User:Gottfried Helms

I'm a german male, born 1952. Have been to a "humanistic" high-school. Learnt 4 years at college 1972-1978 for "general informatik" ("information/computer science") but left without degree to begin with a human-related profession. Got a diploma in "social assistance" (final essay (1985) was about "Computer addiction", final talks were about "development projects in Kenya based on local volunteers" and the "psychological/humanistic figures and models in the literature of Michael Ende").

While being student I re-involved into computer-based jobs in context with empirical social research and developed software for statistical anlysis. From that jobs I got a half-term but life-long contract at the university, and after the last big project (network-based software for documentation, processing and therapy-planning in clinics for geriatric rehabilitation I was taken for teaching introducion to quantitative empirical social research.

From a life long passion for pacifism and humanism I was involved in the peace-movement (active since 1972, later also in student comittees for socialistic movement). But activity on a daily-political action-style declined since about 1990 when parallel with the founding of a family I got started to engage in philosophical and religios discourse, which I began because I felt disappointed of the style of my political friends and the common political movements.

I was reinspired for christian religion first and then got in deep and existential contact to buddhism (Theravada & Thich Nhat Hanh), after first explorations beginning at Krishnamurti, then Osho (including Neo-Tantra), Hakuin. Since 9/11 we have a comittee for "interreligios dialogue" (now "religions for peace") in my hometown to which I assigned myself up to this year (just left it for some conceptional reason)

Besides all this political and religious/philosophical iterests I seem to be in deep passion with "numbers" - as long as I can think in my origin family and also later on my own we had games and thoughts about numbers and mathematical riddles, and specifically loved linear algebra in my computer-science-education. Later, in the empirical research I wrote an interactive program for factor-analysis which was based on my tools for matrix-algebra. About 2002 I came in internet-discussions to questions of pure numbertheory and increasingly got involved into the analysis of "matrices/triangles of numbers" which are significant in numbertheory. By accident I (re-)discovered functional iteration this way and are somehow a homebrewn expert for a certain path in "tetration". I dedicated much of my free time the last years to that passion, involved myself into some internet-community, wrote some articles (with improving skills) and have setup a homepage with a collection of articles on religious/buddhistic/interreligious and of various subjects in mathematics and numbertheory.

In my courses I teach basic statistical concepts and methods, and related to the required focus on the basic principles of empirical research and its implications/paradigms "before, behind and beyond" I like to put a flaw of philosophy/humanistic thinking into the (dis-)course. I began to contribute to the wikipedia in some subjects with which I'm familiar (or professional) with, just to contribute my two cents to the "movement" of free-information/knowledge/scientific exchange - but was quickly frustrated by low quality and an unconstructive process of discussion/editing in some of that (few) articles I was involved. Citizendium seems to fit my expectations of fruitful (and also joyful!) collaboration more, so let's see whether this can be a new place for me to share.

Gottfried Helms, D-Kassel