TED Community » Joseph Stanga

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Steampunk, Kingdom of Loathing, Chess, Gaming, Wichita Pride, World History, Science, Spirituality, Linguistics, LIfe, Constitutional Law, The pursuit and dissemination of knowledge.

An idea worth spreading

Life is what you make of it.
Mental states create a positive-feedback cycle.
There is a difference between trivial knowledge which is unimportant and trivial knowledge which may be important to the right person at the right time.
The media loves sensationalism.
Correlation does not necessarily imply causality.
There is plenty of energy available to support a virtually-infinite populace -- it is only a question of harnessing it.
Humans have never invented anything, we have only ever emulated nature.
History has a tendency towards repeating itself.
To understand oneself and one's place in society is to understand God's Will.
What man has made, man can make.
Problems created by a way of thinking CAN be solved with the same way of thinking, contrary to Einstein's notion thereof.

Talk to me about

Steampunk, KoL, Wichita Con, Wichita culture, Wichita history, Islam, Science, Alternate Energy Ideas, Technology, World history, World culture, Musical preferences, Civics, Constitutional Law, Love.

People don't know that I'm good at

Thinking inside the box while simultaneously thinking outside of it.

My TED Story

Recently found my way back to the Daily Grail. A topic on Synchronicity on which I commented spurred someone else to mention Jacques Vallee giving a speech on the physics of information at TEDxBrussels, wherein he mentioned synchronicity. Found my way to TED; good timing as I finally broke down and tried Facebook, only to have all my fears/suspicions about it confirmed. Saw that there is a TEDxWichita coming up in about 3 months, decided to make an account.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +0.80 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A comment on Conversation: Can computer games be designed to deliver education in an effective manner?

  Jan 18 2012: There are many great games which can be employed for virtually any aspect of education. As an example, I will briefly discuss language skills. Since education is such a broad topic, I hope this will suffice, but will be happy to answer any other questions you have, provided the question as posed relates to a specific aspect or educational topic. As it is, I barely know where to begin, other than to reply with an emphatic YES.
  
  Primary Language Skills: In the game environment, basic language skills are learned via text and in-game communication. The impetus here is to ensure that the text is relevant to the gaming experience; to ensure that the game text employs proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar; and to ensure that a reward/punishment system exists for in-game communication. Players who chat using proper language skills get bonus currency, for example. Players who use improper shorthand (u no, txt n stf lk dat) get penalized.
  
  Secondary Language Skills. The same as primary language skills (with a less severe punishment for improper grammar/spelling), but in addition provides a venue for international communication. When I took Russian in high school, it was great, but I ultimately didn't have anybody outside of class with whom to speak on a regular basis. If I had had access to something like [http://www.heroeswm.ru] (for example), I would have had a place to employ what I was learning.
  
  Computer Language Skills. In addition to teaching spoken language, games may be used to teach many different aspects of computer programming, from html to scripting to logic. Given that the GDP of the video game industry is in excess of (US) $5.0 billion (and growing), this may be an important skill for many students to learn.

• A reply on Conversation: Does punctuation and spelling still matter?

  Jan 13 2012: Especially when that well is of the Artesian variety!
  
  Oh, wait... :-)
  
  /In re: the topic at hand:/
  
  Spelling and punctuation are definitely still important. One's choice of words may hold in its grasp the difference between life and death, though I doubt such severity is commonplace. More often than not, it will merely provide some err in communication, some confusion, some humor, some forgivable comma splicing.
  
  Technology is changing the world around us with rapidity, in how we communicate our thoughts and intents. In the online world, most are probably familiar with the tongue-in-cheek proclamation that the internet is SRS BZNS. Perhaps as more history is realized, the tongue will depart from its place ever so delicately.
  
  Take, for example, the Cuban Missile Crisis. Up until this time, there was no direct telephonic exchange between Moscow and Washington. A relayed message could take upwards of 20 hours to translate, and more to compose a response. Tensions were high, and a lack of real-time communication threatened to hasten our mutual demise. In response, then, the now-fabled Red Phone was developed, to provide near-instant communication between the relevant parties. While such communication was verbal, and still necessitated the use of translators, the sheer quantity of time for such transmission was reduced by a significant value, so much so that tensions were palpably eased.
  
  How many wars might be averted if heed is paid to proper spelling and punctuation?
  
