TED Conversations

greg dahlen
Glendale, CA
United States

Alumnus, academy of achievement

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

If you were to give a TED talk what would it be about? What points would you make about your topic?

Interested to hear what matters to people.

Closing Statement from greg dahlen

Well, it wasn I saw that people have interesting ideas for TED talks. One wonders if everyone in the world has an interesting talk in them?

Sort By:

mary ellen johnson
- +1
Mar 20 2013: you are welcome! a private school must bring out the best in all students. It has a financial investment in the student for failure speaks to the bottom line, profit. a bad track record of student retention and low numbers being accepted into secondary education is bad press for these schools and could result in low new enrollment numbers. Money speaks volumes and these lucky students who have parents that can afford a private school have a heads up from the public school students. you see it is a PRIVATE education meaning each and every student's achievement matters again..profit.
public education, as hard as they try is more like a factory. 300 students in the freshman year with the primary goal of 300 graduating in their senior year and a whole lot just barely making the grade from one year to the next. a student kept back a year for low grades cost too much money for these schools are funded by fed. aid and town taxes.
private schools have monetary, vested interest in addressing the learning style of each student. one-on-one time, hands-on learning, a student who learns best listening, one who reads, one through discussion

funding public education is an investment in a towns future. the rewards are not immediate. try selling the idea of future to a town full of people who are struggling with the now.
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Mar 20 2013: well, I don't know, mary ellen, because technically public education has a standard of success as well, in that it has to produce people who keep the society going, in other words if a whole lot of people aren't equipped to do some kind of job, society falls apart.
mary ellen johnson
- 0
Mar 19 2013: education. The public school system is antiquated. studies show that one learning style does not fit all. there are brilliant minds out there being left in the dust. maybe if we make it a for profit system like private schools ?
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Mar 19 2013: thanks for replying, mary. Wish I could think longer about your idea, this conversation is pretty close to closing. What is your experience that makes you knowledgeable about education? What really are the different learning styles, one child learns better with lots of discussion, one with lots of homework, is this what you mean?
W. Ying 10+
- +1
Mar 11 2013: Hi, Greg,
(Answer to your reply to my Feb 28 2013 reply)

Thanks and sorry!
Let me try:

(1) Valid happiness is the short-time feeling of things being a-step-better
. . for keeping our DNA alive.
(2) Invalid happiness is the short-time feeling of things being a-step-“worse”
. . for keeping our DNA alive.
. . E.g. Having junk food, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, abusing drug,
. . .... making too much money(causing inequality, crimes, wars, .... human self-extinction).
(3) “Invalid happiness” is out of the valid scope of our instincts formed 10,000 years ago.

More?
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Mar 12 2013: so Mr. Ying, is it fair to say to say there is no long-term valid happiness? That's really a great point, I do find that most of my happiness is short-term, ephemeral.
Juliette Zahn 50+
- +1
Mar 10 2013: Empathy. Without it nothing else matters.
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Mar 12 2013: well, it is important. Are there other qualities without which nothing else matters, for example, could we say that without creativity nothing else matters, or without courage nothing else matters, or....? Or is it only empathy that is crucial?
Alexander Shepherd 500+
- +2
TEDx Organizer

Mar 3 2013: I would talk about how truth is non existent.
When we determine that something is truthful or not, it requires human understanding & interpretation, which could lead to error or manipulation of the 'truth', even if we get video footage of someone committing a crime, it still leads to (possible) human error. Therefore, how do we know that something is the truth, how do we know that cotton is a material and coal is solely made out of carbon are true?
The answer, because everyone else thinks that it is true.
We are not able to determine whether something is true by instinct, as again, it leads to human error / manipulation (our emotions could get in the way also if it was an instinct).
- Christopher An
  - 0
  Mar 3 2013: If you are actually given a chance to create a TED Talk? I would love to watch your video! I am a big fan of truth, morals, god questions, and etc...
- greg dahlen 20+
  - +1
  Mar 12 2013: Well, yes, Alexander, in the biggest, most cosmic sense we can't really prove anything is true, for all we know right now we may be a dream in someone else's head. But in a smaller, more practical sense can't we reach enough truth to live well?
reine des violettes
- +2
Mar 3 2013: Forgiveness .

How important it is, how difficult it is, and how, like so much, the true version cannot be forced.
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Mar 10 2013: Do you consider yourself more the person who has to forgive, or the person who has to be forgiven? What do you find yourself having to forgive, or what do you find yourself having to be forgiven for?
  - reine des violettes
    
    +1
    Mar 10 2013: probably the answer is Both.
    And also, although 'forgiveness' is a noun, I have learnt, over a long period (and multiple bereavements) that forgiving is a process, a dynamic.
    I believe it can only happen when there is a movement between two (or more) people. It isn't 'done to' as it were, with one passive, although one can take the initiative - which is often where the courage is required.
    
