Biography:Ogi Ogas

From HandWiki
Ogi Ogas
Bornc. 1971 (age c. 54)
United States
OccupationWriter, theoretical neuroscientist
Known forGame show contestant
Websiteogiogas.substack.com

Ogi Ogas (born c. 1971) is an American writer and computational neuroscientist. As of May 2016, he is a visiting scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he serves as Project Head for the Individual Mastery Project.[1][2] Ogas is also known for his participation in game shows, especially Grand Slam (2007)[3] and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (2006).[4] His Erdős-Bacon number is 7.

Early life and education

Ogi Ogas was born and grew up in Annapolis, Maryland.[5] He attended Severna Park High School, where he was a member of the school's It's Academic team. In 1994, Ogas briefly attempted a PhD at the University of Iowa, but left under a cloud when he encountered legal troubles after a student was injured while assisting Ogas with a film. [when?][5] Ogas was awarded a PhD in computational neuroscience by Boston University in 2009.[6] He was a United States Department of Homeland Security Fellow during his graduate studies.[when?][7]

Career

Ogas is a visiting scholar at the Harvard University School of Education.[8][third-party source needed][9][10]

Ogas is the Project Head for the Individual Mastery Project in the Harvard Graduate School of Education,[1][2] which The Washington Post has described as "aimed at understanding the development of individual excellence."[1]

Written works

A Billion Wicked Thoughts

Ogas's nonfiction book A Billion Wicked Thoughts (2011, with Sai Gaddam) analyzed the sexual terms used in web searches by approximately 100 million internet users.[11][12] In 2014, the main exhibition at the Museum of Sex in New York was devoted to the book.[13]

The End of Average

In 2016, The End of Average (HarperOne), co-authored with Todd Rose, examined the limitations of the “average person” concept in science, education, and government.[14]

The Drug Hunters

In 2017, The Drug Hunters (Skydance), co-authored with Donald Kirsch, explored the history and methods of pharmaceutical drug discovery.[15]

Dark Horse

In 2018, Dark Horse (HarperOne), co-authored with Todd Rose, presented findings from the Dark Horse Project at Harvard and profiled individual who achieved success through unconventional paths.[16]

This is What It Sounds Like

In 2022, W. W. Norton published This is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You, by Ogas and Susan Rogers.[17][18]

Journey of the Mind

In 2022, Ogi Ogas co-authored Journey of the Mind: How Thinking Emerged from Chaos with Dr. Sai Gaddam, published by W. W. Norton & Company. The book retraced the evolution of thought and consciousness through insights from mathematical neuroscience.[19]

Other contributions

Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry

Ogas is listed as a contributor to Jeffrey Lieberman's book Shrinks.[20][21][22][23] As advertising prose from the Hachette Books Group describes it, the book:

traces the field from its birth as a mystic pseudo-science through its adolescence as a cult of "shrinks" to its late blooming maturity—beginning after World War II—as a science-driven profession that saves lives ... [including] ... case studies and portraits of the professionals of the field—from Sigmund Freud to Eric Kandel ...[24]

Shrinks received a starred review in Kirkus Reviews,[25] was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice,[26] and was longlisted for the PEN/E.O.Wilson Literary Science Writing Award.[27]

Game show appearances

$1 Million (15 of 15) - No Time Limit
Which of these ships was not one of the three taken over by colonists during the Boston Tea Party?
• A: Eleanor • B: Dartmouth
• C: Beaver • D: William
Ogas's $1,000,000 question

Ogas won $500,000 on an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire that aired on November 8, 2006, using his cognitive science research to guide his game strategy.[5][28] Ogas has intimated in interviews that he had a strong hunch about his final question (about the Boston Tea Party, shown), after tentatively eliminating three of the choices; he ultimately decided to walk away because of the large amount of money at risk ($475,000 of his $500,000; a miss would have dropped him back to $25,000). His hunch was correct.[29][30] Since playing, he has appeared 22 times as the syndicated show's "Ask The Expert" Lifeline.

