Hi, my name is Rob. Hmmm... I'm reasonably shy and quiet but quite friendly given familar circumstances. I like to think I'm an honest, reasonable and interesting guy. I've tried my best to fill in this profile as genuinely and as realistically as possible rather than in a way that's as appealing as possible. If you approve then great, if not that's fine. "I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not". Oh yeah, I love borrowing famous quotes because they often capture something I think or feel better than I can with my apparent lack of creativity :P

My apologies for the profile being somewhat long-ish compared to most, I struggle to summarize myself in a few boxes :/ Then again the sorts of people that would be turned off from reading something, regardless of how much or how little thought was put into it, simply because it would take more than a few minutes to read probably aren't the sorts of people that would get along all that well with me anyway :P

I try to jog every day or second day to keep reasonably fit and I'm fairly into arcade and online gaming. I used to play a lot of tennis as a teenager but now just on occasion with friends.

I have a massive respect and interest in science. Not an expert, just fascinated by it. I love reading things by popular science writers, particularly Carl Sagan and Richard Dawkins. I also buy or borrow new editions of New Scientist magazine from my local library every now and then as well as frequently read articles about new scientific studies online on sites such as on 'sciencedaily.com'. I also like to read science blogs here and there too, especially Pharyngula (PZ Myers' blog), which often just digresses into entertaining rants about pseudoscience and biblical literalism :P

I care quite passionately about things such as gay marriage (which I'm absolutely in favour of), properly educating people to think critically to steer them away from things like pseudoscience, superstition and religiously inspired ignorance such as creationism (not all religion is necessarily bad though in my opinion, such as a lot of passive and peaceful religions from Asia, the north of India etc, and really liberal forms of Christianity and Islam, although I don't subscribe to the truth of any of it personally). Also alleviating poverty; One day I'd like to help in a significant way to fight extreme poverty. I'd also love to do something about depression and suicide, particularly amongst teenagers.

When I put down 'atheist' in the religious beliefs box, I would've preferred to put 'agnostic atheist' but it wasn't an option, so 'atheist' would be the more accurate description.

If I'd lived in another time I imagine I could've quite easily, like Beethoven, been a pantheist as I have a strong admiration for nature. In general I dislike the term 'atheist' personally because I prefer to define myself by what I am rather than what I am not. "Atheism is a religion like bald is a hair colour". However, the parties of god make up the majority at present, so unfortunately at this point it's a necessary title.

I'm not a fan of polyamorous or open relationships. I've got nothing against anyone wishing to pursue such a relationship, that's absolutely their prerogative, but I'm almost certain that it's not what I'm looking for.

In my opinion the best relationship progression is: get to know each other --> get along well as friends --> possibly become romantically involved, or remain friends (without skipping a step). My reason for this is I don't think you could have a fulfilling relationship with someone that you couldn't also be friends with.

I find concepts such as 'love at first sight', 'soul mates' and 'destined to be together' etc largely nonsense. I not only think they are unrelated to actual romantic love, but they effectively cheapen it. I can understand the temptation to feel as if something is 'meant to be' certainly, but the terms themselves are just bad poetry in my opinion and seem somewhat fanciful and immature. I find the sensation of love as beautiful and amazing as the next person, but it is nevertheless an emergent property of our brains. I don't believe it somehow transcends time and space, that it somehow survives brain death, or that it is made any more incredible by tying it up with concepts such as destiny or eternity.

Also I should probably add that I have a speech impediment, more specifically a stutter. It's quite circumstantial, sometimes quite noticeable while virtually undetectable at other times - in certain situations people have known me for quite some time before even realizing because, as one would expect, after 20+ years you find ways to work around it. It may or may not be something that I'll have for the rest of my life, I'm unable to say. I mention this because it seems to have been somewhat of an issue for people I've met from this site and other places in the past. I'm not especially bitter about people potentially avoiding me because of such an issue, nor do I think they're necessarily closed minded or superficial etc. They just are who they are and have nothing to apologize for, in my opinion.

I finished high school in 2003 and initially studied at uni on and off for a while unsure of what I wanted to do. Initially I wanted to be a counsellor because I liked the idea of helping people, particularly teenagers suffering depression. However, after being turned away from a volunteer counseling service at the end of the training course because of my stutter, I'm now unsure what I'd like to do with my life.

As I've recently acquired a keen interest in science I plan on applying next year for a mature age entry course, or something similar, into various unis (preferably Macquarie because it's by far the closest to me, but I'm not all that fussed) and progress towards some sort of science degree, most likely psychology.

In the meantime I'm working at Coles stacking and facing shelves and doing regular volunteer work at a homeless shelter in the city.

Oh and I'd love to learn to play violin at some point, possibly sooner rather than later. It's such a beautiful instrument (If you don't agree, I'd point you towards Vivaldi's Four Seasons, in particular spring and winter, Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, in particular the first movement, and Beethoven's Violin Concerto, in particular the third movement - both Beethoven and Tchaikovsky only wrote the one each - then come back and we'll talk :P)

Other than that I suppose I just take it as it comes.

First thing that comes to mind would be online games and DDR :P Apparently I'm a good listener too. I'd say I'm a good thinker also, I think I'm appropriately sceptical, rational and understanding.

Beyond that I'm kind of modest and hate saying that I'm good at something, even if I think I am :P

I thought the best way to answer this question would be to actually ask people, particularly people who don't know me very well.

A frequent answer seems to be that I always look as if I've got something on my mind. More often than not this is probably actually the case so I suppose it's not a surprise.