    In answer to the second part of your question, I would say where one has been hurt, or deeply hurt, and especially where one's life has been wounded. And inversely, where I may have hurt, often inadvertently - it wasn't my intention to hurt, but sometimes I have realized many years later that something I did, perhaps when immature, must have caused hurt. And then if I realize that the person I unintentionally hurt had nevertheless forgiven me, that is a remarkably powerful feeling, and can have affect beyond the grave, many years later.
    It also encourages me to be more forgiving in every moment now, knowing it will never be wasted.
    - greg dahlen 20+
      
      0
      
      Mar 10 2013: reine, there's something I read about in the papers perhaps you would comment on. I have seen the families of murdered people, they will say that they forgive the murderer, but they still want to see the murderer spend long years in prison. Do you think this is real forgiveness, if you still want to see the offender punished?
  - reine des violettes
    
    +1
    Mar 10 2013: I have heard of this, and also the other way, where the parents of a brutally murdered girl almost immediately said they forgave the boyfriend, even though he hadn't owned up, and had hidden the body etc.
    I have to say I am puzzled by both.
    I think justice is best administered by those deeply qualified to do so.
    
    What I do know is that it's not a matter of whether one forgives someone or not....I have not found forgiveness is actually possible, in the sense of a circle being completed, until there is genuine contrition and regret, commensurate with what has been done. I suppose what used to be called repentance.
    I feel it is something that happens, rather than something one does, or declares.
    The good thing is that it can happen.
    - greg dahlen 20+
      
      0
      
      Mar 19 2013: reine, if forgiveness is just something that happens, I wonder if you could make a talk out of it, because usually when people listen to a talk, they want to hear about something they can do, something where they can change their life in a way that they have some control over.
  - reine des violettes
    
    0
    Mar 19 2013: Not doing something, or refraining from certain action, can also change one's life in a significant way, at times.
    It can also be a demonstration of self control, and indeed, may be more difficult, but like many difficult things, worth doing.
    - greg dahlen 20+
      
      0
      
      Mar 20 2013: Wow, reine, that's really an interesting idea, I wonder if that could be your speech, maybe you should think of other examples besides just in the field of forgiveness. Where else have you seen refraining from action as being effective? How could you make this interesting to an audience, as I still think an audience wants to hear a talk that is bold in some way.
Gail . 50+
- +1
Mar 3 2013: I appreciate Devil's advocate but in this case, it won't help. I won't envision the most luxurious, wealthy lifestyle because I am in the process of down-scaling my former lifestyle. I've had years of travel, I've had a big and beautifully decorated house. Now I want something easier and simpler. I don't want to be owned by possessions. I am directing myself to a different goal that could not be achievable with all that money.

What would all that money do for me anyhow? Certainly, it would complicate my life. I surely don't need that much money. I could give it away, but what would that accomplish? Sure, some could eat for a time, but only for a time. I am convinced that all of our social ills (poverty, crime, education, war, violence, the raping and pillaging of our earth that puts our lives at risk, etc.) are caused by money, which is why I have been advocating for a moneyless society. I would not want to be the person I would have to be in order to be so extremely wealthy. I would have to let go of my connection with that which allows me to manifest in the first place. I would have to choose to live in fear rather than peace, and having been there, will not choose it again.

Is there a way around that? Possible, but I haven't found it. It would not be a barrier for some who are so comfortable in our current cultural paradigm that they don't probe the depths of the causes of humanity's man-invented problems. But that's not me. I will not trade my freedom for something as inherently unstable and pretend as money. Most people have never tasted freedom. Having found it, I treasure it.

Being a believer in the multi-worlds theory of reality, I believe that there is enough, even if everyone asked for the same thing. But, if I want my days filled with peace and satisfaction, I must look at ALL the consequences and ask myself if I am willing to invest in the unintended ones as well as the intended ones.
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Mar 10 2013: Well, that's a good, conscious answer. I'm still a little dubious about the power of manifesting, TED lover. Aren't there millions, or billions, of people who don't manifest, or visualize, and yet fulfill their basic needs, about like you're doing? Can you really prove it was manifesting, or visualilzing, that got your needs fulfilled?
  - Gail . 50+
    
    +1
    Mar 11 2013: Can I "PROVE" it to you using scientific method? No. Because I can't be both me and the control. But I have proved it to my own satisfaction over and over and over and over and over again - with things both great and small. You might say (as some have) that I am the luckiest person in the world, but those who say that don't bother trying it for themselves. (And how does one explain the many years of being the opposite if I was simply born lucky?) Disbelievers certainly haven't done the work I have done in cleaning out my belief system so that it is no longer filled with contradictory beliefs, untested assumptions, and outgrown beliefs carried over from childhood. They are not aware of what they spend the bulk of their time thinking about. They don't know the difference between an emotion and a thought. They have never probed their emotions to see what they are made of and why they appear. They can't see the connection between what they have/want and how they habitually think.
    
