Daniel Kane:
CLASS OF 1961
Brown High SchoolClass of 1961
Atlanta, GA
E. L. Connally Elementary SchoolClass of 1956
Atlanta, GA
Daniel's Story
I have never been interested in fame or fortune, although I have been lucky enough to derive a fair amount of the latter from what does interest me.
I love getting absorbed in vastly complex systems of ideas and relationships. In literature that has meant J.R.R.Tolkien's corpus of works surrounding The Lord of the Rings, several multivolume series of science fiction, and, lately J.K.Rowling's well known series. And in music, it is Richard Wagner's complex four opera Der Ring des Nibelungen.
The area that has provided fortune has been my fascination with comprehending the complex interactions among the many aspects of macroeconomics and finance. This has provided me a solid foundation for making astute investment decisions.
I like to think about and observe how the mind develops. In college, I did some work on Jean Piaget's child psychology. That's why, when my wife wanted to return to work after the birth of our first child, I quit work to raise the kids (and manage our investments). I became a house husband and a crew dad. I was more the observer and resource, always encouraging the kids to become independent and self reliant.
I also like to think about how the mind grasps information. I eventually turned to looking into ways to effectively represent the financial results of an investment portfolio, the better to learn from experience. I am currently trying to write a book on the subject.
Math and physics were always my easiest subjects, so I proceeded to get a PhD in high energy physics. But it was like when Miss Sinclair convinced me to take a third year of Latin (I finished two books, sitting in her typing class my whole junior year): a way to learn disciplined thinking rather than something to pursue in life. Still, maybe I'll go back and see if I can pretend to understand the unification of quantum mechanics and general relativity.
Ah! but you already knew from high school that I was essentially pretentious.
My first fiancee left me and my first wife divorced me. I have a wonderful son from that marriage. The first few ...Expand for more
months after they moved into a yoga community in the Sierra foothills, my weekends visiting him were partly spent building a small house they could live in. I let Marsha raise Steve her own way, not wanting to present him with conflicting signals. He ended up not going to college but developed a successful service business.
When I abandoned physics, I turned to developing an interactive Management Information System for the management of the laboratory, using my interest in how the mind works with information. When faced with the choice of dating Silvia or getting her assigned to my staff, I didn't hesitate. She ended up being by far the best person in my group.
But she also loved opera and we shared a subscription for several years before any romantic involvement developed. This was probably the luckiest break in my life, that we had those years to develop fondness and respect without the distraction of romance. We've had two girls: Miriam and Rebecca took their mother's last name since my son took my last name. Both girls have gone for masters and are starting out on their own careers.
My only problem is that I can't talk Silvia into retiring.
Note added some six months later: I'm pleased to report that I CAN pretend to understand the unification of quantum mechanics and general relativity. I found a thousand page tome starting with the Greek mathematicians and progressing through the currently leading theories on the unification. Roger Penrose is one of the great minds in general relativity, and his explanations quite suited my way of thinking. Although I don't have the young, agile mind to fully grasp the maths, I was satisfied with how well I got the gist of the theories. Enough so that I can suspect the string theorists are guilty of the same failure as the "rocket scientists" on Wall Street: they believe their models describe reality when all they can do is provide representations of limited applicability.
Further note after another five months: Silvia's whole department was outsourced to India. Can we travel now?!!
Register for Free to view all details!
Reunions
Register for Free to start a reunion event!
Photos
