this is what I am:
Secular humanist
I believe that what matters the most are human beings. Secular as opposed to religious means that I feel that way by simply being a human. I believe in critical reason, factual evidence, and scientific methods of inquiry, rather than faith and mysticism. I am concerned with fulfillment, growth, and creativity for both the individual and humankind in general. I believe in the search for objective truths, with the understanding that new knowledge and experience constantly alter our imperfect perception of them. I will make a commitment to making my life meaningful through better understanding myself, the history which I am a part of, humankind's intellectual and artistic achievements, and the outlooks of those who differ from me. Finally, I believe that with reason, an open marketplace of ideas, good will, and tolerance, progress can be made in building a better world for ourselves and our children.
Secular humanists do not rely upon gods or other supernatural forces to solve their problems or provide guidance for their conduct. They rely instead upon the application of reason, the lessons of history, and personal experience to form an ethical/moral foundation and to create meaning in life. Secular humanists look to the methodology of science as the most reliable source of information about what is factual or true about the universe we all share, acknowledging that new discoveries will always alter and expand our understanding of it and perhaps change our approach to ethical issues as well.
Agnostic
I am agnostic: One who believes it is not possible to know whether or not there is a God. I neither believe in God nor do I reject the possibility that there is a God. In other words, I doubt, and I am happy doubting. This point of view goes hand in hand with my secular humanism, because I say that I deny nothing, but will not believe in anything I cannot empirically observe.
Spiritual
Even though I am agnostic, I feel a spiritual connection to life. It's hard to describe, and this connection is not comparable to any physical phenomenon, but on more than one occasion have I felt the presence of something more than just the mundane. This presence is very weak, and I hardly make any attempts to strengthen it, but I will not dismiss it, and I believe that the likeliness of there being something "out there" is higher than the likeliness of there not being anything out there.
Misanthrope
This point of view might seem to clash with my humanism, but I believe it does not. Humanism says how to behave towards others, while misanthropy says how one feels about others. A misanthrope is one who distrusts humans and humankind in general.
Looking at the world situation today, with its poverty, famine, conflict, genocide and war, and also local issues like murder, theft and violence, I lose faith in humankind. Although this is the way I feel about humankind in general, I do not judge individuals based on this view. Anyone out there might be a future friend of mine but they might as well be my future murderer. I do not make conclusions about anyone before I have met them and gotten to know them.
Liberal
When I say that I am a liberal, I mean that I feel that people should be allowed to do whatever they want to, as long as it does not harm them or anyone else. As long as what one does will not harm anyone, I say let people do it.
Laws that go against this simple principle should be abolished. For instance any laws that go against same-sex marriages or laws that allow men to do something, while disallowing women to do the same thing, or vice versa, are bad in my book.
This view is closely related to the ideology known as liberalism.
Broadly speaking, liberalism emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. [...] [L]iberalism [...] support[s] a number of principles, including extensive freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market or mixed economy, and a transparent system of government.—Liberalism, Wikipedia
Socialist
I am not necessarily what you would normally consider when you hear the word socialist. I am not agreeing with the part where the state interferes with every aspect of the economy. If somebody wants to get rich, I do not feel they should be stopped, given that they get there ethically and legally.
On the other hand, I do not approve that some people should have to live in poverty, which is commonplace in a purely capitalistic, market-driven world. Thus, I believe it is every nation's responsibility to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves, as well as take care of and provide services that should be free for everyone, including health care, public transportation, police and fire protection, care for the disabled. Money should never ever be an issue! I am bothered enormously whenever I hear about mental patients getting neglected because the health sector was given too little money, or when old people was found dead in their apartments months after their actual death, only discovered because of neighbors complaining about the smell. It's disturbing to hear such stories in a welfare nation.
