The Emotion Machine

Author

Hola! My name is Steven Handel and I am the writer for this site. I decided to create this “Author” page to try and share with you some stuff about my life. If you are interested in making contacts swing over to my networking page.

Personal life and education

I was born on September 9th, 1988 and I am currently 21 years old. In December of 2009 I graduated from Binghamton University with a B.A. in Psychology. Throughout my college years I have developed a growing interests in subjects like Eastern philosophy, meditation, spirituality, cognitive science, libertarianism, economics, health, and philosophy of mind, which are most of the things I like to cover on this blog.

I have lived on Long Island all my life. I have a loving mother and father and two younger siblings, a brother who is 17 and a sister who is 15. Suburban life has been bittersweet. At times it is a huge and dreadful bore, while other times it is a conducive environment for exploration and creativity. I am a confirmed Roman Catholic but I don’t follow any organized religion (even though I respect them and believe they have a right to exist).

I have been into music all my life. I listen to just about everything, from jazz to metal to hip-hop to avant-garde, but I like to make electronic and ambient music with synthesizers and software like Propellerheads Reason. I used to mess with the guitar and I am currently pursuing electric bass. If you want you can add me on Last.fm (I just started using it again).

I am currently unemployed – looking for a job if you know of anything interesting – but otherwise, just keeping myself productive with reading, writing, playing music, and working out.

What is the purpose of your blog?

When I first started writing posts there wasn’t really much of a purpose to it. I just had many interests, and it was a good way to keep my thoughts organized.

I guess you could say the purpose of this blog – like most things – has evolved over time. I don’t try to push any singular philosophy or way of life onto my readers, but I do encourage a certain set of values that are important to me, things like freedom of choice, creativity, cooperation, critical thinking, happiness, and self-worth.

I certainly acknowledge the flaws of mankind, but I prefer to focus on what makes humans excellent. So if this blog has one purpose it is to celebrate the dignity of being human.