Oscar Petrov
Independent Concentration in "Human Agency and Flourishing" Brown University 2022-2026 oscarpetrov + 00 [at] gmailAbout
According to ChatGPT, I'm a "Renaissance Hacker Monk," though I usually forgo the robes. I've spent the last few summers diving into neurotech, but these days you'll find me sketching spider charts for human flourishing in cozy coffee shops, all while obsessively reading every mention of "cybernetics" from the past century. My interests range from dynamic knowledge graphs and ancient contemplative traditions to enneagrams, zodiac charts, and tech systems that elevate, rather than flatten, human potential. My mind's a chaotic blend of Buddhist/Taoist metaphors, conspiracy theories, and chess strategies—essentially, if da Vinci, Turing, and Buckminster Fuller opened a co-working monastery, I'd probably join it. These days I'm based in New York City, digging into digital twins as a new kind of personal-AI interface, "organic" approaches to AI alignment that borrow from morphogenesis and multi-scale biological coordination, and collective intelligence more broadly—same obsession with flourishing, just a new set of tools to think it through with. Welcome to my digital temple.
What I've been up to...
More updates coming soon...
Soon
Digital Twin — a personal AI project I'm building. More soon.
Sep 2026
Moved to New York City—new apartment, new coffee shops, same running list of questions about agency and flourishing.
May 2026
Graduated from Brown with a Sc.B. in my self-designed Independent Concentration, "Human Agency and Flourishing"—four years spent asking how technology shapes our capacity to act intentionally and thrive.
May 2026
Presented "What Kind of Self Are We Building?" at Innovations in Biological Intelligence & Machine Agency, MIT Divinity School, Cambridge—on selfhood, coordination, and what holds a system together across biological, individual, and AI-to-AI scales.
Feb 2025
I am currently pursuing an Independent Concentration (major) in "Human Agency and Flourishing," exploring how emerging technologies affect our ability to act intentionally and thrive. I’m passionate about understanding—and ultimately designing—systems and technologies that amplify personal freedom, meaningful choices, and authentic well-being.
Aug 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
If Good People Refuse Power
The case for power that makes others free
Field Notes / Research Log
What I'm studying and why (Spring 2026)
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
One is involuntary; the other may, or may not be.
Designing Gravity
So that falling feels like progress.
Adversarial Cognition
Most entrepreneurs aren't building for the world of tomorrow.
Drawing the Line Around the Human
We talk often about human agency.
What's worth saving?
I spend more time on my phone than on my computer.
What I Think About When I Think About Tools Thinking About Work
Why execution is cheap—and clear thinking isn't
The Startup That Hasn't Been Built Yet
Every startup claims to change the world. Most forget to ask what kind of humans they're building.
Finding Your Yellow Brick Road
Take any path to greatness.
Mindsets Are Everything
They explain nearly all of the decisions that you make.
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
Resume
Education
Brown University, Providence, RI
Independent Concentration: Human Agency and Flourishing, Sc.B., May 2026
Focus: Exploring how emerging technologies—like blockchain governance, AI-enhanced cognition tools, and mathematically-modeled social dynamics—can unlock human potential, empower thriving communities, and amplify individual agency.
Experience
Research Intern, MIT Media Lab, Fluid Interfaces Group (June 2024 - January 2025)
• Worked in the division led by Pattie Maes, a pioneer in human-computer interaction (HCI) and extended reality (XR)
• Worked with Nataliya Kosmyna on a state-of-the-art research paper exploring 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
• Several research papers are 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
• Collaborating in the human flourishing track of tools/resources developed at Sundai
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)
Talks
"What Kind of Self Are We Building?", Innovations in Biological Intelligence & Machine Agency, MIT Divinity School, Cambridge, MA (May 2026)