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I was born on October 1, 1982 in Washington DC. I lived in Gaithersburg, Maryland until I was 11 years old, at which time I moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. I have a BS in Math from MIT and an MA in Math Education from NYU. I spent a few years teaching math in New York City public schools but quit after it became clear that teachers are given no respect and the educational system in our country is completely broken. I worked as an analyst at BrightIdea.com for a few years and now I currently work from my home in Astoria, New York.
I consider myself defined by my hobbies. I’m very talented, if I may say so myself, and this website is a showcase of things I’ve done in my spare time. Very rarely do I ever try hard at something and end up failing. I don’t believe in genetics, per se, or innate talent, because I think being good at a thing comes from working hard rather than being born with some special something.
Philosophically, I believe in logic. I’m also an atheist. The best analogy, of course, is Spock, or Vulcans in general. Unfortunately, Star Trek does a pretty poor job of portraying Vulcans, and usually gets the logic wrong, but at least they brought logic into the mainstream. I believe that if you think about something emotionally, you are thinking about it wrong. It’s probably why I’m so good at math.
My blog is an attempt to write down my thoughts and stir up conversation about important topics. It’s hard nowadays to talk about anything serious. The only people who can get away with it are comedians, which I think is unfortunate. Why do we always have to laugh whenever things get serious? My blog is a platform for straightforward, logical, rational debate.
1986
This is the earliest video of me taken by my uncle in 1986. I keep it around for posterity’s sake.
2006
This was my Christmas in 2006. I was still in New York while the rest of my family was in Las Vegas, so I videotaped it over iChat.
2008
This is a brief clip of my Christmas in 2008. It was taken on my new Flip video recorder. Both my brother and my uncle ended up buying me one, ha ha.
Atheism
For people wondering why I’m an atheist, this video basically explains why. Logically, if you’re going to be consistent in your beliefs, if you’re going to believe in one fairytale then you must believe in them all. I’ve chosen not to believe.
Hey — loved your post about the Broken Truth Machine. I was hoping you could send me a copy of the answer Yat submitted — thanks!
I can’t just give you the answer
You have to figure it out for yourself!
Yeah, being good at something does indeed take time and work. But nature has a lot to do with it too. Developmental psychologists acknowledge it’s not as clear cut as nature vs. nurture.
“The initial organization of the brain does not rely that much on experience…Nature provides a ‘first draft’, which experience then revises. ‘Built in’ does not mean unmalleable; it means ‘organized in advance of experience’.” Gary Marcus, brain scientist (2004).
I generally believe in the 90/10 rule. With hard work, you can surpass 90% of people on the planet. At anything. Still, that other 10% will probably be beyond your grasp for reasons you cannot control. If you weren’t born in Kenya, I’m sorry, but you will never be an All-Star marathon runner
Philip, I didn’t know the best place to put this, but I really like how your site is laid out. Clean, sectionized, easy-to-navigate. I wonder where I had heard of you before, and AHA! Must’ve been the YouTube Rubik’s Cube videos. Also, I appreciate how responsive you are to your comments (and the wall). I came here today after seeing your latest blog post — something about old people dying
— on Reddit.
thanks, but the credit for the design goes to http://www.prelovac.com/vladimir/
Hey, I found this site via a link on http://p2pnet.net and so far I’m quite intrigued. It seems like you’re not about getting people to agree with what you have to say; rather, you ask questions to get people to think seriously about current issues. It’s rare to find people like that; I’ll be subscribing to your feed.
Thanks, SteelWolf, I’m always glad when somebody “gets it”. Now, of course I would love it if people agreed with me, and I think if people thought logically about things then many of them would, but far more important than getting people to agree with me is getting people to THINK. I don’t like the attitude that seems to prevail in this country that anybody can become an expert in anything by giving it five minutes of thought. Lots of people have strong opinions on nuclear energy, for example, but how can you possibly have a strong opinion about it if you aren’t a nuclear engineer, or if you haven’t done at least a little bit of research? The thought process for many people seems to go like this, “Gay marriage? Disgusting! Abortion? Murder! Filesharing? Bad!” And that seems to be as far as they’ve gotten.
I’m trying to open up discussion. I don’t understand why some topics are considered “taboo”. Remember when Obama dodged the question on legalizing marijuana and made fun of the “Internet audience”? What the hell? We can’t even TALK about it, now?
For me, my site is about trying to get logical thought across to people, and the most important aspect of this is CONSISTENCY. There are always good arguments in favor of both sides of a debate, but if you aren’t consistent in your argument you come across looking like a fool. For example, I’m shocked at how many people are against beastiality because of animal rights concerns. That’s a fine stance to take, but unless you are a vegetarian you can’t POSSIBLY be arguing against beastiality based on animal rights. One person even wrote, “but there’s slaughter and then there’s abusive treatment. I’d argue it’s animal abuse,” as if abuse is some sort of separate thing and slaughter doesn’t count.
Anyway, I’m getting dangerously close to rant mode. I hope I can keep my blog interesting in the future for you, Mr. Wolf!
I really liked your post to Laeticia on http://www.philipbrocoum.com/?p=677. I’m a woman who masturbates, I love sex with a close lover and I believe the best sex you can have is with someone who wants to please you as much as you want to please them.
I’m quite athletic however, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason I do have a higher sex drive than some of my female friends, is because I may be flooded with more testosterone. Thats not to say I’m manly, because I have a great arse, curves in all the right places and love my femininity. I enjoy offering my breasts to the right man – possibly because subconsciously it makes me feel nurturing but also because it makes me feel as though I have a purpose. When a man squeezes a part of me, I’m his. I’m owned by that man and I’m there to be played.
I’ve recently discovered that I like my man to slap my bottom randomly (when I’m not expecting it) if we’re out walking after a meal out somewhere perhaps – it shows ownership again and so makes me feel safe, I’m his to do that with. Its not hard and it will only be the once but it gives me such thrills!
I also like to be tied at the elbows with a soft scarf or something, tied with firmness however – on my knees when I please him orally, while he has free rein to squeeze my breasts and nipples. I’m not a sadomasochist, as I don’t enjoy pain; in these acts, I enjoy the fact I don’t have to take responsibilities for my actions (ie possibly feel guilty) and feel safe with someone who is gentle with me in the right way.
I didn’t intend on telling you all of my personal sexual desires but perhaps it will come in useful in some future article you write. I read your post and parts of it made me laugh and the fact I was enjoying it turned me on. I didn’t realise you were the author until I posted the link and thought perhaps I could initiate a conversation with someone whose language I clearly enjoy.
Anyway, its nice to be able to get all this out in writing!
Kind regards,
Truly
You have some great debates going on so I thought you might take a look at a new website… StopArguing.com
Most couples who’ve been together a few years have at least one unresolved recurrent argument. Tired of it all? Fret no more. Next time that argument comes up, just say: “Honey, let’s stop arguing about this again and go to StopArguingNow.com and let the world be the judge! We may find a win-win solution as well!”
Your logic is messed up. You have no “evidence” that atheism is a better choice than faith in God.
And you discount the deep feeling of true love and charity that are more powerful evidence of God’s existence than any man-made concoction of imperfect measurement systems and hugely inadequate understanding of the world around us.
I don’t have time to waste with people like you except to let you know I consider you to be a small minded bigot. I don’t believe I have ever read anyone calling for the death of other people, or such a disgusting level of prejudice and stereotyping. You say you were born in 2002 – that would make you about 28 – a grown man yammering on about Star Trek and writing crap like this. Let me guess – you still live with your parents – are you hoping they die also? You should be ashamed of this crap.