    There are so many unbelieved manifesters around the globe - each having discovered their own power by following their own path to understanding. You may find my view odd, just as I find that the majority of the earth's population claim to be adherents to one of the Abrahamic religions - even though they have no proof, and there is abundant proof against - in that most prayers are not answered - which is the opposite effect of manifesting.
    
    You may be dubious. You may even ardently disagree. But if you have not tried it, then you have no way of knowing how really strange or seemingly impossible to find things are either given to me or I find for very little money soon after I choose to manifest them. How can SO many coincidences occur if I am not part of the process? I can't fathom any reasonable alternative explanation.
    
    Examples of this month alone:
    
    I have a small pass-thru in my house. I wanted to turn it into an alcove with a decorative grate.
    (continued)
    
    .
  - Gail . 50+
    
    0
    Mar 11 2013: I have been shopping with friends for that grate an spent a fair amount of time on-line looking for one. But short of having one custom made, I couldn't find anything that was 20 5/8 by 48. So after much frustration, I decided to manifest one. Three days later, I knew that I should go to a certain store. I took my tape measure (and my husband) and there it was - a decorative metal grate that beautifully complements my Tuscan decor. 20 5/8" X 48", and it was only $12.99. The next thing I needed was sheetrock. The next morning, while walking my cat (she loves walks), it went into my neighbor's shed. She has just moved, so the shed door shouldn't have been open. I went in to grab the screen to close it so I could close the outer door, but a piece of sheet rock was leaning against the screen. She didn't want to go to the dump and gladly gave it to me. That was one.
    
    Next - I broke the glass table top on my sunroom table. My husband loved the table, so I went looking for replacement glass. (42 X 42 beveled with rounded corners). I could have custom ordered one, but it would cost me FAR less to buy a whole new set - including chairs. I looked for alternative top material with no success - even asking on Freecycle for anything that might work. I spent weeks looking for an alternative set, but hadn't found an acceptable alternative yet.
    
    Not thinking about that, I told my husband that I needed something to practice manifesting on. (I practice a lot) He asked me to manifest a new table top. So I did. The next morning, I wondered if Craig's List would have anything like that (I'd checked before but had given up). So I checked again. I typed in table top. Of course, Craigs List shows all things with the word "table" in it.
    
    My eyes first hit a listing for a coffee table. I know that 48X48 glass is huge/odd 4 a coffee table, but something told me to click on it. There it was.
    
    That's part of this month's manifesting. I'm out of characters 4 more.
    - greg dahlen 20+
      
      0
      
      Mar 12 2013: So, TED lover, what exactly is manifesting? Is it sort of like saying "I already have this thing I want, even if I don't see it"? I will say that it seems to me you are also doing a lot of the work to get these things, going on craigslist, etc. Is it really different from intuition, for example could someone simply have an intuition that a certain store had what they want?
      
      To some degree it makes me think of Jesus's lesson that life will provide, we don't need to worry, life even provides for the smallest, least-thinking-ahead creatures.
  - Gail . 50+
    
    0
    Mar 14 2013: I just gave you two examples. I could list a host of things that came to me through what you might call serendipity (How convenient that you are giving away that thing that I have been visualizing).
    
    It is to large degree that life will provide. But if you don't know what you believe and the consequences of those beliefs, life will provide some not-so-happy unintended consequences.
    
    When I set aside 20 minutes to visualize (pretend) my already having what I want, it comes. But it's not possible to do that if your belief set has a problem with your having what you are manifesting, which is why it's so important to get those conflicting beliefs and false indoctrinated programming beliefs out of your belief-set. That's why knowing how to think for yourself is important.
    
    This concept is the whole of Jesus' message. It has been turned into something very different. I love the teachings of Jesus even though I am an atheist. Jesus and Quantum Mechanics have a great deal in common. If Christians understood that Jesus was telling the truth, they would realize that Jesus wasn't a Christian - or a Jew for that matter - because he didn't believe in the God of Abraham. (But they prefer the teachings of Paul, whose teachings are mutually exclusive of those of Jesus)
    - greg dahlen 20+
      
      0
      
      Mar 14 2013: Is there any reason why manifesting would be a better way of getting what you want? When I want something, I try to think who might have it, then I go there and see if they have it. It seems to work out fine.
  - Gail . 50+
    
    0
    Mar 15 2013: Greg, if that works for you consistently, then how wonderful for you. I don't know enough people. Too many things seem to come out of the blue after I manifest, so I have proven it to my own satisfaction though I am well aware that I can never prove it to anyone else's because some things aren't provable and people who are not ready to hear do not hear.
    
