It seems that there is a movement afoot here in which lessons are learned on the internet, while in the classrrom, students do what was traditionally thought of as homework. The teacher seldom offers a lesson unless it is remedial, and is there to watch students do their assignments or help if they get stuck. This is particulalry well suited to mathematics, in which a huge reserve of lessons are available on YouTube.
I think I would favor a global infrastructure for education, health, food, and shelter. I know people that are building houses 4 times as big as the ones in which they raised their children, while others sleep in cardboard boxes.
You may want to first read about the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen thought experiment, which was only a thought experiment until 1982, when the electronics existed to actually verify that Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen were wrong. Quantum effects can be measured instantaneously over thousands of light-year distances. It is my second favorite experiment in all of physics.
Cheers...Don
While I respect you as a human being, not all opinions are created equal. There are those who chose creationism over evolution, natural versus man-made climate change, alien abduction versus bad dreams, and 2000 year old modified and manufactured scriptures, versus the anthropological evidence that these tales were made up and morphed through the ages.
I was once close to where you are now in my belief systems, then rationality set in. It is not nearly as painful as you might suppose...Don
Many people believe in Karma, many people believe in Voodoo, angels, winning the lottery, and flying saucers. Just because people believe, does not make them so. I do not need the threat of a hell to do the right thing.
You have hit the argument right on the head " What a great and comforting concept! I would hate to think that when my body dies, that there isn't a part of me (my soul) which will go on to something greater and more glorious than what I experienced on this 'physical plane'." THAT is what I would PREFER to believe, and when I die, if that is the reality...BONUS! I just have accepted that it is probably not the case. I am not suggesting that I know exactly what will happen after my death, but my actions on earth are not predicated upon what may or may not happen after I die.
Sorry darling, just wishing something is so, does not make it so, but the prospect has built many thousands of churches and temples all over the world, with treasure that could have been put to much better use. The tens, perhaps hundreds of millions that have died because their belief system did not closely align with the belief system of others, may argue that the good done in the name of these belief systems does not come close to the harm they have inflicted upon the people of the earth.
I too am a newbie to TED, but I am not a newbie to this topic. I have had too many decades to reflect upon this very subject. If I am going to choose a fantasy after I die, it might be OZ...I am not very tall but I would be a giant there!
My passion is learning the challenging, doing the difficult, and dreaming the impossible.
No one taught me that I had to do this. I can't think of a role model I would want to emulate. I look after those I can, and promote ideas that may someday improve the lot of the rest.
Sep 1 2011: You believe in a soul; I believe in the demonstrated power of such beliefs to cause incredible harm to the world's people.
We have abandoned Aphrodite, Apollo, Athena, Baal, Bacchus, Dionysus, Hermes, Ishtar, Jupiter, Loki, Mars, Neptune, Odin, Osiris, Phoebe, Poseidon, Quetzalcoatl, Thor, Zeus. and a boatload of others. Let's just get it over-with and discard the remainder. We can then abandon fairy tales regarding the creation and continued functioning of the earth in favor of reality.
Heaven, Hell, eternal life and the concept of "soul," and the bablings of ancient scripture, are the constucts of human minds that knew no better. We do, or we should!
I admit that the notion that some part of me will live for ever is enticing, and even more enticing is the prospect that I could be reunited with my late beloved wife. Her death-bed conversion after a life-time of christianity was the realization that things were about to end for her, no matter how much we wanted things to be different. Going to the place (non-existence) that we occuppied prior to being born should not be scary, certainly not as scary as the man-made concept of hell.
TED is supposed to be about enlightenment and yet these fairy tales keep popping up.
Sep 1 2011: While I agree with your sentiments regarding too much being spent on war, I think there were a lot of holigans looking for reasons to "smash and grab." The lure of free stuff seems to have ensnared some of those from outside the hooligans, in a mob frenzy.
I see high unemployment as more of a wake-up call than these freak events.
Sep 1 2011: I quite agree that self-interest in politics has lead to curruption of the politicians (most anyway) The most important thing to almost every sitting politician in the USA is RE-ELECTION. Perhaps establishing a system where EVERY politician only gets one term would select for people that wanted to help, while selecting out those who want to spend a career enjoying the perks of office.
The way I see things, The Rupublican party is hell-bent on bringing an end to social programs built up by the Democrats since the days of FDR. Their strategy has been to spend the treasure of the USA for many years to come, so that the government will simply not be able to afford these programs any more. If the extra spending of the Regan and Bush years was to be subtracted from the national debt, it would be about 30% of its current total.
The republicans don't mind corporate welfare and god help anyone that tries to redirect more than a few percent of the military budget to things the country actually needs.
Americans have been taught to be afraid, it serves their masters well, as it ensures they spend 10 times as much on defense as their nearest rival, despite the difficulties associated with invading them. Americans have been taught that it is OK that about 1 in 100 of them are currently in jail. Jail is an excellent source of slave labor, which affords American corporations the opportunity to manufacture product domestically at a cost that is competitive with China. (Without the shipping costs)
Contrary to its national anthem, America is becoming "the land of the imprisoned and the home of the gutless."
Sep 1 2011: I recently read a science fiction short story that is freely available on the internet. It is called "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. The story is not necessarily to my taste, but some of its concepts are
The world has become a "Meritocracy" in which everyone is entitled to food, shelter, education and medical care. Beyond these basics, everything is earned by merit. By doing things that others approve of. It could be that you built a bridge, wrote a book, or were born exceptionally good looking. There is no limit to the "wuffie" you can earn, which can be used to exchange for the luxuries of life, what ever you perceive them to be. I like that idea!
TEDCred score: +2.40 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.
A comment on Conversation: Using TED.com as an organic supercomputer think tank, instead of hooking up networks of personal computers.
