Zmvictor

About me

Hello! My name is Zach. I'm a US citizen. I was born in 1977. As far as formal education goes, I have a bachelor's in English & music from Lawrence Univ. and a master's in musicology from Yale Univ. I'm a classically trained pianist. I used to want to be a professional pianist; these days I play to amuse myself and to entertain friends and family. I've been employed in tech part- and full-time for over twenty years now. Presently I make a living as a software developer and ERP system administrator.

Old account: Gloridrith

In 2007 I created a Wikipedia user named Gloridrith (contributions). As that user I wrote an article on a legal scholar I'd met and contributed edits to a couple articles. While I do think it'd be neat to continue to use an account over a decade old, I decided to stop using Gloridrith for these reasons:

1. I contributed very little as Gloridrith and hadn't used the account in a long time
2. I prefer to write under my real name (Zach M. Victor = Zmvictor)
3. I do not recall the pseudo-etymology I intended in coining the Tolkienian name Gloridrith—and, in any case, I suspect the name would be invalid in J. R. R. Tolkien's linguistic realm. (I recall wanting to create a name similar to Glorfindel. What can I say: I'm just another The_Lord_of_the_Rings ignoramus with an outsize love for that name and the eponymous character.)

Why I'm a Wikipedia user

I love the internet and find Wikipedia especially appealing. I believe it's productive to continue to learn and share knowledge freely. I consider myself a polymath and wouldn't mind if everybody tried to be.

Learning new things

I can learn. You can too. Who said we couldn't? Why not? Can't we try?

In my experience, if I can read it, or if someone can read it to me, then the knowledge is open to me. I have a chance!

When I try to learn, I always learn something—even if the knowledge I sought turns out to be too hard to gain right away.

Relating personally to learning

I heard Maya Angelou speak when I was in college. She said she read Shakespeare's sonnets when she was young and supposed he must have been a little black girl like herself. Regardless of whether she meant that literally, it was to me an electrifying idea. It gets at the personal need to relate to new information. I relate new learning to prior knowledge and experience.

Angelou's perspective brings to my mind that famous declaration of Francis Bacon: "I have taken all knowledge to be my province" (letter to William Cecil ca. 1593). Why not consider all knowledge hospitable terrain? Certainly Wikipedia has done much to make it so.

In learning, and in participating in Wikipedia, I try hard to keep an open mind, an impartial view, and a healthy awareness of my own very particular, very personal relationship with what I learn.