that's a bit of a hard question

my name is max rothman. i recently graduated from duke university, and am currently residing in san francisco.

on one hand, i am an engineer developing novel brain-computer interface technologies. my background is in biomedical and electrical engineering, with a focus on neurotechnology. i build devices from the ground up: all the way from schematic and pcb design, through hdl + firmware development, and ending with assembly and testing. i love to tinker, to learn, and to make things that work. my work has deep intrinsic motivation: i hold out hope that as we develop higher resolution interfaces we will begin to be able to answer deep questions about the human brain and consciousness; though this is certainly not a given.

on the other, i am an author and an artist. i write short fiction and poetry greatly inspired by the modernists, virginia woolf in particular. i also have a bit of an analog obsession: i take 35mm photos, and make super 8 films on the occasion. my art revolves around our opacity, to ourselves and to others. often, i find that it is hard to say concretely what it is like to be. literature and art are two ways that we can begin to get at it, perhaps; though this is certainly not a given.

perhaps we aren't so different after all