John Roland Penner graduated the Waldorf teacher training in Toronto in 2009 under the guidance of Diana Hughes, and currently works in IT. he worked previously as a technical writer for the 3D animation company sideFX, and did technical support for the architectural CAD firm Graphisoft.
His main area of study is Goethean science, Rudolf Steiner's epistemological works, and artificial intelligence. to this end, he has written three of his own 'artificial intelligences' — a chess engine, a connect4 engine, and a hnefatafl (Viking chess) engine, as well as an ELIZA (conversational robot). he wrote these computer programmes to answer his own epistemological investigations regarding intelligence and cognition, and this has led to a knowledge of the subject without having to resort to magical belief about machines.