This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »
We can learn by exchanging and discussing our own lists of "10 Things I Know to be True."
After listening to Sarah Kay's beautiful speech and poetry, I tried to write my own list of "10 Things I know to be True." I learned one thing immediately: I don't know much. I learned a second thing more slowly: that's okay! I tried to distill my limited understanding of the world into this list, without being overly philosophical nor literal.
One thing I know to be true, but that is not on my list, was that Sarah Kay was right when she said that if you share your list with a group of people you will find that someone has one thing very similar, someone else has something totally contrary, another person has something you've never heard of, and still another has something that makes you think further about something you thought you knew.
So let's share ours, and find out! What do your lists have on them?
Here's mine:
1. Fiction can, at times, feel more real than fact.
2. One person, with a good idea, can change our world.
3. There are things about our universe that we will never understand.
4. #3 is not an excuse to stop trying.
5. Everyone has a story worth hearing.
6. There is always another side to the story they tell.
7. Questions can sometimes teach more than their answers.
8. Children can sometimes teach more than their parents.
9. Everyone should travel.
10. No one's truth is universal.
Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.
Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.
Peter Han 500+
1) Thinking "out of the box" is over-rated. "Out of the box" means you have simply recognized that you're previous context or "box" was too limiting and that you have broken through many of the assumptions and constraints of that context. But you simply move into a broader and more general context or "box" now. So actually, a more accurate saying might be "are you thinking in the appropriate box?"
2) Experience is inevitable, learning is not. Just going through an experience does not equal learning from the experience.
3) Sometimes, we have to listen someone into existence.
4) Play as if our lives depended on it. Because it does.
5) Imagination is more important than knowledge, but one needs a solid foundation of knowledge to make the most of one's imaginative powers. So don't discount and dismiss the importance of knowledge.
6) There is hard work as we know it in the USA and European countries. And then there is hard work as it is known in Chinese-speaking countries such as China, Taiwan, and Singapore. In Chinese language, the term for hard work is "Eat Bitter" which also has connotations of enduring, overcoming pain and misery. So not all hard work is the same around the world.
7) Problem-solver are extremely valuable. But we might need problem-finders even more.
8) We are all hybrids. Approximately 90% of the cells in our body are bacterial in nature, not human. Relax, there're friendly and vital to our health. But just think...90% of the number of cells in us are bacteria!
9) We tend to forget about opportunity risks when considering something risky. There can be great risk in NOT pursuing a risky venture.
10) Regret is the 8th Deadly Sin.
Debra Smith 200+
Peter Han 500+
Thanks for your reply. Isn't it sad that so many people have this need and yet we don't listen enough to them? Our society seems to reward the proclamation of ideas so much more than listening and reflection. Just go to a typical kindergarten or grade school. Gold stars often go to those who speak up and contribute their ideas and opinions. But seldom is recognition given to active and compassionate and self-less listening.
I grew up in Asia and recall my shock when I entered 3rd grade in the USA. Everyone was talking over each other and rewarded for being so darned self-expressive. But there was not much listening...often it was just waiting for a turn to speak or an opportunity to interrupt the previous speaker.
Thank you for listening to me into existence.
Best regards,
Peter
Cleo Abram 500+
I love this idea. To quote Sarah Kay, "I see the impossible every day. Impossible is trying to connect in this world, trying to hold onto others... knowing that while you're speaking, they aren't just waiting for their turn to talk-- they hear you." I know I still need to work on that: truly hearing everyone I listen to. "Listening them into existence" (what an incredible phrase. Thank you.) But I'll never stop trying, because every time I manage to really do it, I learn something amazing.
I grew up going to a Quaker school. We had a weekly mandatory Meeting for Worship which every student, teacher, and administrator sat together in complete silence and periodically listened to short messages people were spontaneously inspired to share. I often learned more about myself and the world around me in that hour and a half than in any class; I wasn't talking, I was sitting in silence. I miss the structure for listening that the meetings offered, but I hope to apply the lessons learned there to the rest of my life.
