about me
"Dogs and horses have taught me some much-needed lessons about myself and inspire me in my work towards hybrid intelligence."
I am a computer scientist researching and teaching in artificial intelligence. My family, and friends have my devotion. I like reading scifi and fantasy. Sculpting in clay and doing heavy garden work is my way of relaxing my brain. American Kenpo Karate has taught me some much needed lessons of how to deal with human behaviour. Dogs and horses have taught me some much needed lessons about myself and inspire me in my work towards hybrid intelligence which is human intelligence co-active with artificial intelligence.
Family matters
I am a child of Gerard Jonker (dentist) and dr. Ineke Jonker - de Putter (historian and PhD on sexual violence). My siblings are Maaike (HR manager), Jan Peter (social work-facility employee), and Gerard (architect , sailor).
Reading
Another way of leaving reality is to retreat into fantasy by reading and imagining other worlds and what it might be like to be someone else. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy teaches that the point about falling is to miss the ground.
Gardening
For me gardening brings peace and connection to the earth. Let me do the heavy jobs, not the weeding. An evening stroll with my sister through our garden, admiring the beautiful colours of the flowers in the light of sunset.
Water
I like to canoe, row a boat, and a bit of sailing on the smaller lakes. I love gliding through the landscape with no engines, no other sounds than nature, and the occassional splashing of water by the oars.
Sculpting
The touch and feel of clay has the power to take me out of my usual thought patterns and gives me the opportunity to connect reason with observations and touch. Besides potters are nice people and they are so creative! Get a glimpse of my clay projects.
Martial arts
I started with Judo which my parents insisted I do before allowing me to ride horses. The point being not to break any bones when falling to the ground. This is valid even more as you grow older! After that I fell for the logic of American Kenpo Karate.
Dogs
I have much to thank for to dogs, and in particular the Swiss Mountain Dogs (Appenzeller Sennenhunde), and all the other dogs that became my friends and which I had the privilege to walk through life with for some time. Meet some of my friends in spirit.
Horses
Horses are the second non-human species that have taught me so much about myself, but also about other humans and even something about dogs. Oh, and about animal cognition in general. Let me share it with you. 'Attitude is everything, so pick a good one'.
Want more details?
Here are some links I want to share with you regarding my mother and brother:
Dr. Ineke Jonker – de Putter en haar werken
Gerard Jonker: Jonker & Wu Architectuur, Zeilschool Hellevoetsluis
My friends and family are so important to me, that other than the information above, I don’t share more on them with you.
My favorite authors or books are Douglas Adams, Jean Auel, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Tom Holt, Tanya Huff, Dean Koontz, Anne McCaffrey, J.K. Rowling, Stephan King, Terry Pratchett, Jonathan Wylie.
Go out there and do it yourself!
I mainly sculpt dogs, although I also made my own chess pieces, and sometimes I make some small stuff just to occupy my mind and work on my technique.
I am sad to say that I lost the companionship of my third Appenzeller Sennenhund (Swiss Mountain dog) in March 2021. Dear Eppy came from Doris Meier (Appenzeller Sennenhunde vom Brünggberg). I have served for more than 20 years as a first aid in behavioural problems for De Nederlandse Vereniging voor Appenzeller, Entlebucher en Grote Zwitserse Sennenhonden. Before Eppy, first Igor, then Artos enriched my life with many years of joy and love. I was fortunate to have found the support from Arjen van Alphen and Francien Koeman from Hondenopvoedingsinstituut De Roedel. They helped me create a bond between Artos and myself that surpassed my wildest dreams. Unfortunately, both Arjen and Francien have passed away, and Eppy followed not long thereafter. Erica de Roode tries to continue the work of De Roedelmethode. The research on Dog Cognition that is only active if someone joines me to do it, is a result of the interesting discussions Arjen and I had when seeing how Artos developed.
Eppy
Dear Eppy, how I hate infections! What bad luck you had to get that when running through the unexpected snow of February 2021. Only 5 years old, March 2021. So sorry! You made a big impression on me, you stubborn fellow!
Artos
Thank you, Artos, for all you gave me and our friends, so sad when you passed away end of 2014. You will always be the gentleman to me and my deepest respect for your stability in all situations. Our best times were spent in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and with De Roedel. I will never forget that you hid objects for us to find.
Igor
Thank you, Igor, for all the fun we had. You are still in my thoughts, even though it is already so long ago that you passed away (1999). Kasteel Groeneveld and the beaches of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen will always be the places that I remember you having the most fun.
Horses helped me to live now. Not that I always succeed, but connecting with them is only possible if you are fully mentally here. Since I did want to connect with these graceful and loveable creatures, I had to learn switch my mind to the here and now. Thanks to Piet and Wilma from De Paardenmaat to help me learn and to teach me so much more about these fascinating inteligent beings.