TED Community » Hetty Proudhonne

About Me

Born Henrietta Proudhonne to an American mother and a French-Canadian father, Hetty has always been interested in living in at least two places at the same time. Because she has never learned to be fluent in French, she compensates by knowing enough Spanish, German, Greek and Italian to find her way around cities in Europe and Central and Sout America.

She prefers to be addressed as Hetty. Not "Miss Hetty" like some Singaporean students like to call her. She currently travels to write about medical tourism with a special focus on plastic surgery services around the world. She realizes the subject of cosmetic enhancement is not for everyone, she nevertheless envisions a world where corrective and cosmetic surgeries converge, not for the sake of vanity but for the purpose of enhancing self-esteem and to sharpen a person's sense of identity.

Location:
United Kingdom, London
Current role:
Traveling Editor
Gender:
Female
Areas of expertise:
editing, writing, travel journalism, research
I am:
Atheist, Blogger, Concerned citizen, Idea generator, Journalist, Sales specialist, Social entrepreneur, Web guru, World traveler, Writer/Editor
Languages:
Spanish, French, German, Greek, Italian, English
My website links:
Plastic Surgery Guide
Member Picture

More About Me

I'm passionate about

I love a life that is lived peacefully and productively.

An idea worth spreading

I like the idea of a world with no borders. Spending my year in multiple time zones and meeting people from different cultures give me an adrenaline rush that is difficult to replicate doing other things.

Talk to me about

I would listen to any story, personal or social, that is sincerely told.

People don't know that I'm good at

I'm good at listening. Yes, people think I'm a snob but I remember many of the things they say months later.

My TED Story

I've been a visitor at Ted countless times and have been in the audience in a couple of conferences.

Comments

  • TEDCred score: +0.10 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

  • A comment on Talk: Daniel Wolpert: The real reason for brains

    Nov 4 2011: Obvious, yes, but explaining the obvious takes a "high-functioning" scientist. Good job.

  • A comment on Talk: Julia Bacha: Pay attention to nonviolence

    Oct 3 2011: We need to get rid of paranoia. I read somewhere paranoia made us homo sapiens smart, but the next stage of evolution is the elimination of irrational fear.

  • A comment on Talk: Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

    Sep 29 2011: As for my own two cents, I learned more in a year after college than in four years I spent in it.

  • A comment on Talk: Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty

    Sep 25 2011: I do believe he isn't just talking about human attractiveness, which is complicated by social norms, etc. Youtfulness, immortality or its toned-down form which we call "stability", are just a few other ways that dictate the beauty we see.

    Beauty is the human dream of endless POSITIVENESS. But alas, the opposite of pisitiveness can be beautiful as well.

  • A comment on Conversation: What are a few things your country could learn from other countries?

    Sep 25 2011: Eating dogs may be as innocent as eating cows.... learned this being in SoKor.

  • A comment on Conversation: What ingredients do you put into making a CHOICE / DECISION?

    Sep 22 2011: I'm never utilitarian when making a decision and the end result is usually beyond my own reckoning, so I have to say that I fall back on my moral compass.
  • +1

    A comment on Talk: Alan Russell: The potential of regenerative medicine

    Sep 22 2011: I actually signed up on Ted because of this talk. As I am a medical tourism writer, I have met people in the Third World where stemcells have become a cheaper alternative to traditional medical procedures. Plastic and reconstructive surgery will someday fall under regenerative medicine. Vanity and health are in truth very much related.

  • A comment on Talk: Niall Ferguson: The 6 killer apps of prosperity

    Sep 22 2011: I've made a couple of comments here earlier, but I must have neglected to sign in or something.

    I like the idea that laws are partly responsible for a culture's success. Niall Ferguson compared tyranny with democracy, but I think he should also look at some Asian democracies, where the laws are not entirely the solid brick-and-mortar foundation he means. In Asia, laws are like water that yield to a strong hand. Countries that have managed to live by the laws instead of other culturally embedded system of social control are the countries that we now part of the First World.

  • A comment on Talk: JJ Abrams: The mystery box

    Sep 22 2011: Are we all here because of the TV series?

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