For the past twenty years I worked as a professor of economics and management in Tokyo. Previously, I developed speech recognition algorithms at IBM and led an Internet technology startup in Silicon Valley. I studied Computer Science & Electrical Engineering at MIT and Economics at UC Berkeley. I’ve lived in Europe and the U.S. before moving to Japan.
My worldview is shaped by secular humanism. My personal heroes are Charles Darwin, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Marina Abramovic. I find inspiration in their perseverance and dedication to a life’s work rooted in principles, their honesty with themselves and the world, and their courage to create and express themselves authentically in spite of risks. I am impressed by how they applied their intellect and creative energy to cross accepted boundaries and discover new truths. They've enacted Gandhi’s famous saying that “happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
Non-fiction: biography, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, history
Fiction: novels and stories with heroes and societies that make one ponder how we live or how we could be living
Countries: Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain
Languages: English, Japanese, Italian, Russian
Urban: cities with history, culture and subcultures
Nature: mountains, hot springs, beaches
Sports: skiing, swimming, weights, yoga, table tennis
Moving: walking, driving, trains
Drinks: coffee, beer, wine, sake
Music: British rock, jazz
Dislikes: dogma, conspiracy theories, phobias, TV, SNS, fast food, shopping, marketing hype, shallow tourism