Featured Interview With Majid Riaziat
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in the historical city of Isfahan, Iran in a middle class family. I completed my primary and secondary school education in Iran. During that time I developed diverse interests in many topics including physics, philosophy, art, and poetry. I migrated to the US at the age of 18 and attended the University of Oklahoma where I picked Engineering Physics as my major. I moved to California for graduate school education where I received my PhD in Applied Physics from Stanford University. I have worked as a researcher and an entrepreneur for decades dealing with technology development and commercialization. I live in San Francisco Bay Area and I don’t have any pets. Books are my pets.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Starting in grade school, as soon as I learned to read, I became interested in reading books belonging to my parents and my older brothers. I would pick up any book to read regardless of the topic. But I seldom enjoyed reading fiction. I was more interested in learning something. For example, I favored reading history books over stories that were imagined by other people.
I started writing essays in high school. But my first book was a textbook, which I published in 1996 after beginning my professional career.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
There were two books that affected my outlook on life early on. The first was “The little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that happend to be one of the few fictions I have enjoyed reading. It depicted how grownups tend to lose their imagination and become narrow minded. It was also a nuanced and delicate love story.
The second book was one that I picked up in middle school named “123-Infinity”. It was my older brother’s book, written and illustrated by a physicist named George Gamow. By explaining modern physics in plain language, this book aroused my interest in science.
Lately, I’ve been mostly reading and listening to documentaries.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book “The Age of Simorgh” is a non fiction work on planning for human convergence with technology. Instead of sensationalism that is rampant over the intrusion of modern technology into our lives and destroying everything that is good, this book examines the developments from a historical and evolutionary perspective. It demonstrates that the effects of technology on our lives and our society are much more profound, that with careful planning, they can lead to a utopian future. It shows how our society is poised to bifurcate into those who will merge with technology and those who will not. It discusses how our form of government is going to change, and what needs to be done to avoid unfavorable and dangerous outcomes.
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