Generally science-type non-fiction books more often than not, but do enjoy the occasional novel. Examples of books I really enjoyed, and would recommend would be: The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan, The Time Traveler's Wife, Unweaving the Rainbow by Richard Dawkins, to name a few.

Music is somewhat varied. Mostly classical music, especially Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, but there are way too many amazing pieces by a whole range of people to name here more specifically. I also like a bit of rock and metal - nothing too heavy though, examples would be Nightwish, Unsun, Sirenia, Powderfinger. Quite a juxtaposition I know :P

The first thing that comes to mind for favourite food would be pasta, Japanese food, bananas or salted cashew nuts. Favourite drink without a doubt would be V.

Favourite movie currently would be either The Notebook or The Phantom of the Opera. Generally the kinds of movies and shows I like would be: scifis, romance, things that explore psychological, philosophical or deeply emotional themes, but there are certainly exceptions.

Personally I think this is a rather futile question. Obviously the first things that come to mind consist of: food, water, oxygen, etc but I'll try and answer it in somewhat of a more interesting way, as I imagine the question was intended:

- People (family, friends, all sorts of other interesting people, where would we be without them?)
- The internet (an infinite source of information, games, entertainment)
- Jogging/physical activity (get those endorphins pumping)
- Music (the way it can speak to you and the things it can make you feel are amazing, a lot of times almost like some kind of wonderful poetry that humans have not yet been able to capture in language).
- Nature (from the fresh smell of grass and trees after a rainy night, to the stunning glow of a full moon in a cloudless sky, I can't help feeling a deep connection to the natural world around me).
- My mind (couldn't do without the ability to learn, appreciate things, but mostly think, contemplate and reason).
- Emotions (from happiness and love to sadness and pain, I wouldn't want to be without any of them. Our lack of total control over them is what allows them to captivate us so).

Apparently one thing I can do without is basic arithmetic :P Oh well, this question is silly anyway in my opinion.

People. Specifically, how and why they do and think the things they do. What motivates people to do things.

I'm so fascinated by how and why people become involved in religion, their stories and experiences, reasons why it's important to them, etc. Also the meanings and purpose people attribute to their life and to life in general (if any) and their reasons.

Things I can potentially add to my OkCupid profile to better encourage people to want to message me :P

About great people throughout history and today and people I admire. I try to appreciate their contributions, what it was that made them great and try to think of what I can personally learn and take from them.

I often try and speculate, in terms of our evolutionary history, why we do certain things, feel certain things, crave certain things and behave certain ways etc. I find evolution and evolutionary psychology absolutely fascinating.

Whether or not free will exists. Currently I'm leaning towards 'no', so I suppose that makes me a determinist. I can't see how our minds could escape the shackles of cause and effect :/ Furthermore, if we indeed do not have free will, what implications this has on questions of morality, justice, truth, etc.

How limited language is as a means of expression.

Whether or not people who say they're on this site for the tests are lying. Most of the time I'm of the opinion that they are, but it doesn't particularly bother me.

I generally over-analyze things a lot too, often to my own detriment.

If you wish to discuss any of the aforementioned topics at all you'll find me more than willing :)

Not doing a whole lot. I'm typically not into clubbing etc. I'm generally out for a few drinks with friends, in for a quiet night at home either online or in bed with a book or working night shifts at Coles.

Every month or so I'll typically be attending a classical concert, ballet or opera either at the Opera House, Angel Place Theater or some other theater.

One time I thought there was a really good pianist that lived in my building above or next to me and told everyone about it, then later realized that I'd just left the radio on in the next room one day and it was playing a Chopin special. (Chopin was a classical composer of the Romantic era particularly well known for his complex and beautiful piano pieces by the way :) )

Although I can come off as quite rigid and emotionless on the surface, I feel that I'm quite a passionate and emotional person deep down. I've been known to shed a tear during touching movies, particularly love stories, and even, as embarrassing as it is, on the train home as I was finishing the last pages of a romance novel.

I guess I'm a bit of a nerd/geek/whatever term you want to use to refer to someone overly analytical and slightly socially inept. I like scifis; I play a bunch of online and arcade games (some of which quite competitively); I frequently read, and occasionally edit, Wikipedia articles; I like to discuss and debate really nerdy topics; I'd like to visit events like E3 and comic-con at some point; I watch a bunch of anime; And I think the development of the scientific method was the greatest intellectual achievement in the history of our species.

Also I envy bisexual people, and I often envy homosexual guys. I often joke that if I could take a pill that would make me wake up 100% gay the next day I'd almost certainly take it, which earns me ridicule from the majority of my friends, as I'm sure anyone could imagine. However, "There's nothing more futile than wanting to be anything other than what you are by nature." Therefore, alas, I'm stuck being straight :P

Not very private, I know. That's probably as far as I'll go though before I know someone better :P

- You're approx 18-25 years old.
- You're interested in either dating or just being friends.
- You're interested in (or, at the very least, willing to tolerate) online/arcade games on occasion, classical music and the occasional concert here and there.
- You're not a deeply superficial person.

Or if you're just interested in asking, discussing or commenting on something from my profile, either because you disagree or want to offer your opinion, feel free to do so.

Things that are not a factor whatsoever:
- ethnicity
- sexual orientation
- smoking/drug use (provided you're fine with me not participating)
- religious, spiritual, or political views (provided you can accept dissenting opinions, and also don't view discussing these things as taboo).