User:Zereshk
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This user is not a Texas native, but he got here as fast as he could. |
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سر بندگی به حکمت بنهم که پادشاهی
Zereshk is something found here. Look closely! :)
Contents |
[edit] Origins
I was born in Shiraz, Iran; what used to be the city of wine, poetry, and philosophy. I grew up in Tehran and Jonesboro, Arkansas.
I am Azeri from my father's side, and I am related to Ayatollah Shirazi, Dehkhoda, and Dr. Heshmat (Mirza Kuchek Khan's close friend) from my mother's side. My grandfather was also a colonel in the Shah's army.
[edit] Education and experience
I am working on my Ph.D in medical physics at The University of Texas Health Science Center. My research is centered around Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. I do diagnostic imaging studies for atherosclerotic plaque.
- M.S., Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee (transferred from University of California, Davis)
- B.S., Physics, Arkansas State University (transferred from University of Tehran)
I also studied graduate level architecture under Marian Moffet until she unexpectedly died in September of 2004. She was interested in traditional Persian architecture. I carried out studies of historical Kashani houses, traditional Qazvin water sources, and Goharshad mosque under her supervision. Two papers (presented to SAH) authored by me were the result of this.
I also hold certificates in advanced studies in Astronomy from Shiraz University (1996), University of Tabriz (1996), and Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (1997).
But frankly, I still dont know my head from my butt. As Avicenna says:
Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate
I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate,
And many Knots unravel'd by the Road;
But not the Master-Knot of Human Fate.
I served as editor and news reporter of the English service of IRIB, a.k.a Radio Tehran, from 1993-1995. I also worked in voice dubbing for some films and movies. That was the most fun job I ever had. I'm also a featured columnist of Iranian.com.
[edit] Intellectual interests
In addition to that, intellectually I ascribe to:
- Pluralism: I am an advocate of social pluralism. Specifically, I believe that Islam excels best in a relatively free environment, not when it is enforced. Medieval Andalusia is perhaps an example. As Ali (AS) said: "Islam must be willfully chosen, not forced". But this concept also has universal applications too. A free or quasi-free society and economy functions better than a strictly state enforced one.
- As far as pluralism in religion is concerned, I only subscribe to the relativistic form of Inclusivism.
- Philosophical idealism (mentalist monism): Esse est percipi. Like Eugene Wigner, I believe that consciousness is not only necessary to carry out an observation, but to "create reality" as well, as Fritz London put it. Many others are subscribing to this idea as well: That the physical world is a figment of our mental perspective, a construction of the sense data we are aware of in perception.
- The Quantum Physics aspect: I subscribe to Von Neumann's interpretation of QM in this regard. I find the writings of Nick Herbert, Henry Stapp, and Evan Harris Walker intruiging in this respect.
- Among the other corollaries of this restatement of idealism is that, I beleive, we are completely alone in this materialistic conventionally observable universe. No extra-terrestrials. Bad news for sci-fiers perhaps, but not if one accepts that there may be more to reality than the observable universe. Obviously, I wouldnt fit in with the Vienna Circle.
- Another spinoff: There is something fundamentally flawed about our perception of time. I'm even begining to doubt causality. See here what I mean.
- Like Benjamin Libet, I think free will must reign. And the current picture science provides us, is one that seems deterministic.
- Hence like Roger Penrose, I don't believe in true Artificial Intelligence in the sense of producing self-awareness. I think Consciousness cannot be viewed from a reductionist perspective, just as we cannot learn anything about the driver by only studying every detail of the car. But Hal 9000 was really cool.
- and like this guy, I think the scientific establishment has become the very Church it scurried away from not very long ago.
[edit] Wikipedia editorial interests
I have been editing on Wikipedia since 2004. I have done edits to over 3,000 articles on Iran, being the primary author and creator of hundreds of them. My content article edits currently number over 20,000.(check for yourself)
My interests on Wikipedia are circled around topics related to Iran or Persia, and her cultural sisters like Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenia, Azarbaijan, Tajikestan, etc. Anything from Flying carpets to The Silk Road are fair game for me.
