Ideas: the Mind & Writing

Ideas and concepts matter tremendously. They are inseparable from our daily lives and the fabric of our society. What is real and what isn't? Whatever the ultimate answer to this question, ideas will figure very prominently in the mix.

I have considerable professional experience working to help non-profits achieve their service, member outreach, and advocacy goals. I recently completed a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy at the University of Oregon, and have previous degrees in Math and Computer Science. I recently worked with the Financial Aid and Scholarships office at UO on some research reports to help them advocate for better student aid programs and design a new scholarship for Oregon's neediest students. I've also recently been working with a local arts center to design brochures, print ads, and fliers to promote their programs including new children's art classes. I've also helped out at the Oregon Bach Festival this year.

I'm looking for part-time or full-time creative opportunities in Eugene/Springfield, ideally helping a music or arts related community organization, or other socially-responsible organization where my creative and investigative talents can be of positive use.

My two major areas of interest are visual design and music. Please see my photography portfolio on this site for more on my visual design work and philosophy.

Please see my résumé (html or pdf) or vita and contact me if you know of any local opportunities that might be of interest to me.

I enjoy reading and writing on a number of subjects, particularly psychology, philosophy, religion, science, language, music, and ethics. I'm a particular fan of the works by Franco-Czech author Milan Kundera.

This site features a sample of writings I've done over the years. What does writing mean to me? I can definitely say it has become more important to me as I've used it in my work, and I am working to integrate more writing as a major part of my career and private life. I mostly write short non-fiction essays and poetry, but I've even ventured into fiction with a science fiction short story called "Electronic Conscience," about a wayward robot who starts to exhibit a surprisingly human-like quality. This was an expression some of my thoughts on how human qualities can be transferred onto our tools, especially as our projects become more complex and independent.

Some of my writing is speculative psychology, such as my articles and essays on magical thinking, intimacy, and one I wrote a while ago on how imagined experience might play a key role in motivation and decision-making. I've shared some of my poetry on this website ("Would I Know?" and a set of short poems). I'm working on turning some of my poetry into songs. I've also included a couple of school papers from my philosophy classes in which I feel a lot of pride ("Connectionism as a Model of Mind" and "In Defense of Descartes' Malin Genie Hypothesis".

A few of my other favorite authors are Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency), Isaac Asimov (I, Robot, Foundation, The Caves of Steel), C. S. Lewis (Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce), Anne McCaffrey (Dragonflight), and J. R. R. Tolkein (The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Rings), Carl Rogers (A Way of Begin), Carl Sagan (Contact, Pale Blue Dot). I admire their work and how they have shared their various interests and passion through their writing.

My recent reading includes Perceiving Behaving Becoming edited by Arthur Combs, Understanding Creativity by Jane Piirto, and Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard. I've also been re-reading Carl R. Rogers' On Becoming a Person.

Philosophy on the Web:

• American Philosophical Association
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Philosophy Department at the University of Oregon
• Philosophy Department at Oregon State University
• The Philosophers' Magazine
• Philosophy Links -- from the Northern Illinois University Philosophy Department.

Psychology Web Sites:

• Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania -- Much of psychology tends to focus on what goes wrong with people's feelings and behaviors. Positive psychology studies the personal strengths that help people thrive.
• Wikipedia: Positive Psychology
• International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) from Oregon Research Institute

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