    But it's more than just manifesting "things". I have faced an imminent death situation at the hands of an aggressor, and using peace, that I know is one of our powers, I diffused the situation and he left me unharmed. Something similar also happened when I avoided a rape, and the man walked out of the door locking it behind him.
    
    It's a worldview that works for me. It took me years to develop that worldview from scratch (after my worldview - the conventional wisdom one - crashed). I was stunned to discover how powerful humans are (beings are) and would not have believed it unless circumstances forced me to reconsider that error-ridden worldview. And had I not reconsidered my worldview, I would not have been able to see the inherent perfection of humans - no matter how many mistakes are made. And when I saw my own perfection, I was able to see yours, and my life changed so dramatically that it is nothing like the old life.
    
    But if you prefer the comfort of your own worldview, immerse yourself in it fully. Isn't that what life is about? It's not mine to judge your choices. I simply see our social and ecological systems in decline and want people to begin doing the work that makes manifesting "intended" consequences possible before it all comes crashing down and no one knows what to do. I think that you would be surprised if you knew how many people have found their own route to the same understanding that I have. It's global movement. It's growing (never to be organized). And the evidence that allows it to be is now available thanks to quantum physics.
    
    Cheers!
    - greg dahlen 20+
      
      0
      
      Mar 15 2013: so is there a set way to do manifesting, do you go in a room and visualize? Or are there different ways to do it? Is it visualizing, if so why not call it that? What is quantum physics? How does it relate here?
      
      I appreciate your explaining this to me. I believe the audience at your talk would be asking some of the same questions I am.
  - Gail . 50+
    
    0
    Mar 15 2013: Well, when I manifested the little white convertible sports car (turned out to be a Fiat Spider) that I couldn't afford (I could only afford another clunker), every time I got in my car to go someplace, I opened the windows, turned on the vent full blast and aimed the air at me, and pretended that my 9 passenger wagon was a little white sports car. I chose a blue interior because my car had a blue interior and it was easier to pretend. I LOVED driviing that little white convertible sports car. Driving to work was real pleasure.
    
    When, 28 days later, when I was working in my kitchen, I heard a throaty sound in my driveway. I dropped what I was doing and ran outside - knowing that my car was there. It sure was. And only 3,000.00 including tax, registration, and fees - exactly the amount I had in the bank already dedicated to buying a car when I found a decent one that cheap. I hadn't told anyone what I was doing. Who would have believed me? If a year before, someone had told me such a story, I wouldn't have believed what I was hearing.
    
    Other times, I sit on my porch and pretend that the thing I want is inside the house. I feel the joy of knowing that I have again manifested this. It usually takes repetition, but not always. One November day, I decided to manifest a strawberry, because strawberries were out of season. (Part of my practice) So I imagined holding a strawberry. I hadn't even finished my 20 minute session when my neighbor, seeing me on my deck, came over and interrupted me. She showed me a small piece of wallpaper she just bought for her dining room. In the center of the 3" square piece she handed me was a perfect strawberry. I wonder what would have happened if I had imagined myself eating a fresh strawberry?
    
    QM relates to the multiworlds theory that makes this possible. I don't make things suddenly "appear" in my reality. I use mind to move to where what I want already exists, as I choose from among probabilities my mind draws me to.
  - Gail . 50+
    
    0
    Mar 15 2013: Would you feel more comfortable if I were to say "I imagine it into my reality" or more precisely "I imagine myself into its reality"?
Mathew Naismith 10+
- 0
Mar 2 2013: G'day Greg

In a nut shell yes but remembering the more non-accepting you are the more conflictive one is, it depends on how conflictive you want to be in life, our life really does depend on our actions & reactions to it.

It’s like being a Hitler for instance, you have got to accept the consequences of your actions in being a Hitler type person who is conflictive, we are no different within our normal lives if we want to be in conflict as that is our choice to be non-accepting.

If I had a Hitler type person come into my house I would react but by reacting I’m in conflict however that is accepted because of the circumstances but remembering at the same time it is conflictive which is my choice to do so to protect my wife & myself which is quite acceptable.