Ogas was also a contestant on Grand Slam, which aired in August and September 2007.[31] He said that after feeling the intense emotional pressure on Millionaire, he developed a new suite of cognitive techniques for Grand Slam, including calming techniques as well as mathematical, verbal, and mnemonic heuristics derived from his brain research. He defeated former Millionaire contestant Nancy Christy in his first-round game and all-time game show winnings record holder and Jeopardy! champion Brad Rutter in the second round. Ogas then defeated former Twenty-One champion David Legler in the semifinals before losing to Ken Jennings in the final. More recently, he appeared on ABC's game show 500 Questions as one of the challengers.[32]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jeffrey Selingo (May 25, 2016). "Is grit overrated in explaining student success? Harvard researchers have a new theory". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/05/25/is-grit-overrated-in-explaining-student-success-harvard-researchers-have-a-new-theory-and-its-not-comforting-at-all/. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Individual Mastery Project at the Laboratory for the Science of the Individual". harvard.edu. http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/gse-individuality/individual-mastery. 
  3. ↑ "Grand Slam TV Show". IMDB. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1057573/. 
  4. ↑ "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Episode Guide". Game Show Favorites. http://www.gameshowfavorites.com/trading/show.php?name=viera&page=11. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 ""Final Answer" Pays Off Big Time for Former DHS Fellow" (organizational press release). Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. 2006-11-15. http://www.orau.org/media-center/news-releases/2006/fy07-10.aspx. 
  6. ↑ "Alumni directory". Boston University Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems. http://www.cns.bu.edu/people/alumni.html. 
  7. ↑ Carrie Dieringer (September 11, 2003). "Boston U. Student Named Homeland Security Fellow". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/uwire/uwire_UDPV091120033054756.html. 
  8. ↑ "Laboratory for the Science of the Individual". harvard.edu. http://lsi.gse.harvard.edu/. [third-party source needed]
  9. ↑ Todd Rose and Ogi Ogas (January 17, 2016). "The Faulty Foundation of American Colleges". The Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/article/The-Faulty-Foundation-of/234905/. 
  10. ↑ "The Dark Horse Project - National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO)" (in en). https://www.napo.net/page/IRC_DarkHorse. 
  11. ↑ Hummel, Anna; Shackelford, Todd (2013). "What Our Sexy Past Reveals About Our Erotic Present". Evolutionary Psychology 11 (1): 238–242. doi:10.1177/147470491301100120. http://www.epjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/EP11238242.pdf. Retrieved March 28, 2014. 
  12. ↑ McLellan, Diana (July 15, 2011). ""A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the World's Largest Experiment Reveals about Human Desire" by Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/a-billion-wicked-thoughts-what-the-worlds-largest-experiment-reveals-about-human-desire-by-ogi-ogas-and-sai-gaddam/2011/06/13/gIQALKOqEI_story.html. 
  13. ↑ "Universe of Desire: Why We Like What We Like" (in en-US). https://www.museumofsex.com/exhibitions/universe-of-desire-why-we-like-what-we-like/. 
  14. ↑ Gaddam, Ogi Ogas and Sai. "Journey of the Mind: How Thinking Emerged from Chaos" (in en-US). https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/journey-mind-thinking-emerged-chaos-bookbite/33525/. 
  15. ↑ Khullar, Dhruv (2024-09-02). "How Machines Learned to Discover Drugs" (in en-US). The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/09/09/how-machines-learned-to-discover-drugs. 
  16. ↑ ""Dark Horse" author: You don't have to choose between success and being happy - CBS News" (in en-US). 2018-10-11. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dark-horse-todd-rose-unlikely-winners-who-redefine-success/. 
  17. ↑ Luhrssen, David (2022-11-17). "This is What it Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas" (in en-us). https://shepherdexpress.com/api/content/5a1f3fc0-6681-11ed-88a8-12274efc5439/. 
  18. ↑ Schulz, Isaac (2022-11-22). "Why Do We Love the Music We Love?" (in en). https://gizmodo.com/music-neuroscience-susan-rogers-book-1849801399. 
  19. ↑ (in en) JOURNEY OF THE MIND | Kirkus Reviews. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ogi-ogas/journey-of-the-mind/. 
  20. ↑ N. P. R. Staff (2015-03-17). "From Freud To Possession, A Doctor Faces Psychiatry's Demons" (in en). https://www.wfdd.org/post/freud-possession-doctor-faces-psychiatrys-demons. 
  21. ↑ Little, Brown and Company, 2015, ISBN 9780316278867
  22. ↑ The authorship is listed as "Jeffrey Lieberman, with Ogi Ogas."
  23. ↑ Lieberman is former president of the American Psychiatric Association and current[when?] chair of the Columbia Department of psychiatry.
  24. ↑ Shrinks. Hachette Book Group. ISBN 9781478979654. http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jeffrey-a-lieberman-md/shrinks/9781478979654/. Retrieved 7 April 2016. 
  25. ↑ Lieberman, Jeffrey A. (December 20, 2014). "Shrinks". Kirkus Reviews. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jeffrey-lieberman/shrinks/. 
  26. ↑ "Editors' Choice". The New York Times. 5 April 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/books/review/editors-choice.html. 
  27. ↑ "2016 PEN Literary Awards Longlists". December 2015. http://www.pen.org/2016-pen-literary-awards-longlists. 
  28. ↑ Ogas, Ogi (November 11, 2006), "The Decider", Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2006/11/11/the_decider/ 
  29. ↑ "OK, Ogi! Waltham man wins $500K on game show", Boston Globe, November 8, 2006, http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/regional_editions/globe_west/west/2006/11/waltham_man_may.html 
  30. ↑ "Who Wants To Be A Cognitive Scientist Millionaire? A Researcher Uses His Understanding Of The Human Brain To Advance On A Popular Quiz Show", Seed Magazine, November 9, 2006, http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/who_wants_to_be_a_cognitive_neuroscientist_millionaire/ 
  31. ↑ Gonzalez, John (October 2007), "The Gonz Show: Ogi Ogas", Boston Magazine, http://www.bostonmagazine.com/arts_entertainment/articles/the_gonz_show_ogi_ogas/, retrieved 2009-07-28 
  32. ↑ "500 Questions Reviews" (in en). https://www.metacritic.com/tv/500-questions/. 



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