Thanks for listening,
Cleo
László Szantor
if nobody speaks there is nothing to listen to.
In most cultured conversations one considerately awaits their turn while listening to others.
Otherwise, how can one's comments be pertinent to the subject discussed? Ill mannered parliamentary debates should not discourage us from remaining civil.
Chris Morrison
Michael M 30+
I really liked #,s 3&4 There are a lot of people out there waiting for someone to listen to them. On a persoanl level, playing is becoming a sort of new found joy for me...and I am not young. Those things are really true.
Peter Han 500+
Thanks for your reply. Like you, I am not young (chronologically, but youthful in outlook) and have found play to be "serious" priority for me.
I think we need to re-learn and recapture the joy of play in our very busy and stressful lives.
Have you read Free Play by Steve Nachmanovitch? It is a small eloquent tome to the spiritual and pragmatic value of play. Homo ludens "the playful human" is another meme to which I subscribe.
Playfully yours,
Peter
Thomas Jones 100+
A child-like man is not a man whose development has been arrested; on the contrary, he is a man who has given himself a chance of continuing to develop long after most adults have muffled themselves in the cocoon of middle-aged habit and convention. – Aldous Huxley
charles williams
Timothy Hudson
At the age of 25, I have spent over half my adult life outside of the United States. Exposure to cultures such as India, Cambodia, Afghanistan, and Vietnam have taught me incredible lessons about self pity, simple pleasures, and viewing the world in its entirety.
Peter Han 500+
Happy to hear that you've benefited from your wide travels. What did you find most surprising during your travels? Any truths you found that apply across all the cultures you experienced?
I'd like to travel widely as well and learn as you did. What brought you to Afghanistan in your young life?
Best regards, Peter
Timothy Hudson
Of course there have been many
surprises during my travels, but the one that has had the biggest impact on me would be the realization of China as a superpower, witnessed firsthand. It is one thing to watch the news and read the Economist, but something else entirely to visit a place like Hong Kong and marvel at its efficiency.
According to the Motley Fool, the US economy as yet remains three times the size of China's, but that ratio only further demonstrates where one is to find opportunity and growth. I see a new world developing, one in which global influence is shared by more major players on nearly equal footing than the disparity witnessed in the last 30 years. This surprise has lead to a reevaluation of my goals, which now involve studies in the mandarin language, chinese history, and philosophy.
In regards to universal truths, I have found that the giving spirit is ingrained in all of humanity, though the mechanism is dramatically different from place to place. In powerful western economies, we like to use an intermediary. Charities, food banks, and homeless shelters are common for this purpose. In less abundant economies, food is often handed to the needy, and small villages take a communal approach to their problems. Neighbors help one another fix leaking roofs, and orphans are often supported by the many.
Peter where in Asia did you grow up? You discussed your surprise with the classroom after entering third grade in the United States. Do you believe that multicultural exposure for children is an advantage?
Peter Han 500+
I could not contact you via TED email (it's not working) so I am contacting you this way.
"This surprise has lead to a reevaluation of my goals, which now involve studies in the mandarin language, chinese history, and philosophy." Wow, you really are proactive! Kudos for seeking trends and patterns and acting upon them. Your wide travels has benefited you immensely.
Yes, I believe multi-cultural experiences are a MUST for any young person on this planet, esp. for an ethno-centric and super power country such as the USA. "Fish are the last to discover water" goes the adage. So a mudskipper who transitions between water and soil understands so much more about water by virtue of having left its boundaries.
I grew up in Taiwan, then Japan prior to landing in the USA as a youth. I identify myself with both the American and Chinese cultures.
Tim, You write extremely well which reflects a cultivated mind. Why don't you start a TED Conversation? You have a great deal to offer the TED community.
Keep in touch. See you in one of the other TED conversations too!
Best regards,
Peter Han
Timothy Hudson
I agree with you and appreciate your praise.
Here is the link to a TED conversation I started a few days ago:
http://www.ted.com/conversations/6500/is_there_potentially_an_econom.html
Phillip McKay
Sometimes it is just as important to unlearn.