Last updated 01/31/08.
I make my living as a nerd. Right now, as a high school science/math teacher. Here's my resume.
Here is a short list of my favorite books, films, etc.
I am a zealous, evangelistic, crusading agnostic and skeptic, in religion, politics, pseudoscience, and quack medical practice. I've been posting for more than 25 years (first on the old PLATO system and later on USENET) to political and religious newsgroups. A recent interest has been a secular humanist mailing list (see my autobiographical posting ).
My philosophical ideas spring from skepticism, relativism, positivism, pragmatism, and humanism. When evaluating ideas, I work with the assumption that theories ought to match reality -- it is surprising how much theory matches reality badly. This tends to produce a preference for ideas that are valid (ie. work well) rather than theoretically correct (without working well.)
Lately, I've concentrated on libertarianism, and run the only site I know of dedicated to Critiques Of Libertarianism . This features my Non-Libertarian FAQ as well as a host of related materials I've been able to find. I enjoy writing witty responses to some of the more absurd or foolish posts, and I also enjoy appending suitable signature quotes from my collection.
I have also been a contributing editor writing a monthly column on Skepticism for Suite101. That ended when I did not meet deadlines, but copies are present at: Mike's Skepticism.
At heart, I've always been a biologist. I've always had a strong interest in botany and gardening. I used to work for Cornell's Bailey Hortorium, caring for their live botanical collection of several thousand species. My home garden has a bit over 300 varieties of perennials and shrubs. That's not counting DAYLILIES: I have approximately 400 named varieties (and 2500 seedlings from my own hybridization.)
But my other true biological love has always been Entomology. I used to specialize in Acarology (the study of mites), and built a collection of a thousand slide-mounted specimens (and who knows how many more in alcohol that I've never mounted.) I've got a substantial number of colorful mite photographs that I've always wanted to publish, photographed by my friends in the New York Microscopical Society and me. After my last sabbatical collecting insects in Ecuador (1988), I finally settled on my current specialization, the Evaniidae (a family of wasps that parasitize cockroach egg cases.) I study these at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology on an unofficial basis. I'm also a member of the Cambridge Entomological Club.
I tend to read mostly science fiction (my paperback collection measures more than 30 yards), though I've had little time for it since I returned from Ecuador.
I've practiced Aikido and Iaido at New England Aikikai with the late Kanai Sensei for more than twenty years. I'm sandan (3nd degree black belt) in Honbu style (USAF) Aikido and sandan (3rd degree black belt) in Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido. I haven't been active in Iaido lately. I teach children's classes and practice at New England Aikikai, and I'm also becoming active at Aikido Tekkojuku Boston, a new school founded by numerous instructors from New England Aikikai. I also teach at the Harvard Aikido Club and the Tufts Aikido Club.
When I married in '88, my wife Peggy and I both changed our name to Huben (mine used to be Huybensz.) Our daughter Carol was born in '90, and our son Bob was born in '93. All three are terrific, and between them, my work, my crumbling house, and all my other activities, I scarcely have time to breathe.
Copyright 2007 by Mike Huben ( mhuben@world.std.com ).
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