Oscar Petrov
Independent Concentration in Optimizing Human Potential Brown University 2022-2026 oscarpetrov + 00 [at] gmailAbout
Since 2020, I've been inspired to add value to the world as Maria Popova, Paul Graham, and Tim Urban have done (some of my favorite content creators).
On this page, you will mostly find content ranging from blog posts, book reviews, personal newsletters, and my favorite media references, all of which include thoughts and/or learnings that I believe others may find value from.
- Usually topics on...
- Philosophy - existentialism, objective vs. subjective reality, conflict of individualism vs. collectivisim, reductionism and materialism, ethics, morality.
- Society - culture, identity, the human condition, language, technology, ancient history, behavioral economics and psychology.
- Futurism - neurotechnology and human augmentation, bionics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, astronomy/astrophysics, blockchain.
- Complexity - the brain, systems of the universe, chess.
What I've been up to...
More updates coming soon...
February 2025
Got an independent concentration (major) approved in Designing Systems for Human Flourishing / Optimizing Human Potential with a focus on learning about chaos theory's relevance in measuring human compatibility states and resonance, Ken Wilber's integral theory and its practical applications, better education systems that don't flatten humans down to an average, and more.
August 2024
Spent the summer at Harvard/MIT running neurotechnology experiments at MIT Media Lab, building with Sundai.club Hack Club, and meeting dope people during hacker-house demo days (c-House and AugmentationLab).
Writings
Finding Your Yellow Brick Road
Mindsets Are Everything
What makes us special as humans?
A Scientific Conceptualization of an Incredible Phenomenon: Time Dilation
Why?
The Impact of Racial Bias in Facial Recognition Technology
Necessity is the mother of invention
The Metaverse and What It Means for Human Society And Identity
An Ethical Evaluation of Brain-Computer Interfaces
There's a last time for everything
The story of involuntary oblivion: a Tragedy
Uploading…
Net-zero—Is it an ambitious, fictitious belief or a soon-to-be reality?
Mapping the Jungle That Is the Human Brain Onto a Computer
Mission Impossible: Gecko Protocol
The Controversy Surrounding Parental Decision-Making: My Life Story
Reading List
Books
- When Breath Becomes Air
- The Little Prince
- Behave
- A Primate's Memoir
- All the Light We Cannot See
- The Song of Achilles
- Flowers for Algernon
- The Chosen
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
- The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
- Livewired
- Thinking Fast and Slow
- What is Life
- Figuring
- The Computer & the Brain
- Being Mortal
Essays
- The Cook and the Chef: Musk's Secret Sauce
- The Lesson to Unlearn
- Against 3X Speed
- Don't Kill Time
Resume
Education
Brown University, Providence, RI
Independent Concentration: Optimizing Human Potential, Sc.B., Expected May 2026
Focus: Learning about optimal alignment and community structures, chaos theory's relevance in measuring human compatibility states and resonance, ken wilber's integral theory and its practical applications, better education systems that don't flatten humans down to an average.
Experience
Research Intern, MIT Media Lab, Fluid Interfaces Group (June 2024 - Present)
• Worked in the division led by Pattie Maes, a pioneer in human-computer interaction (HCI) and augmented reality (AR)
• Worked under the guise of Nataliya Kosmyna to co-author a state-of-the-art research paper on music's effect on cognition
• Investigated SSVEP-based BCIs, categorizing insights from 100+ research papers
• Assisted with 3 studies, including a NASA-funded biotech experiment involving equipment sent to the ISS
• Co-authored 3 research papers, currently pending publication
Active Member, Sundai Club (August 2024 – Present)
• Contribute to an AI-focused community, launching new products and rapid prototyping at weekly meetups at MIT
• Collaborate with hackers, MIT and Harvard researchers, VCs, and NGOs to build AI tools
Interfaith Coordinator, Brown University (December 2023 – Present)
• Serve as a liaison between the Office of Chaplains and Religious Life and the Brown community
• Organized campus-wide events promoting religious dialogue and understanding
U.S. Chess Team Representative, International Deaflympics Championship, Italy, 2020
• Youngest competitor at the 19th Winter Deaflympics at age 19
• Commended for "exemplary" contributions in the official USA Deaflympics newsletter
Academic Programs
UATX Forbidden Courses Program, Austin, TX, 2023
TKS | Innovate (The Knowledge Society), 2020
• Program: a global accelerator that exposes students to emerging technologies
• Studied BCIs, AI & ML, Genomics, Connectomics, Optogenetics, and more
• Created slide decks; Harvard Business Case Study (Alibaba and E-Commerce)