  Moreover, grammar is still of the utmost essence.
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  A comment on Conversation: What is wrong with the 1%?

  Jan 10 2012: I would say that lack of transparency is the primary issue. It is easy to look at someone and not understand how they got to be the way there are. It is easy to make assumptions. It is easy to presume that someone else has it easy, while you have it hard. You cannot look at a person who you think is rich and automatically see who they are, how they behave, or how hard they may or may not have worked. The problem lies in the ignorance of assumption without evidence.
  
  The secondary issue is in a general lack of education and conscientiousness in regard to how to effectively budget whatever capital you control. This is partly the result of people being creatures of habit, and when you get acclimated to spending a certain amount in a certain way, it is easy to continue to do so at your own future detriment.
  
  A tertiary issue lies in ethics and morality. Too often do people see something shiny, and want it, only because it is shiny, and for no other reason. Other times, they believe having something will make them popular or chic, and they may often begin to dwell on it and lust over it, especially if it is unattainable. At some point, they may no longer seek to actively work to attain possession, but will do whatever is necessary in order to obtain it. Money is a good example of this. Too many people are slaves to their desires for a piece of paper that has merely been blessed by the treasury department.
  
  There is an expression which, if considered and followed to its logical conclusion, may be taken as a partial remedy to all of these issues: "Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries."
  
  The problem is not with the "1%", but with the probably 1% who decided there was a problem with a different 1% and deign to speak for the other 98.
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Why is everyone obsessed with digital?

  Jan 9 2012: I would say there are two main reasons: Safety and Efficiency.
  
  Safety:
  
  There are many dangers outside, from careless drivers to erratic behavior to criminal mischief to wild animals to inclement weather. From the relative safety of one's own home, nearly all productivity can be accomplished while minimizing risks to personal safety.
  
  Efficiency:
  
  It is much easier to find what you are looking for on the internet, and to occupy yourself with other interests while waiting for other interactions to occur. You want to talk to someone who is in a meeting, you could sit in the lobby reading whatever old magazine is provided, or perhaps doing yoga, or what have you, /or/ you could send a message to this person online, and hope they will read it when they have time for it. You are looking for information on a specific subject. You could go to a library and reference the card catalog system, and spend hours upon hours gathering a few books which /might/ be of relevance, or you can type a few words into a search engine and have dozens of tailor-specific results in seconds. You want to visit a foreign country, so you get a passport, spend some time learning the language, laws, and culture, get immunizations, and spend thousands of dollars and potentially days traveling there, /or/ you could type in a few key words and find yourself on a virtual simulation of the same trip. Certainly, in all these cases, there is something sad about it the lack of parity to the real experience, but there is certainly something to be said for the convenience and efficiency of online interaction.
  
  I won't even go into accessibility options, for the aged, infirmed, hard-of-hearing, blind, & etc.. I think I would classify all of those into the efficiency department as well, though some are also likely safety factors.
  
  Hope this helps -- this title was a bit misleading, as I thought it was going to be a diatribe against digital TV, to which I was going to chime along. :-)
  
  Best Wishes

• A comment on Conversation: If you did not have religion or never exposed to religion; how easy would it be for you to believe in a heaven and hell?

  Jan 9 2012: Even having been raised a Christian, and finding enough favor with the philosophy of Islam to consider myself Muslim, I do not believe in Heaven and Hell as literal postmortem places, but as metaphors for a state of existence wherein your life is either a positive one or a negative one. When through the results of decisions you make you find yourself in undesirable situations from which you cannot extricate yourself, this is Hell; when through the results of decisions you make you find yourself in desirable situations at which you can share its positivism, this is Heaven.
  
  Amongst the philosophy of addiction treatment programs, there is a nice quote which I think is apt in describing this: "I'd rather be three feet from Hell and walking out than a mile out and walking in." Basically, when an addict gets to a very bad condition, that is Hell, and recovery is the process of walking away from that condition. When the addict has not yet reached "rock bottom", they are on the path /to/ Hell.
  
  As to whether an afterlife exists or whether such an afterlife might be divided into precincts such as is found in the common and literal interpretation of Christian theology, I cannot say, nor I am inclined towards or against much speculation. For all I know, reincarnation is just as real a possibility; Heaven would be the reunion with God of which we are parcel, Hell would be another go at life, under different circumstances, in an attempt to cause us to realize our destiny.
  
