This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »
Who can make a worthwhile contribution on TED conversations?
It seems to me that it takes all kinds of people to make the sorts of exceptional conversations that we find here at TED conversations. Please tell me what kind of person you think makes a real contribution. Who sparks your thinking and why and how? Tell me anything you think is relevant.
I loved this TEDx talk and starting at about 3:30 it gets pretty profound to me.
http://youtu.be/7eEaELy1fq8
I often think it has something to do with the ying and yang around courage.
Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.
Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.
Gail . 50+
As to the rest - diversity is strength. Anyone who has developed at least basic cognitive thinking skills is valuable.
Debra Smith 200+
James Zhang 30+
Colleen Steen 500+
Debra Smith 200+
Barney Woods
Colleen Steen 500+
Are you afraid of spiders? Or what they might do to you? They actually don't bother humans too much, although, as we know, some can. As mother nature planned, however, they are beneficial to the ecosystem, so I like them. They feed on unwanted insects, in the gardens, like aphids for example:>)
Barney Woods
I like to see them in the garden doing their ecosystem thing - but crawling across my face when I'm trying to get to sleep? Nooooo...!
Colleen Steen 500+
Hi Barney,
Your fear is not irrational at all....lots of people are afraid of spiders! I totally agree with you....difficult to accept them crawling across the face.......although.......this reminds me........
While hiking in the mountains of So. America years ago, we came into a little village, and the first person to greet us was a little boy (maybe 9-10yrs. old) with a HUGE black hairy tarantula perched on his shoulder.
He obviously got a kick out of introducing his pet spider to people, and he was very enthusiasticly trying to get us to hold the tarantula, which was as big as my fist!!! Finally, I said....ok.....if this little kid is brave enough to have a tarantula for a pet, it might be kind of fun to be brave enough myself!!! So, I let the kid put the spider in my hand. The spider immediately, slowly walked up my bare arm, which felt really weird, but not bad, and it perched on my shoulder....just like it did with the kid! It was very cool actually:>)
My life adventures include facing fear head on, so to speak....
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face...do the thing you think you cannot do..."
(Eleanor Roosevelt)
Barney Woods
I think that's progress! ;-)
Colleen Steen 500+
Linda Taylor 50+
Maybe it was the song or not, but the memory of the magic was welcome:)
Colleen Steen 500+
I was curious, and I remember wondering, as the tarantula was walking up my arm, what a bite might be like. I never even thought about it again until just now, so I looked it up.
"They do bite, and their bites are venomous. However, for most species, the toxicity of their venom is much like that of a bee or wasp. It is most likely to cause a nasty local reaction incluidng pain, redness, swelling. However, people can have a an allergic or anaphylactic reaction to spider bites in the same way that some people react to bee stings, and this reaction can be fatal. Also, there are few species which have a stronger venom that could potentially be fatal, or at least make the bite victim quite ill. So while tarantula bits are unlikely to be fatal, you still want to avoid being bitten, and the best way to do this is to learn about spider behavior and treat the spider accordingly. Tarantulas are wild animals, and need to be treated with respect. As a rule, however, most spiders would rather retreat than bite."
http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/tarantulas/a/tarantulasaspet.htm
Looks like spiders behave like humans at times.... I'm sure glad I was respectful of that tarantula.....LOL!!! Feel better Barney?
Barney Woods
:-)))
Colleen Steen 500+
I LOVE that you LOVE spiders now...:>)