Love
Mathew

PS You think as deep as I do by the looks of it!!!
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Mar 10 2013: well, it seems to me you might not have anything particularly, strikingly new here, Mathew, because you are saying that in some situations you should accept what is occuring, and in others it is quite acceptable to fight against what is occuring, which is pretty much how everyone approaches life, isn't it? I had thought your (at this point) imaginary speech was to be about accepting everything and I suppose not fighting anything, the way you believe God accepts everything and I suppose doesn't fight anything. That would really be a new idea, yet it doesn't seem to be what you're saying. Maybe I'm still not understanding.
  
  What other things would you fight for, besides your wife and children if an intruder broke in?
  
  Have you read about these concepts you're thinking about? What have you read?
  
  Is it possible you're talking about being in a "flow," where you're letting your thoughts and actions come without too much censoring? That might be a good speech.
  
  Thus far I'm not convinced you have a speech, although I could be wrong. What other issues interest you, what gets you going? You're a good-looking guy, I hope you will appear in public.--love,greg
Erik Richardson 500+
- +3
TEDx Organizer

Feb 24 2013: How science fiction—reading it, writing it, discussing it—could re-ignite our education system.

1.I would talk about the way textbooks suck all the blood out of learning about science.

2.I would share key quotes and comments from contemporary researchers talking about the influence that things like Star Trek and Asimov's novels had on them in their formative years.

3.I would offer some examples of surprising and innovative thinking that have resulted from my own students when challenged with problems common to sci-fi stories.
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Mar 1 2013: This sounds excellent, Erik. How really do textbooks suck all the blood out of learning about science, although my emphasis was literature I took some science courses and I found that it was gratifying to get the basics down, which it seems like there was no way around it, one had to spend time with the book and in the lab.
  
  Are there particular branches of science that lend themselves better to the kind of inspiration you're talking about. For instance I have no interest in space travel but I do in nutrition.
  
  What actually would keep you from writing this talk and finding a venue to present it? How gratifying is it to speak to an audience?
  - Erik Richardson 500+
    
    +1
    TEDx Organizer
    
    Mar 3 2013: Honestly, I just don't have the time to put together something that might or might not land somewhere, and I can't give up the time to peddle it door to door, so to speak. :-D I'll just keep building evidence through my teaching and see what happens once it achieves some kind of critical mass.
    - greg dahlen 20+
      
      0
      
      Mar 14 2013: erik, I hope this won't sound chirpy, i tend to think we make time for the things we care about. Would it really take that long to write a speech if you wrote it five minutes here and five minutes there? Finding a venue might not be that hard either, for example does your wife belong to a woman's club, do your friends belong to service orgs, maybe they could set you up very quickly to give your talk.
Morton Bast 200+
- +2
TED Staff Host TED Attendee TED Translator

Feb 22 2013: Mine might be about how I think writing fiction makes you a better person because it forces you to truly envision the world from other people's perspectives.

I'm not a great fiction writer, but it's a hobby that makes me happy. Like many things, we're told to give it up after childhood if our skills aren't professional quality. I think a lot of people just don't understand the use, so I'd like to highlight that side effect of open-mindedness and compassion.
- Fritzie Reisner 100+
  - 0
  Host
  
  Feb 24 2013: Morton, don't you think that in recent years people have felt more encouraged than ever to write if they enjoy it? With self publishing and the ability to reach audiences without going through any sort of professional scrutiny?
  
  Have you done NANOWRIMO yet? That would be one example.
  
  I think also that in school in the United States over the last twenty years, writing instruction is often focused on getting students from the earliest grades to think of themselves as authors with a valuable voice.
  
  Just as the availability of online resources has encouraged people to study up on subjects that interest them that they might not have been able to pursue in school to professional standards, I think communities of practice and of art hobbyists and artists and writers online have encouraged people to venture forward in this area.
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Feb 26 2013: Sounds good to me, Morton. Have you given speeches to groups, or do do you like it, or what would keep you from turning this into a speech and giving it?
  
  One interesting thing to do would be to read your works aloud and act out the characters, I mean in private or in a speech. This might up the empathy you're referring to. Are you comfortable playing characters, or inhibited?
Fritzie Reisner 100+
- +1
Host

Feb 22 2013: Some possibilities: 1) Excellent strategies for cultivating inquiring and thoughtful minds and the disposition to think and learn independently and creatively. 2) How to understand big problems well enough to set the stage for creative solution.

(I have another area I am working on but would not yet be qualified to speak about it).

How about you, Greg?
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Feb 23 2013: Fr, what are strategies for understanding big problems well enough to set stage for creative solution?
  