The reason for me spending time here, busy as I am, is that misinformation, or lack of information about Iran (Persia), is a major cause of stereotypes, poor decisions, wrong interpretations, and bad policies. The more you know about someone or something, the better you can decide on them. I see a lot of information missing about Iran in general, and one not need go far to see how important such an issue is as the global arena (West-Iran relations) further slides into political turmoil.
[edit] My photography
I do some photography. Here is a sample of some of my favorite photos that I have taken in the past 5 years:
 Ah yes. The San Antonio Riverwalk is a pleasant sight in Christmas. |
 A dazzling display of traditional Persian Architecture |
 Behold my Walmart shoes as I peer down into a nuclear reactor! |
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 Up in the snowy mountains of Iran! I slept in a hotel at 11,000 feet. Spectacular! |
 A 500 year old latin copy of the Canons of Medicine by Avicenna. Those are my glasses on it! |
 National Museum of Iran. Five thousand year old pottery. Awesome! |
 I took this shot in downtown Austin, Texas. Beautiful city. |
 This is how I will remember Iran: Picturesque mountains, contrasting green valleys, gushing cold spring water. |
 Now this is what I call relief art. Bad dog! Bad dog! |
 I had to climb on a fence to take this shot of the roofscape of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts. |
 How will I be remembered, if at all? Will my tomb look as cool as this? |
[edit] People and places I am eternally grateful to
- Faculty :
- University of Tehran: Dr.s Ali Pazirandeh and Shahbazi Moghaddam and Shakib and Mr. Majzoubi (for their constant encouragements), Iraj Malekpour (for being a role model for me and for supporting my admission into the IAU Summer School), Samad Farrokhi and Rasool Javaheri (for guiding me into American graduate schools), Shahriyar Bayegan (for doing an excellent job in teaching me Arfken's book), my numerous fellow students there (caring awesome friends who showed me the standards of being a superb student in life), and Shahriar Rohani for showing me how to avoid being narrow minded in life.
- IASBS: Dr. Yusef Sobouti for being an excellent role model for me.
- Arkansas State University: Dr.s Bruce Johnson, E. Hammerand, Larry Miller, Bao-An Li, and Andrew Sustich (for being such superb and patient teachers).
- University of Tennessee: Lawrence Miller, Larry Townsend, and Ronald Pevey (for being the most excellent guides one can have in grad school)
- UC Davis: Jack Gunion[1] (for being patient with my ignorance)
- Libraries:
- The John C. Hodges library at The University of Tennessee for giving me access to oceans of information. I must have checked out half the library's collection during my years in Knoxville.
- UC Berkeley's Doe Memorial Library for letting me use their resources when I was a student at UC Davis.
- My high school teachers:
- My senior year physics teacher in Shiraz (whose name I dont remember)
- Mr. Aal-e osfour, my senior year literature teacher
- Mr. Eshraghi, my junior year literature teacher
- Dr. Haddad-e adel, my junior year literature teacher
- Dr. Fariborz Khosravi, my algebra professor, now deputy of National Library of Iran
- Others
- UT Austin for giving me special access to their resources.
- University of Texas Health Science Center for their excellent program in Medical Physics.
- The United States Government for giving me all these opportunities as an immigrant.
[edit] Awards :)
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An Award | |
| "Defender of Shi'at Ali" ThulFiqar Award is the highest Shi'a Honor Award offered to Zereshk for his tireless struggle to enrich Wiki with numerous quality articles about Shia Islam. 129. 14:42, 18 February 2006 (UTC) |
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The Barnstar of Iran's Merit of Excellence | |
| The Barnstar of Greater Iran's Merit of Excellence is hereby awarded to you, for your many contributions to articles related to Iran and Iranians.Shervink 16:49, 6 February 2007 (UTC)shervink|} |
