TED Community » vince vernile

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• A comment on Conversation: We will NOT find an alternative to energy dense, easily transportable conventional oil in time to sustain indefinate economic growth.

  Feb 19 2013: Every school-aged child with a calculator learns rather quickly, that you cannot add a specific percentage to any amount indefinately. What makes anyone think that economic growth can (or should) continue? This system must change, before the entire planet has been raped (for profit) and left for dead.

• A reply on Talk: Miguel Nicolelis: A monkey that controls a robot with its thoughts. No, really.

  Feb 19 2013: I agree. Someone's military will bastarize the technology in favour of profit, power or 'stability'.

• A comment on Talk: Miguel Nicolelis: A monkey that controls a robot with its thoughts. No, really.

  Feb 19 2013: Now, if we could have a monkey 'speak' to us, using a "vocal simulator", maybe we could answer some of the basic questions about humanity. Do they perceive the abstract concepts of death or afterlife? Is there a 'code of beliefs' that animals have chosen to adhere to? Maybe we'll learn that the human way to do things is wrong...

• A comment on Conversation: Are small local energy grids the future of energy?

  Nov 20 2012: Until we can figure out how to STORE electricity in a form that allows high, on-demand release, we are stuck with building larger and larger 'grids'.
  The main problem is that there is no money to be made in storing energy, only it seems in generating ang "transporting" it to its end user.
  Keep in mind that currently, ALL of the electricity we currently use was generated only a few micro-seconds ago.

• A comment on Talk: Malte Spitz: Your phone company is watching

  Jul 27 2012: Does anybody know if there is monitoring such as this, in active use in the US or Canada?
  And if there is, who has it, who has control over it, and how long it is retained for?
  I suppose what is more interesting to me would be which companies and political powers are sharing this information.

• A comment on Conversation: Imagine you were sent decades into the future with the task of selling your decade as the golden age to visit. How would you argue the case?

  Jul 18 2012: I think you've come up with a brilliant question.
  
  I don't think I could sell this decade as 'golden'.
  
  The whole 'Golden Age' thing is a nostalgic idea, where people aren't fully aware of the possibilities of their experimenting and tinkering.
  
  Perhaps this decade we are in now will be seen as the golden age of ideas.

• A comment on Conversation: In a democracy should voting be compulsory

  May 11 2012: In Canada, I've heard, ( and believe it ) only about one in 15 people really vote.
  I suppose the "real statistics" could be manipulated into reinforcing whatever point of view you want to adhere to.
  But here, the 'majority of voters' are a minority of the population, but also a majority of the money, too.
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: How can we prevent those with depression from reaching the point where they want to commit suicide?

  May 4 2012: TALK to them.
  Let people know that you are open to be talked to.
  Don't judge what you don't understand through your own (lack of) experiences.

• A reply on Conversation: Is talking someone out of suicide more of caring or more of a selfish act?

  Apr 29 2012: Clearly, you've had experience with 'letting go' of loved ones, whether they're human or not.
  
  But in the case of a (potential) suicide, it NOT your choice.
  Whether you want to let them go (or not) is beyond your range of choices.
  
  I think that 'understanding' the other person's reasoning and accepting their choice to end their life is the beginning of truly 'caring' about them.
  
  A living will is only effective, it their wishes are respected.
  At any time, it can be contested, once the infirmed has deteriorated to the point that they can no longer speak for themselves. There are legal inpplications, of course, but we've all heard about court cases and judgements where attempts to change 'final wishes', are contested, all the time.
  
  There needs to be a balance somewhere, between our own level of discomfort with the situation, and the level of suffering these people (or animals) are experiencing.
  And the balance CANNOT be equal. It is THEIR lfe, not ours.
  
  Sometimes our amount of empathy is overridden by their level of suffering, and we must resign to accepting their imminent departure.
  Other times, we can extend their lives (and possibly, their degree of suffering),by our own options, but that simply shows a level of un-acceptance with their decisions, or lack of empathy with their circumstance.
  
  I agree, intent is the most important issue, in judging whether the act is selfish or caring.
  But you cannot deny that WE have intentions, as well as the afflicted.

• A reply on Conversation: Is talking someone out of suicide more of caring or more of a selfish act?

  Apr 26 2012: I wished my first response to you could have gotten through, something went wrong with my connection. It was worded much better than this one:
  
  It's not murder, when they're on a ventilator & unconscious, comatose, etc... but someone else still decides for them,( at the critical moment) unless they had prior arrangements. And even then, the patient's wish to die could be over-ruled by a selfish family member.
  
  But the topic WAS NOT SUICIDE. it was SELFISHNESS.
  I empathise with your situation and your family. It must be terribly difficult to live with.
  
  In the case of someone who's life-situation is not known, in talking them down, you would be attempting to force YOUR will onto that person, in the same way you would for the animal from my example.
  
  If you prefer, rather than the phrase "put them down", you can substitute the words "let them go", if it makes you feel better.
  
  Also, so you can digest my position better, I belong to Mary M's group 1 and 2.
  
  Sometimes you have to resign yourself to accepting someone else's judgement for their own life.