  I myself seem to be something of a generalist, I like knowing a little bit about many fields and flit from interest to interest. So I might not be prepared to do an expert talk on any subject. Maybe if anyone ever starts an org for "flitters"........
  - Fritzie Reisner 100+
    
    +2
    Host
    
    Feb 23 2013: It's too big a topic to get into here. But one thing people tend to do, I notice, is to assume they know exactly what a problem is about, but their specific diagnosis is often full of assumptions that simply are not valid. The combination of extreme confidence in assumptions that people don't bother to test and extreme faith in ideology-based solutions looks nothing like critical thinking about finding solutions to problems. It's skating on the surface. It works for social banter but not for more.
    - reine des violettes
      
      0
      
      Mar 3 2013: so perhaps we need a talk, then, on the skill of asking questions?
  - Fritzie Reisner 100+
    
    0
    Host
    
    Mar 3 2013: @reine. There may be talks about asking the right questions. It's a key part of critical thinking. There was a TED presentation by an intelligence researcher at the 2013 conference that suggests that, thanks to the change toward cultivating more abstract and critical thinking in schools over the course of the twentieth century, at least in parts of the world, people are getting much smarter at it. I expect that an unwillingness to scrutinize firmly held beliefs is a personality trait and therefore variable across populations. I suspected even before hearing the researcher speak that many people blame schooling for choices that actually come down to the individual's choices and dispositions. Critical thinking is a focus of schools, but many people reject it later in their lives, it seems.
Amirpouya Ghaemiyan 50+
- +2
TED Translator

Feb 22 2013: I first start with a funny story, I do not know what and show myself a little confused and stupid, and then talk about what determines values for us in the society and what should be.
Maybe I indicate to value of peace and happiness against what we have now, ratrace for money and even in eduation.
And surely I'll talk about being against technology or "Ludism".
I think this is what nobody has talked about yet.
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Feb 26 2013: Amirpouya, would you be advocating against technology, or in favor of it? I'm somewhat low-tech myself. I don't have a car, cell phone, TV, or computer (I use computer at public library). Yet I don't consider myself Luddite, I have specific reasons why I don't have these things. I don't have a car because I'm restricted to glasses when I drive, and I can't find a comfortable pair of glasses. Don't have a cellphone because I dislike carrying the thing around all day when I don't make that many calls. And so on.
  - Amirpouya Ghaemiyan 50+
    
    +1
    TED Translator
    
    Feb 27 2013: Greg,
    Actually, I think completely in another way.
    I normally use current technologies, but when I feel they are barriers to my normal life, I put them aside.
    I use glasses, in fact my eyes have a number around 6, so no way ! But the things I really disagree with, are technologies that do not satisfy our needs, but make new needs and satisfy them.
    For example, video games, or Facebook. And the real aim of Ludism is not every technology. Just technologies that do what humans can do and so make them uselss.
    In my comment I meant the system of technologies that satisfy no need but what they make. For example, we eat fast food to be fast, we drive a car to be fast, and finally, we get fat and dedicate some time to practice on a treadmill !
    And by the way, I totally agree with you about TV !!!!!!!!!!!
    - greg dahlen 20+
      
      0
      
      Mar 10 2013: Well, Amirpouya, some might say video games are not useless, as they entertain people, and people need entertainment. What is your response?
  - Amirpouya Ghaemiyan 50+
    
    0
    TED Translator
    
    Mar 10 2013: I myself were playing a lot until many years ago.
    But I saw that I just become tired and dizzy in the end and nothing I gain.
    Now I spend my leisure time by TED talks and movies sometimes, and I feel really better.
    Anyway, when we claim we have no time for sports and reading (most of us, including me!), video games cannot be a good substitute for them in our leisure time.
    - greg dahlen 20+
      
      0
      
      Mar 10 2013: yes, amirpouya, but just because you ultimately did not enjoy video games does not mean others don't, or actually get good value from them. I don't like them, but I could see for others they would be thought-provoking or interesting.
  - Amirpouya Ghaemiyan 50+
    
    +1
    TED Translator
    
    Mar 10 2013: See Greg, I said my opinion, and my reasons for that. I have a couple of friends thinking in this way, too.
    I did not say everyone must think so.
    Humans are different, and we still live together and we call it democracy. Cool ?
Gail . 50+
- +2
Feb 22 2013: How to manifest your own reality (takes the first five minutes). Then the rest of the time on what humankind could do and be if all were to accept responsibility for their consequences.
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Mar 1 2013: Yes, I've heard that phrase "manifest your own reality." What does it mean?
  - Gail . 50+
    
    0
    Mar 2 2013: It means that thoughts are things that can be converted into what we want, through the application of specific mental techniques. If I have a want, I manifest it into my reality.
    
