General Information

I am currently in a joint PhD program with the departments of Political Science and Philosophy at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. I am also earning a certificate in complex systems from the Center for the Study of Complex Systems. If they offered a PhD then I would get that instead of the joint degree, but they don't. Not yet at least. They might offer a masters degree next year, and I might get that if they do. And if they offer a PhD within the next couple of years then I'll just add that to my plan and get both.

Before coming to UM I completed a Master of Science degree in Mathematics at Northeastern University in Boston. I participated in several courses at Boston University, mostly in Game Theory and Mathematics, but have nothing to show for it except the knowledge gained and plenty to complain about. I hold two bachelor degrees, both received from the University of Florida in 1999. A Bachelor of Science in Economics from the College of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. I have also studied Japanese language for two months at Eurocentres intensive language program in Kanazawa, Japan.

My primary research fields are the highly interdiscplinary fields of Complex Systems and supporting subjects in Mathematics and Philosophy. My dissertation focuses on the evolution of ethics and social institutions (culture), but the broader picture includes research in computational models of human behavior, new mathematical/statistical measures, and developing a theoretical foundation for the study of complexity science. You can find out more about my research from ComplexityBlog, and ...

...here are some of the things that excite me:
Complexity: Agent-Based Models, Networks, Hierarchies, Modularity, Self-Organization, Artificial Life, Autonomous Robots, Synthetic Biology;
Philosophy: Meta-Ethics, Metaphysics (especially Ontology and Mereology), Coherentist Epistemology, Global Espressivism of Meaning, Non-Propositional Representation;
Mathematics: Foundations and Set Theory, Logic and Metalogic, Topology, Combinatorics, Probability and Statisics, Discrete and Continuous Transformations;
Other: Genetic Regulatory Networks, Metabolism and AutoCatalytic Processes, Physics (esp. Cosmology and HyperDimensionality), Biotechnology (esp. Prosthesis and Wetware), and Computer Science (Multi-Sensory Interface, Distributed Computing, Automation).

Papers

TECHNICAL: Included in this category are any documents that contain formulae intrinsic to the content. Papers and notes written on Game Theory, Computers, Complex Systems, Political Science, and perhaps others are listed here.

PHILOSOPHY: Any paper that isn't technical is philosophical (not a general claim, just true for me). The first three are from my undergraduate years and the content and depth are at that level. Further papers are more recent and may reflect a higher degree of sophistication.

Game Theory and Utilitarianism
In Defense of Preference-Satisfaction Utilitarianism
Hartry Field's Truth Characterization
Emergence, Constitution, and Identity

Computer Models

NETLOGO: This programming package makes building cute and simple agent-based and CA models a bit simpler than Repast etc. However, if you have some specific scientific purpose in mind it is extremely limited in its capabilities and sometimes impossible (or at least excruciatingly difficult) to produce exactly the desired model. You can therefore expect to find here only models developed for pedagogy or fun.

Intro to Computer Models for Social Scientists I developed these models for my adviser, Dr. Scott Page. Posted here as applets and as NetLogo files.

Santa Fe Summer School 2005 Project Here you will find the highly sought-after slides from my gut-busting SFSS presentation. Without the vocals and the costume I'm sure it will pack less of a punch, but since so many of you requested these slides, here they are. I will also post the model and documention when they are ready.

Presentation Materials

Go here for the page on ComplexityBlog dedicated to presentations including the ICPSR Complex Systems Computer Modeling Tutorials. Slides from my presenations will be added as they are created.