Dr. Ogi Jonathan Ogas (born ca. 1971 in Annapolis, Maryland)[1] is a cognitive neuroscientist, science book author, and game show contestant.
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Ogas was one of the first Homeland Security Fellows of the United States, involved in an educational program designed to prepare technologists for work in America's anti-terrorism effort. The Department of Homeland Security funded his doctoral program at Boston University in Cognitive & Neural Systems.[1][2]
| $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.[1][3]
Ogas had a quite strong hunch on his $1,000,000 question about the Boston Tea Party (shown), tentatively eliminating three of the choices, but ultimately decided to walk away because of the large amount of money at risk ($475,000 of his $500,000). His hunch was correct.[4][5] 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.[6] He stated 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.[7] He defeated former Millionaire contestant Nancy Christy in his first-round game, and defeated then all-time game show winnings record holder and Jeopardy! champion Brad Rutter in his second round of play. Ogas then defeated David Legler in the semifinals before losing to Ken Jennings in the final.
May 2011 saw the release of a pop-psychology book by Dr. Ogas and his colleague Dr. Sai Gaddam, A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the World's Largest Experiment Reveals about Human Desire (Dutton Adult, a division of Penguin Books, ISBN 978-0525952091).
The book was marketed as a study on "the private activities of millions of men and women around the world, unveiling a revolutionary and shocking new vision of human desire that overturns conventional thinking" by "two maverick neuroscientists" who used "the world's largest psychology experiment--the Internet" for their research[8]. A Billion Wicked Thoughts originally had the working title of Rule 34: What Netporn Teaches Us About The Brain.[9]
Prior to publication, the book and its authors received criticism for their non-standard research methodology, aspects of their core premise, and lack of institutional review. Two of the most common critiques were that a survey which was to be used for data in the book had been changed while results were still being gathered; and that that same survey included questions about sexual and illegal activities, but that legal minors were able to access and take the survey.[10][11][12][13] Also, none of the research for the book was ever brought before an Institutional Review Board, which would have studied the ethics of the research protocol.[14] The authors addressed this after publication, saying, "IRB oversight applies to human subjects research with federal funding, or that takes place at an institution with federal funding. We intentionally conducted our research outside of academia, without federal funding, in order to remain independent from the fierce tempest of ideological, social, and political pressures that besets the contemporary study of sexuality."[15]
Upon publication of the book, it received positive reviews as well as additional critique of its premise, research methodology, and marketing. One review discussed the research's scope, "The researchers wrote a computer program to capture sexual queries in publicly listed catalogs of Web searches. They later categorized the searches and did some number crunching. They estimate that their research reflects the online behavior of 100 million people. The survey also avoids the usual guinea pigs: undergrads looking for college credit. There are limitations to this mode of sex research, though. The results reflect people's fantasies -- not necessarily sexual acts that they engage in. Also, it's worth keeping in mind that this data exposes the erotic minds of those who seek out titillation on the Web; we don't hear from those who explore their sexual imagination offline."[16] Other reviews are more enthusiastic. "In what is claimed to be the largest experiment ever, two neuroscience PhDs from Boston University, Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam, analyzed a billion web searches, a million web sites, a million erotic videos, millions of personal ads, thousands of digital romance novels, and combined it all with cutting-edge neuroscience."[17] Other discussions of the research methods question the integrity of the author's use of the scientific method.[18]