TED Community » Alexander Beltran

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Human behavior, pshychology, animals, art, our planet.

An idea worth spreading

Compassion is key to emotional and spiritual survival, and to co-existing in balance with all living forms.

Talk to me about

Human behavior, psychology, art, but pretty much anything you want to talk about, with the exception of politics, unless you are a minimalist and relativist.

People don't know that I'm good at

Translating with equal ability from English to Spanish and vice-versa.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +0.50 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A comment on Conversation: Kids are Leaders Now!

  Jan 19 2012: This is a ver good topic, and especially important for kids these days, but let me say that adults can use a significant amount of life coaching as well. The "coaching" field in a variety of areas is a growing profession. Ive heard it said that we could all gain some benefit from a year's worth of therapy. Well, along those lines I believe all of us can also benefit from a little coaching from a qualified individual. It's not psychotherapy...it's real coaching. It's about where we go from here, NOW, without the burdensome past dragging us.
  
  Good topic. Cheers.

• A comment on Conversation: Does life make / have sense?

  Jan 9 2012: Live fully...live NOW, the moment. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not yet here...and stay compassionate. Enjoy love for what it is NOW...does it really matter if it lasts forever as long as it is alive at this moment?
  
  I agree that love is what it is within the context of time.

• A reply on Conversation: Are we flawed in our political thinking as it concerns the greater good? Are we missing the important issues and why?

  Jan 9 2012: Fiorella:
  
  I thought I might be the only one being hypersensitive about the super hero issue. Like I said, I like humor and keeping things light, but you are correct in the seriousness of the issues that need to be addressed. I appreciate your comment.
  
  Alex.
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  A comment on Conversation: Evolution only applies to the bodies of humans, not their souls. Natural selection only explains the adaptation of species.

  Jan 9 2012: Happy New Year, Ousmane.
  
  I agree with you entirele.
  
  Alex.
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  A comment on Conversation: In your opinion with regard to decision making, what do you give preference to, the heart or mind?

  Jan 9 2012: Decision making is a mental process that involves many things, one of them being intuition. Feeling or thinking with the heart is a romantic notion we probably should be careful with, since the heart is a muscle designed to pump blood. You might think you feel with it or through it, especially when upset, but it's probably a chemical reaction. I could be very wrong about all this. We make all decisions with our mind. It might feel like its our heart, but I doubt it. Even intuition and so called gut feelings are part of the mind process. The heart is just another mechanical organ. Like I said, I could be wrong about all this.
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  A comment on Conversation: Evolution only applies to the bodies of humans, not their souls. Natural selection only explains the adaptation of species.

  Jan 9 2012: A lot to talk about and clarify, with not enough time or space. It is unfair to try and convince anyone that one or another religious belief is the right path. Our responsibility is to assist individuals to thrive in their beliefs as long as they are not clearly harmful to others and themselves. If someone finds god sitting by a pond watching a log floating, then that's their answer and we should be thrilled at their success. If Catholicism or Buddhism is the answer for others, than we must respect that as well. Ausmane makes some very good points, but perhaps his most important one is the here and now of this marvelous equation that continually seems to elude us as we wonder what there is or might be in the after life. It really is about the collective good of all of us, in fact, all of us sharing this discussion during which it seems that tempers have risen needlessly. There is enormous power in our words. These words affect feelings, and cast shadows on our belief systems that we have no right to intrude upon. If there is one thing i would like to leave all of you with is the following: compassion is key to our survival especially in this modern, rapid world where we hardly notice the suffering of others. This is an interesting but not so compassionate a conversation based on some of the tones. There's a lot to learn from each other here. Let's listen.

• A comment on Conversation: If Death motivates us to live more fully does religion stand in the way of a fulfilled life.

  Jan 9 2012: Many topics to address and clarify in such short space and time. I will say this about some of the comments: I have been very successful at living life without blaming others for what I have or not done. Take responsibility for your actions. Religion is a very personal matter, and a very complicated one. I do, however, believe it is not up to any of us to convince the other about what we think is the right path. It is more our responsibility to assist individuals to thrive in their beliefs, as long as they are clearly not harmful to themselves or others. As far as death, the possibility of afterlife or there not being one, I would like to propose one thing as a solution: live NOW in harmony with yourself and others and with a compassionate heart. To attempt defining death in terms of how we live might be presumptuous no matter what our beliefs are. The mind of God, for those who believe in a deity, is out of our reach and understanding, but I do know that whatever or whomever God is, his intent might not have been for us to make living harder than it naturally is. Life for all of us is hard. It's important to accept and understand that fact. To avoid hardship is futile and impossible. Once we accept this there is a possibility that we might just achieve some degrees of happiness.
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  A comment on Conversation: how to discover yourself?

  Jan 8 2012: The issue of finding or discovering oneself is far too complicated to deal with in this short format. Although I do not believe any religion has the absolute answers to our doubts and misery, Buddhism does make some very interesting points about oneself and the world around us. It says, for example, that if men were only able to sit quietly for some period of time and think clearly, most of our greatest troubles in the world would be overcome. This, of course, is the path of meditation. Regarding knowing oneself and all around us Buddhism also says one very troubling thing: Nothing is ever what it appears to be. If one can accept this notion without judging it as cynical, but instead understand it for part of what it is then we can get closer to self-understanging. Nothing, in fact, is ever what it appears to be, especially regarding the self.

• A comment on Conversation: ¿Cómo podríamos resolver la falta de ingenieros y técnicos en el mundo?

  Jan 8 2012: La pregunta es interesante, pero la respuesta es bastante complicada. Vivo en los Estados Unidos, en donde anualmente observamos como se eliminan programas de educación y artes más que todo debido a presupuestos que no puede soportar los costos. Parte del problema es económico. Personalmente considero la ingeniería como un arte, al igual que la arquitectura, pintura y demas disciplinas que requieren cierto grado de creatividad. Pero el problema es más profundo y más grave y no podemos culpar solamente a la economía. Es un problema cultural, y es un problema que de cierta manera está radicado en la familia...en la dirección que le damos a los jóvenes, quienes influenciados por el periodismo y por la idea de convertise en millonarios, rápidamente gravitan a ejemplos y rutas profesionales que muchas veces son un simple espejismo en el desierto. Todo requiere trabajo y esfuerzo. Es la idea de nuestra "contribución" la cual se está perdiendo. El esfuerzo y trabajo a través de los años deja una huella de que algo hicimos por los demás...el ingeniero construyó, el pintor creó, el arquitecto construyó...pero no fue de la noche a la mañana.
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  A comment on Conversation: As a trilingual or bilingual, what role does language play in the creation of your identity? Which language do you think in?

  Jan 8 2012: I've been bilingual most of my life. I speak, read, write and translate from English to Spanish and vice-versa with equal ability. This is a very interesting topic, and one that requires a great deal more writing, but let me say this: both languages have enriched my life, but I have kept them separate. When I arrived in this country from South America in 1977, I realized very early on that full cultural and linguistic immersion in the American way of life was going to be necessary. Early on English defined my identity. All of my friends were American, and only spoke Spanish at home with my family. A few short years after my arrival I considered myself American. I became American. To this day I consider myself as such. Both languages, however, have been extremely important professionally for me over the years. There's a great deal more to write about languages, their use and cultural assimilation. This short paragraph might bring up some interesting questions and controversy. I welcome a discussion.