    An ancient practice popularized in the 1960s through the Seth material (where it is said that we create our own reality and that reality always appears to conform to our beliefs) it was later - though quite incompletely - popularized again through The Law of Attraction and the movie, The Secret. It's a growing trend. We get what we ask for, so we pay attention to what we are asking for.
    
    I know that this sounds bizarre, but after years of regular practice, I assure you that it works. But it's part of a worldview that, to work most efficiently, requires those of us who employ this technique to know our beliefs and clear out those that conflict, are outgrown and/or untested. We know what we are thinking, emoting, and feeling, and are aware of what comes out of our own mouths when we speak (or fingers wen we type) because they have so much to tell us. We know that emotions are a compass that point to mistaken beliefs, that when corrected, change our worlds (because we always behave in concert with out beliefs and behaviors have consequences). We are not owned by emotions (thus ego). We walk toward our fears.
    
    I no longer fear others, having tested my ability to use my power to be safe even under threat of imminent death. I know that if I want food, it will be available. Same with shelter and water. It's the same with things that give me pleasure.
    
    I cannot manifest for you. That's your responsibility.
    
    If the world could understand how POWERFUL people are, WHAT people are, and HOW they work, we could end almost all of our problems. We would treat one another better, because that's the only way to get what we really want -- Because (thru power of self-chosen beliefs) as I do, so it is done to me/my life.
    
    those who do not know themselves to this degree do not know what freedom is.
    - greg dahlen 20+
      
      0
      
      Mar 2 2013: Well, just to play devil's advocate, TED lover, can you envision the most luxurious, wealthy life and get it? If you imagine yourself as a billionaire with a gorgeous wife, will you get it? Presumably everyone else is envisioning such a life, but can everyone have it, given a world of somewhat limited resources?
  - Gail . 50+
    
    0
    Mar 3 2013: I wouldn't personally choose to be a billionaire. I'm one of those calling for a moneyless society. Vast wealth is the opposite of the direction I"m traveling in my life's journey.
    
    But that's not the only barrier. Park of the rules for manifesting deliberately and efficiently is that I must never do to others what I do not want done to me. For me to have billions, because of the way our fiscal scheme works, many others who do not have enough for the most basic survival would have to do without. I wouldn't not want to be able to live with myself if I were doing that to others. Besides, if I did, then it would all come falling down when it's value was suddenly meaningless.
    
    I believe that all can have what they want because I believe in the multi-world theory. I don't make things "appear" in this one reality. I travel to the reality where the thing I want is already manifest. If I were to envision an reality where every person on earth has 1 billion $ (and no more), what purpose would there be in money? We would be just as well off doing without the money altogether.
    
    I know this sounds odd. I do. It sure sounded unbelievable when I first heard of it. But when my manifestations began flowing to me, I changed my mind. I can't prove it to you, but I have surely proven it to me to my own satisfaction. I practice regularly. Life without using that power is rather like living without electricity even though I'm wired to the grid - just because I don't believe that electricity is real.
Muhammad Aizat Zainal Alam 30+
- +3
TED Translator

Feb 22 2013: Miscegenation and world peace.Note that they are not separate topics.
- Kate Blake 50+
  - +1
  Feb 22 2013: Sounds like you are talking about the Beetles song Imagine, 'put it all in a big melting pot'?
  
  Great idea, can't wait to hear you Muhammad!
  - greg dahlen 20+
    
    0
    Mar 18 2013: Kate, I'm surprised you don't have a topic for a talk, given that you're quite active on conversations.
    - Kate Blake 50+
      
      0
      
      Mar 18 2013: Can't think of a single topic, what do you think I should talk on?
      
      But no, it's not my cup of tea - I would not be comfortable standing up in front of all those people. What is your topic Greg?
    - Kate Blake 50+
      
      0
      
      Mar 19 2013: You didn't answer my question?
      
      What topic would you talk on Greg? have you written it out and presented it at one of your open mike nights?
  - greg dahlen 20+
    
    0
    Mar 18 2013: Oh darn, Kate, this conversation is rather close to closing, that would have been fun thinking of a topic for you. I can understand you not being comfortable, but you know there are few things in this world as stimulating, mentally enriching, as performing, talking, etc., in front of an audience. Is it some kind of fear that is preventing you?
    
    As far as a topic, well, the conversation topics you introduce on TED seem to be a wide variety. Is there any topic that consistently holds your interest, that you return to again and again? What do you do for a living? Possibly some aspect of your vegetarianism would interest an audience. Have you done anything to encourage restaurants to go veggie once a week, as opposed to just wishing they would? Here in U.S. we have a huge choice of restaurants, many veggie options, are you saying you don't in Australia, why would that be?
    - Kate Blake 50+
      
      0
      
      Mar 19 2013: Not fear gave my first big public talk at 16years of age to about 200 Rotarians. Had their full attention as I was the only female there. And have given many more since but just don't like to talk unless I've got something really worthwhile to say. And if it's a topic I know well I speak from my heart not from notes.
      
