Artificial Intelligence
I have always had the problem of wanting to be interested in too many things. Life is definitely too short! I have listed below some things to which I might be willing to devote some future life, if such a thing exists. It is rather hard already to keep up my musical activities properly and continue with chess and golf, so all of these run on the side burner. However, some change in my life could very easily cause any of these to rise in stature, so I'm glad to have so many interests, even if it's rather hard to keep up with them.
I will just present these in alphabetical order since I can't prioritize them in any way.
Artificial Intelligence
Bridge
Classical languages and civilizations
Computers and programming
"Hofstadterese", metalogic and Gödel
Jazz improvization and history
Maps
Mathematics
Modern Languages
Philosophizing
Tennis
An interest in chess programs sparked my enthusiasm for AI back in high school. This increased when Douglas Hofstadter spoke at the Hill, and later when I read his Gödel, Escher, Bach. I took CS 182, the AI class, at Harvard; in this class I was especially interested in search problems, language processing, and the philosophy of AI. If I went back into computers as a profession, I think I would look here first.
I became frustrated with chess in high school, when I found little serious competition, and wanted to learn another, more social thinking game with perhaps a little more luck in it. I learned the basic conventions and played in the Bridge Room in Reading and in the Harvard Bridge Club, but I never became proficient at it. I believe I have more aptitude for long-range memory, planning, tactics and strategy involved in chess than for the short-term memory, deductive reasoning and interpersonal psychology necessary for effective bridge playing. However, if I made friends with some serious bridge players, or found some people who really wanted to learn, I would happily go back into bridge again.
Classical Languages, Cultures and Civilizations
Education in the Classics formed a large part of my Hill education. I also took a Greek reading class on Aristophanes at Harvard, as well as a core class entitled "The Rome of Augustus." I certainly enjoyed both of these and regret not having been able to do more of this at Harvard. Latin and Greek are always interesting in their relationship to the English language. However, since much of my Classical education was linguistically oriented, it could be interesting some day to do some more reading about the civilizations themselves, or to make a trip to Greece or Crete. (I encountered the Roman ruins briefly on a trip to Europe but it would be interesting to return.) It would also be a rewarding experience to teach basic Latin or Greek; perhaps I'll get to do this sometime.
I have been interested in computer programming for a long time; in fourth grade I began to learn Applesoft Basic; soon I took a course in Pascal, and I learned some assembly on my own. I wrote lots of programs at this time. As was natural for a kid of that age, I was fascinated by computer games, and I liked to design them, learning much about computers and the software engineering process along the way. I guess it's surprising I didn't consider CS as a concentration when I arrived at Harvard; I think I just didn't consider myself a "techie" (and I definitely wasn't). Nevertheless, the courses suited me well. One goal of mine was to have a better understanding of how the computer worked on the hardware level, and I was able to take a hardware class, which satisfied this "cultural" desire (it could hardly have been any particular wish to deal with tangled wires and circuits!). I would single out learning LISP as an especially interesting experience; I admire this language as a mathematical construction, although I admit it can be pretty cumbersome at times when it comes to getting things done. Regrettably, the only language in which I seem to have time to program these days is HTML, which is surely a big drop down from LISP! :(
"Hofstadterese" - Metalogic, Gödel etc.
Douglas Hofstadter lectured at the Hill School in my second form year; I met him, and at his suggestion we even played a game of chess (he was very talented and intuitive but not yet well schooled in the game). His thought has always inspired me. I've read Gödel, Escher, Bach twice now. His work inspired me to take classes at Harvard in AI as well as Philosophy 144, "Logic and Philosophy," a course devoted to the proof and the implications of Gödel's Theorem. It is fun to dabble in puns, self-referential constructions, the Epimenides paradox, figure and ground, Escher drawings, etc. When it comes to understanding some of these concepts in a profound way, however, one should bear in mind Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you think, even considering Hofstadter's Law."
Jazz Improvization and History
I've always liked listening to jazz, and at Peabody, in Baltimore's jazz culture, I learned much more. From the basic jazz improv class I at least know what to do with a lead sheet (e.g. what modes to play over what chords), and I have a basic blueprint for how to improve further. "All" that's left to do is practice it! I can play by ear to an extent, and I am able to do a transcription from a recording, because I always like to figure out the most colorful harmonic progressions. However, I still find it difficult to go back and forth between rehearsing polished performances of Classical literature, on the one hand, and spontaneous creation in the jazz idiom, on the other. For now, it is a pleasure to listen to recordings or to hear live combos; I especially like to listen to Dixieland, Duke Ellington, and Art Tatum.
I guess this is mainly a juvenile interest. As a kid I studied maps all the time; I knew most of the roads in and near the city of Reading, and liked to explore the ones I hadn't traveled before. Even today, if I'm out walking around, I like to scout the area and find places I've never been, to learn where I am in the context of my surroundings. I guess this is the "Romantic attraction" of being an explorer in olden times. Nowadays, maps serve a purely utilitarian function for me - it isn't good to get stuck in the wrong part of Baltimore (and I still do, from time to time) - but my sense of exploration has never died.
I took all the math I could in high school, and concentrated in it for three years at Harvard. (See my undergraduate education (mathematics) for details.) Rigorous argument, when fully comprehended, is not only a powerful tool but also a source of aesthetic pleasure. It's a great shame that so few people seem to appreciate it in this way. Even solving a basic algebra problem has a certain delightful ritual quality about it which pleases me greatly, as long as the arithmetic isn't too demanding. (Many of us would like to abolish this from mathematics!) I haven't looked at much math for a while, but my college texts are always there to be re-examined in more leisure, as sources of enlightenment and pleasure (real education) rather than as requirements. I'd probably go back first to group theory, topology or combinatorics. It would be a lot of fun to teach Algebra, Geometry, or Calculus to a good class.
Modern Languages and Etymology
A musician deals with foreign languages all the time, particularly Italian, German, and French. My Classical background has improved my "passive" comprehension by giving me a good understanding of grammar and the etymology of words. That isn't very helpful, though, in conversation, when my passive vocabulary isn't as easy to use, and my lack of active vocabulary hurts me. In order to develop conversational skills, I would have to live in the right country. When in a foreign country, what experience I had had in the language was always very useful; I wished for a lot more! I am pleased to say that I now have the basic foundations in place for French, German, and Italian (pretty much in that order). Should the opportunity arise, I would enjoy becoming fluent in one of these languages.
I suppose, philosophically speaking, this shouldn't really be categorized as a "hobby" but, rather, as an approach to living life. There are limits to how philosophical I am willing to get but I do have the basic instinct to generalize. A glance through my web pages (or even this paragraph) should suffice to illustrate.
This is my "second sport," just as bridge is my second game. I took tennis lessons as a kid and I have always loved to play. As exercise, tennis sure beats a stationary bicycle or treadmill for entertainment value, and it beats golf in the important category "calories burned per hours spent." For these reasons my enthusiasm for tennis has seen an increase recently, and I'm playing every week in the winter time. Perhaps I will end up playing golf in the summer and tennis in the winter, so there's always a nice way to stay active.