User:Colin Jaquiery

I am a secondary school student (three years older than Adrian Mole) hailing from Otago, New Zealand, where I am currently undertaking a predominantly science-based course in the International Baccalaureate, with classes in mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, English and French. Although my academic studies are firmly grounded in the natural and formal sciences, I have a keen interest in the arts – particularly literature, theatre and music, although I greatly appreciate dance/movement disciplines and plastic arts – and also casually enjoy making a personal study of an assortment of topics in the sciences and humanities. I could be described as something of a dilettante. Ideologically, I come from a mixed background – my mother is a Presbyterian Christian, while my father is an orthodox atheist. This gives me a fair bit of personal experience in terms of tact and diplomacy, and has prompted me to strive towards intellectual openness and rational argument – not to mention providing me with a rare degree of understanding and empathy in two kinda totally opposite ideological approaches… be it Darwin or Luther, I can talk the talks and walk the walks that suit. In the face of being bestowed with what I see as a naturally broad perspective, minor points like a modicum of confidence, certainty, or peace of mind seem a small price to pay. At the very least, I avoid complacency. Philosophically speaking, I tentatively endorse Kant’s transcendental idealism, married with ideas of scientific constructivism and instrumentalism. I strive for precision, accuracy and consistency, and suspect that these lofty goals are more achievable within a rational and analytical approach. One of my most relished delights is humour, and I indulge myself shamelessly – although teenage life positively seethes with exhilarating adventure and mindboggling intrigue, it can at times seem as if it could be a little more… droll… and as such I watch endless sitcoms, and am an avid follower of a variety of web-comics – to this day, I remain steadfastly convinced that Calvin & Hobbes elevated the rightful status of the four panel strip format to an art form at the pinnacle of human expression. In my off-time at school (and to be honest, what *isn’t* off-time at school?), I read Wikipedia articles about political figures for laughs.