It seems that there is a movement afoot here in which lessons are learned on the internet, while in the classrrom, students do what was traditionally thought of as homework. The teacher seldom offers a lesson unless it is remedial, and is there to watch students do their assignments or help if they get stuck. This is particulalry well suited to mathematics, in which a huge reserve of lessons are available on YouTube.
I think I would favor a global infrastructure for education, health, food, and shelter. I know people that are building houses 4 times as big as the ones in which they raised their children, while others sleep in cardboard boxes.
A reply on Conversation: The universe as a sentient being and ourselves, solar system and galaxy molecules in an immense system of synapse, axioms and dendrites.
You may want to first read about the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen thought experiment, which was only a thought experiment until 1982, when the electronics existed to actually verify that Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen were wrong. Quantum effects can be measured instantaneously over thousands of light-year distances. It is my second favorite experiment in all of physics.
Cheers...Don
A reply on Conversation: What do you think happens to your soul when your body dies?
While I respect you as a human being, not all opinions are created equal. There are those who chose creationism over evolution, natural versus man-made climate change, alien abduction versus bad dreams, and 2000 year old modified and manufactured scriptures, versus the anthropological evidence that these tales were made up and morphed through the ages.
I was once close to where you are now in my belief systems, then rationality set in. It is not nearly as painful as you might suppose...Don
A comment on Conversation: What do you think happens to your soul when your body dies?
Many people believe in Karma, many people believe in Voodoo, angels, winning the lottery, and flying saucers. Just because people believe, does not make them so. I do not need the threat of a hell to do the right thing.
You have hit the argument right on the head " What a great and comforting concept! I would hate to think that when my body dies, that there isn't a part of me (my soul) which will go on to something greater and more glorious than what I experienced on this 'physical plane'." THAT is what I would PREFER to believe, and when I die, if that is the reality...BONUS! I just have accepted that it is probably not the case. I am not suggesting that I know exactly what will happen after my death, but my actions on earth are not predicated upon what may or may not happen after I die.
Sorry darling, just wishing something is so, does not make it so, but the prospect has built many thousands of churches and temples all over the world, with treasure that could have been put to much better use. The tens, perhaps hundreds of millions that have died because their belief system did not closely align with the belief system of others, may argue that the good done in the name of these belief systems does not come close to the harm they have inflicted upon the people of the earth.
I too am a newbie to TED, but I am not a newbie to this topic. I have had too many decades to reflect upon this very subject. If I am going to choose a fantasy after I die, it might be OZ...I am not very tall but I would be a giant there!
A comment on Conversation: What is your greatest passion and how have you been able to develop and sustain it?
My passion is learning the challenging, doing the difficult, and dreaming the impossible.
No one taught me that I had to do this. I can't think of a role model I would want to emulate. I look after those I can, and promote ideas that may someday improve the lot of the rest.
A comment on Conversation: What do you think happens to your soul when your body dies?
We have abandoned Aphrodite, Apollo, Athena, Baal, Bacchus, Dionysus, Hermes, Ishtar, Jupiter, Loki, Mars, Neptune, Odin, Osiris, Phoebe, Poseidon, Quetzalcoatl, Thor, Zeus. and a boatload of others. Let's just get it over-with and discard the remainder. We can then abandon fairy tales regarding the creation and continued functioning of the earth in favor of reality.
Heaven, Hell, eternal life and the concept of "soul," and the bablings of ancient scripture, are the constucts of human minds that knew no better. We do, or we should!
I admit that the notion that some part of me will live for ever is enticing, and even more enticing is the prospect that I could be reunited with my late beloved wife. Her death-bed conversion after a life-time of christianity was the realization that things were about to end for her, no matter how much we wanted things to be different. Going to the place (non-existence) that we occuppied prior to being born should not be scary, certainly not as scary as the man-made concept of hell.
TED is supposed to be about enlightenment and yet these fairy tales keep popping up.
A comment on Conversation: Outbreak of violence in British cities is yet another wake-up call. Time to return to welfare governance instead of war.
I see high unemployment as more of a wake-up call than these freak events.
A comment on Conversation: My thoughts on the current position of America and Americans, and why we need to stop acting like everything is alright.
The way I see things, The Rupublican party is hell-bent on bringing an end to social programs built up by the Democrats since the days of FDR. Their strategy has been to spend the treasure of the USA for many years to come, so that the government will simply not be able to afford these programs any more. If the extra spending of the Regan and Bush years was to be subtracted from the national debt, it would be about 30% of its current total.
The republicans don't mind corporate welfare and god help anyone that tries to redirect more than a few percent of the military budget to things the country actually needs.
Americans have been taught to be afraid, it serves their masters well, as it ensures they spend 10 times as much on defense as their nearest rival, despite the difficulties associated with invading them. Americans have been taught that it is OK that about 1 in 100 of them are currently in jail. Jail is an excellent source of slave labor, which affords American corporations the opportunity to manufacture product domestically at a cost that is competitive with China. (Without the shipping costs)
Contrary to its national anthem, America is becoming "the land of the imprisoned and the home of the gutless."
A comment on Conversation: What kind of future sate (after capitalism or next 200-500 years) would you like to see happen?
The world has become a "Meritocracy" in which everyone is entitled to food, shelter, education and medical care. Beyond these basics, everything is earned by merit. By doing things that others approve of. It could be that you built a bridge, wrote a book, or were born exceptionally good looking. There is no limit to the "wuffie" you can earn, which can be used to exchange for the luxuries of life, what ever you perceive them to be. I like that idea!
A comment on Conversation: To use a headset that reads ecg (brainwaves), or Pet scan, ct(brain activity) to integrate human brain directly to machines !
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=head-games-video-controller-brain check it out.