      And most TED Talks are pretty amazing, can't imagine I'd have any ideas worth spreading that others haven't already done.
      
      Meat has always been reasonably cheap, always fresh and readily available in Australia. One animal rights group has just asked people to go veggo for a whole week (a bit extreme) and the meat producers have set up a huge roar. We are generally treated as undesirable radicals here so easier to stay home and make our own yummy meals.
  - greg dahlen 20+
    
    0
    Mar 19 2013: wonder if that explains it, as meat is reasonably cheap, fresh, and available in the U.S., yet vegetarians get lots of respect. That might be something to delve into more deeply, why vegetarians aren't as tolerated in Australia. Perhaps you could be part of changing attitudes. I suppose if you really did become part of changing attitudes, that might become your TED talk.
    
    Do you wish you had ideas worth spreading that others haven't already done? Wonder how you could get them?
  - greg dahlen 20+
    
    0
    Mar 20 2013: Thanks for asking what topic I would talk on. Just at the moment I don't think I have a topic. The thing that interests me the most about my life is my all-milk diet, but I think if I were to present that topic to a group, I would have to be prepared to answer certain questions, such as "Doesn't a person miss out on certain nutrients when they live on milk?" At this moment I would not have a scientific answer for them. I have a degree from Stanford, but it's in English, not nutrition.
    
    Kate, I was thinking about your idea that all restaurants go vegetarian one night a week. I wonder if they could do this financially, are there enough vegetarians that the restaurants wouldn't take too big a financial hit on veggie night?
  - greg dahlen 20+
    
    0
    Mar 20 2013: Kate, I might mention that the all-milk diet is rather controversial. For instance, I wanted to present it on a website called 3fatchicksonadiet, where people share ideas about how to lose weight. Knowing it was controversial, I first wrote to the website behind the scenes, described the diet, and asked if it would be okay to write about it. They said sure. So I posted it in public on the site. The next day I went to see if I'd gotten any response and got a message that I'd been banned from the website for promoting an eating disorder!
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Feb 26 2013: Yes, have you ever tried writing it as a speech and finding a place to deliver it? Are you comfortable speaking to a group?
Mathew Naismith 10+
- +4
Feb 22 2013: G'day Greg

Acceptance....If god, the creative source, creative consciousness or whatever is all accepting why can't we? In actual fact when you think about it there is no reason not to be as the more accepting one is the less conflictive one is, wouldn't peace throughout the world be a nice thing to experience especially when it brings one closer to the creative source?

Love
Mathew
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Feb 26 2013: What I wonder is, what is the difference between being all-accepting and being a doormat? In other words, if someone punches me in the nose, I shouldn't just accept it, should I?lovegreg
  - Mathew Naismith 10+
    
    +1
    Feb 27 2013: G'day Greg
    
    You don't get it Greg, to be all accepting is to also be accepting in not accepting as well, now that's all accepting!!!!
    
    Look at it this way Greg, the creative source would have to be all accepting otherwise the source wouldn't accept our non-acceptance thus become judgmental & conflictive like we are which it isn’t or more likely can’t be.
    
    Love
    Mathew
    - greg dahlen 20+
      
      +1
      
      Mar 2 2013: So if I'm homophobic, I don't accept gays, and I accept my lack of acceptance of them, that's okay?
W. Ying 10+
- +1
Feb 22 2013: .
Invalid (ineffective) happiness.
- greg dahlen 20+
  - 0
  Feb 26 2013: Can you tell us more about what invalid (ineffective) happiness is? It sounds like a good topic, have you ever written it as a speech? Are you comfortable speaking to groups?
  - W. Ying 10+
    
    0
    Feb 28 2013: .Hi, Greg,
    Very glad!
    
    Please have a look at the 1st article, points 1-3, 14, at https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=D24D89AE8B1E2E0D&id=D24D89AE8B1E2E0D%21283&sc=documents.
    - greg dahlen 20+
      
      0
      
      Mar 10 2013: Skimmed it, Mr. Ying, but if someone asked me to say in a nutshell what invalid happiness is, I could not. Can you say in a nutshell what it is?

Showing all 87 comments

Sign In

To join or start a conversation, you'll need to sign in. Not a member? Register Now (it's free and fast).

Live Conversations

Live Conversations are hosted by TED speakers and TED Fellows. Ask your questions and participate in the discussions on the following dates and times: