Hey, I’m Gordon, thanks for visiting my website.
Edit: now already 7-year-old bio… will update when I find time, meanwhile plz see my Twitter or IG.
Alongside my studies in mathematics and economics, I have spent a substantial amount of time deepening my knowledge about many subjects and sharpening a broad basket of skills. This webpage attempts to summarize my key takeaways and present some of my projects. Feel free to contact me about anything.
For further depth, here are my “about me”s for various topics:
Finance
From a kid on, I was always fascinated by money, trying to understand what may be one of the most complex pieces of technology ever created. In the goal to learn more about investing in 2009, I soon started to read everything about finance I could put my hands on. One day, I stumbled on Zero Hedge, a dark anti-establishment finance blog where the authors write anonymously under the name Tyler Durden (c.f. Fight Club rule #1 and #2) and I have been a daily reader ever since. A subscription to the video on demand website Real Vision TV enabled me to take a deeper look at this opaque world. And it landed me a student job at the company later on. I have since also held several lectures about finance (c.f. for example here).
Mathematics
This was my main subject of study with a specialization in statistics, in particular extreme value theory. By now, I have developed a kind of love-hate relationship with mathematics. I am definitely glad to have chosen this path as the analytical thinking skills learned have already proven infinitely valuable. Although understanding complex mathematical proofs can be highly rewarding, their application to real-life problems tend to have diminishing marginal returns and still require – at least for me – a substantial amount of energy. Additionally, applied mathematics also requires lots of programming which can be comparable to tinkering: highly time-consuming (especially for a perfectionist like me), many fails along the road and nothing working as planned but amazing when finished.
Economics
As a side subject to mathematics, I chose political economics which I loved from the beginning. That enthusiasm led me to upgrade to a bachelor’s degree (my second), a decision I would end up regretting. While the real world is infinitely complex, the current economic teaching is not reflecting that. On the contrary, economic models are mathematically simplistic, very repetitive, usually insanely useless at best or incredibly dangerous at worst, c.f. here or here. Retrospectively, I had more the impression of having moved bricks from A to B rather than having learned anything. This is a shame as genuine economics should be understood much better, see for example this.
Photography and Videography
My interest in photography started early on and over the years has developed into a great passion. Videography was the next logical step. Having had the opportunity to travel to many beautiful locations, it offered me a unique perspective of the world that I wished to share. Among other projects, I joined several ski camps in the European and Norwegian Alps (c.f. my ski show-case reel), made a kitesurf video-project in Dakhla, Morocco and documented outdoor-adventure sports in Southern France.
Sports
Having grown up next to the sea and the mountains, water in any state is my element. This led me to become a kitesurf and ski instructor and to regularly guide university outdoor excursions. A further passion of mine is springboard and cliff diving for which Marseille is an Eldorado. Other than that, regular visits to the gym, bouldering and practicing yoga help me stay in shape. I also had phases where I often swam or intensely played badminton, kanu polo or volleyball.
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By the way, here the full quote from the landing page:
Principles for the Development of a Complete Mind: Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses- especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.
― Leonardo da Vinci
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Socials
Feel free to follow me on any of the socials:
Gordon Schücker 