In his famous Guide for the Perplexed, the twelfth-century Jewish scholar Maimonides strongly recommends that people seeking to understand Creation should pursue studies in logic, mathematics, physics, and metaphysics, in that order. This has been, roughly, the course that Zachary has taken.
Ever since Zachary was a child standing in a Port Credit church listening to his grandfather preach, he has been curious about the “big questions” and why people believe what they believe. After a childhood spent mastering puzzles and strategy games, his quest to understand, combined with an interest in the “big problems” facing society, eventually led Zachary to pursue an engineering physics degree at McMaster University. There, he deepened his understanding of science and its applications.
After studying physics, chemistry, mathematics, and philosophy for many years, and having come of age in the era of “New Atheism”, Zachary was fairly satisfied that the big metaphysical questions were a closed case and that religion could be discarded in favor of science. However, after accepting an invitation to study an experiential learning program at the DeGroote School of Business during his evenings and weekends, Zachary became fascinated – as any engineer might – at the process of human development and the mechanisms that might drive it.
As it happened, Zachary’s search for the fundamental mechanisms of human development coincided with the rise of Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, a controversial clinical psychologist whose opus work Maps of Meaning proved to be very influential. Using Peterson’s references and his own literature review as a starting point, Zachary consumed about six hundred books and journal articles between 2017 and 2022, eventually producing Fundamentals of Integrity Psychology, a music-themed summary of his learning and a radical new perspective on human development.
At the same time, however, Peterson’s emphasis on the importance of religion in human life drew Zachary back to the Bible. After reading said Bible in conjunction with Peterson’s Maps of Meaning and Julian Jaynes’ Bicameral Mind, Zachary had a two-day religious experience in 2018 which is described by Orthodox Christians as a ‘Baptism of Fire and Tears’. This catalyzed a voracious search into the truth claims of Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, and eventually Orthodox Judaism – the only religion that satisfies Zachary’s skepticism as an engineering physics graduate and philosopher.
Today, Zachary offers affordable and transformative growth opportunities to spiritual seekers and honest students of life. He operates in a scientific world informed by his engineering physics education and years of scholarship, but simultaneously in a decolonized mindset informed by Afrocentric, Orthodox Jewish, and Indigenous teachings. Although this makes him difficult to handle for non-player characters, curious minds and hopeful souls will find him a fountain of inspiration and information.
Trained in Co-Active and developmental methodologies and possessing additional knowledge in therapeutic and pastoral care, he has a decade of experience in K-12 and postsecondary education, as well as several years of experience in the executive coaching, corporate training, and workshop facilitation industries. Zachary is available for ad-hoc coaching sessions (email zachary {at} zacharystrong {dot} net) and offers low-cost solutions that provide the essence of life and career coaching experiences.