I am a scientist cowboy developing human centered social networks and intelligence across the American West. I'm employed as a Postdoctoral Researcher at UCLA, where I received a PhD in computational cognition. My research integrates psychology experiments on individuals and networked groups, open-source software development, and large-scale analyses of social media to understand how people's beliefs are influenced by interactions in online environments. I actively apply my research to advocate for technology and urban development that harnesses, rather than limits, our individual and collective agency.
Practical public education about how ubiquitous technology including social media and artificial intelligence damages our politics, identities, and language is key to restoring the vitality of our communities and country. I advocate for decelerationist approaches that reorient the individual to the power of their own attention and agency, rather than focus on global structural interventions which only produce more chaos and confusion. In the Attention Economy, our agency is their profit, and realigning your day around the source of your own agency is a crucial first step towards achieving our collective potential.
Phone dependency, identity politics, and sprawling, car-centric neighborhoods destroy our chance at achieving happiness and prosperity. I'm fortunate to be free to fight the ceaseless expansion of development and the subdivision of society and human life, and seek collaboration with like-minded individuals who share a sense of urgency in countering these imperial forces. Please reach out if you would like to connect (priniski @ ucla dot e d u).