  Last, I /do/ think I would have arrived at these conclusions without exposure to religion. I live in the secular United States, and society has rules, both legal and normative, which when followed results in symbiosis, while which when broken results in punishment. Certainly is prison Hell, and staying out of it is Heaven. I think of religion not so much as theological tenets, but of behavioral guidelines. Society will always develop its own religion, with or without the interference of preexisting religion.
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Encourage Someone In 5 Words

  Jan 8 2012: Try, or die not knowing.
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  A comment on Conversation: what do you think about global warming?is it really exist or it just issue?

  Jan 8 2012: Global Warming is a tough issue. It is a somewhat charged term, as it implies that climate studies indicate a trend towards a warmer planet. One of the problems with these studies is the relative lack of long-term information on the topic. We do not have a direct record of all climate activity for the roughly 4 billion years of prehistory, and any conclusions we draw from what data we do have must necessarily be viewed through a lens which recognizes this fact, as well as which accepts the Principle of Uniformity, which, in essence, posits that the processes which are at work now are the same processes which were always at work.
  
  A more apt term, I think, is Climate Change, as this merely accepts that the climate is changing, without being too specific in its proclamations. It is not as simple as stating human activity is causing it, although it is almost certain we are contributing to it. There are many natural cycles which affect global climate, and human activity definitely affects /some of/ these cycles, although to what extent is more difficult to ascertain. The use of Climate Change as a term in the issue is also more apt because if data arrives which shows a cooling trend, humans will be more inclined to consider the global impact of their actions. For example, if people are led to believe in Global Warming, but live to see an Ice Age (which is one proposed natural response to a warmer climate, via the disruption of the "Transatlantic Thermohaline Conveyor Belt"), they may be more inclined to disregard the issue as "hogwash."
  
  EDIT: /some of/ these cycles. I'd seriously doubt if humans had any impact on things like solar flares.

• A comment on Conversation: What does the "perfect" classroom look like for students and how would you measure success?

  Jan 8 2012: An Mr. Kellner points out, the perfect classroom isn't a room at all. You also state that we only have one opportunity to educate our children. /If/ that one opportunity is life itself, I agree. You seem to suggest that children only learn from public education, but I posit that children learn from their entire environment, starting at home, and including everything they do and everywhere they go. Learning should be a lifelong process!
  
  That nitpicking aside, I have different ideas about what would make the perfect classroom.
  
  On one hand, it should not be too comfortable. Part of learning should be about getting people to think for themselves, and what better way to do so than to provide challenges that spur the desire to learn? If, for example, food is out of reach, then students must learn to either cooperate to get the food or utilize a tool to get the food. By contrast, if the food is simply handed to them any time they desire it, from whence will come the motivation to learn? However, arbitrary challenges cannot become rote; real challenges should be integrated and varied.
  
  Another aspect to consider is that different people learn in various ways. Some people can absorb knowledge readily through text, while others are more inclined to a hands-on approach. In light of this difference, a classroom should be equipped with more than just books, and the curricula should reflect this diversity.
  
  Last, though not finally, the measure by which a student is shown to be learning should not be held as a universal standard. At least not too stridently. Certainly do policymakers need to see tangible results in order to continue funding, and this is a known problem, perhaps even a necessary evil. What /can/ be done, however, is provide positive encouragement to all students, whether they are the ones who ace the tests, the ones who demonstrate creative solutions, or the ones who apply critical reasoning. Relying too heavily on results-based analysis can be detrimental.

• A comment on Conversation: Where can I see TED?

  Dec 26 2011: Follow this link:
  
  http://www.ted.com/tedx/events
  
  Fill in the information you want in the relevant fields. Then click Go. From there, you'll be able to find TEDxTalks located in a city near you!
  
  Good Luck!
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: How do I update my profile regarding my favourite talk, speakers .. etc ?

  Dec 26 2011: Instead of going into edit profile, look at the top of the page. There are a number of links in four separate columns. On the far left column, there are four links: Talks, Speakers, Themes, and Translations. Follow the link which represents which aspect of your profile you want to highlight. Once you select a Talk, a Speaker, or a Theme, look you for a link which says "Add to my Favorites." Click that.
  
  Presto!
  
  You can also have favorite Profiles. If you see a profile that you like, look for the Add to my Favorites link again. This way, you can help keep track of interesting people or conversations.