During the COVID-19 pandemic, my family lost my oldest daughter and my middle daughter’s husband, and endured seven surgeries, a miscarriage, and more. I was facing major open heart surgery, confronting my mortailty in my 60’s. I had no doubt that my best days were behind me.

I was wrong. The then-experimental drug Camzyos eliminated all my recognized cardiac symptoms and then some: I can run more in my 60’s than I could as a child! This triggered a series of epiphanies. I finally recognized and overcame my lifelong body dysmorphia, rooted in the poor athleticism that reflected an unknown congenital heart defect. A lifelong choral singer, I found the courage to sing solos for the first time. My life got spectacularly better in every way.

Leaping suddenly from the worst part of my life to the best was like going from a sauna to an ice bath. I emerged a changed man, with an almost unbounded sense of hope. I no longer believe that any of us know enough to be sure that our best days are behind us, and I want to share that message with anyone who feels close to giving up.

I love speaking to and working with students. Given my background in Computer Science and Comparative Religion, my lectures can appeal to a wide and interdisciplinary audience. I am also open to playing an oversight or collaborative role in student projects.

I am open to university engagements as small as dropping in on a single class remotely. For in-person engagements, the best use of my time might be to bring me in for at least a week and have me talk with multiple audiences and groups of students.

My message of hope that we can craft a humane future in harmony with AI is also a natural match for graduation ceremonies.

Modern information technology has raised incredibly important ethical, moral, and spiritual issues that society is only beginning to grapple with. I believe that religious and civic groups have an absolutely critical role to play in making sure that information technology serves humanity well. However, the leaders of such groups are rarely well-informed or focused on these issues.

I particularly want to work with nonprofit groups for two reasons: First, I hope to help them understand the new technologies and issues — typically by giving a talk or two and answering questions. But I’m even more eager to interact with such groups and hear their insights. Although figures such as Jesus, Buddha, or Mohammed never discussed cryptocurrency, intellectual property, or artificial intelligence, I expect that all of the traditions of mankind can offer nuggets of insight that humanity now sorely needs. I’m hoping to find as many of them as I can.

Because I am so eager to learn from diverse traditions, nonprofit groups will get my very lowest speaking rates. Please don’t hesitate to inquire out of fear of the cost of talking with me.

While by instinct I’m a homebody, I can’t deny the pleasure of occasionally speaking to large groups of people.

Because I live in remote northern Michigan, there’s almost nowhere I can go as a day trip. I’m happy to come to you, but if I do prefer multi-day engagements when possible.