TED Community » Joanna Cruz

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• A reply on Conversation: Can we "engineer" our own interests through repeated exposure?

  Apr 3 2012: Hey Sarina
  
  I feel the same way you do and I have had similar experiences. I have found that my interests have been reinforced by interactions with people passionate about what they do. They speak and act with such vigor. When someone believes wholeheartedly in something, it shows in their demeanor and behavior. Those are the particular things I look for in making certain decisions regarding my own interests. Just based on my own experiences, I feel that repeated exposure is the key to inspiration and to developing dreams. Repeated exposure results in big life changing decisions that drive us towards our passions. It is never one single event because according to John Locke, we are made of continuous streams of consciousness and not just one single event or body part. Though I do believe the first event that sparks our interests is important, it is just a start. We need more pushes in a certain direction to overcome any resistance and build up momentum.

• A comment on Conversation: Does society need more interdisciplinary work? Or more well-rounded individuals working together?

  Apr 3 2012: Hey Steve
  
  Interdisciplinary work, I feel is crucial to solving the current major problems and to the progress of many fields. Efforts should be made such that issues should be tackled by diverse groups of both specialists and well-rounded individuals. Problems require more than one set of knowledge to develop solutions because of the interconnections between everything. I do not think that there should be either more specialists or more well-rounded individuals because each person has developed to be one or the other and forcing someone to do something beyond their interests or capabilities would stun growth and problem solving. I think E.F. Schumacher describes my thoughts best in his “Small is Beautiful”, “What is at fault is not specialisation, but the lack of depth with which the subjects are usually presented, and the absence of meta- physical awareness. The sciences are being taught without any awareness of the presuppositions of science, of the meaning and significance of scientific laws, and of the place occupied by the natural sciences within the whole cosmos of human thought.” Each individual should have a specialization but the depth at which he or she knows other subjects must be greater than a few facts and gut inclinations. Each person has their own college major or specialization but the core curriculum must be more heavily emphasized and must be more rigorous to build a stronger foundation for specialization. All engineering specializations would mean nothing without a deep understanding of the math, science, history, ethics, and motivations for them. An engineer does not only speak in numbers but must be able to communicate through speech and writing.
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  A comment on Conversation: How are different body parts connected to the emotions we traditionally associate with them?

  Mar 27 2012: Hi Andrew!!!!!!!!!!
  
  The first thing I want to say is probably off topic but it is something that I always tend to do or notice. I tend to look at person’s hands and fingers. I do not know if there is a common association with fingers but finger types and shapes can determine what a person is interested in or capable of doing. Long, slender fingers can signify a musician’s hand. I guess the length enables proficient musicians to reach certain keys or strings, etc. that others cannot.
  
  Anyway back to your question, the one of the first things that came to my mind is something that my dad says when I am looking for something that I have misplaced, “Look with your eyes and not with your mouth.” I know it sounds incredibly silly because you cannot see with your mouth. The only connection I can make with your question is that this saying tells me that if multiple sensory parts are active, it is difficult to be aware of all of them maybe due to signal interference. For those who lose a sense, the others become more sensitive and stronger.
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  A reply on Conversation: What is the power behind a shared experience?

  Mar 26 2012: I love how you introduced the shared experience of eating. I think it is oneof the most powerful shared experiences because it can help grow and develop any type of relationship whether the relationship is a professional relationship or a romantic relationship. It can also mend a broken relationship.
  Conversation can be easily made in an environment involving food. Food can become a common denominator or topic of discussion or comedy that breaks the ice: “Where do you want eat?,” “Why don’t you want to eat there?,” and “What foods are you allergic to?.” It can lead to other conversation topics.
  Eating at a specific restaurant for a special occasion can become a tradition that creates a lifelong bridge between groups of friends or creates an opportunity for friends to catch up after a lack of contact. Any time long distance friends visit, I make a point of it make a food date to renew our friendship.
  I always find myself creating the strongest bonds over food because it is so universal and versatile.

• A reply on Conversation: Will we ever truly be able to model nature?

  Mar 7 2012: Hey Hermin!!!
  
  I also think it is a daunting task to exactly copy natural phenomena, part for part, section for section, concept for concept. To emulate nature completely is something that is so difficult because the level of intricacies and connections is so high as you have stated but does our modeling and emulations have to be a mere reduction of nature? I think it is possible to gather information about nature and collate them in a way to exceed nature or at least develop a method or procedure that is more efficient. I think our motivations for improvement stem from nature. We see a functional method but there are possible deficiencies in it. Modeling nature may not be possible but improving it might be.

• A reply on Conversation: Where does our identity as being "human" come from?

  Mar 7 2012: You completely hit the exact opinion that I have pondering. I feel our identity as humans is best described by John Locke in "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding." Identity lies in our consciousness and not in our substance. A human is characterized by its continuous stream of consciousness or life, the stories or memories that are stored and remembered, rather than our physical parts and functions. Thus, our personal identity is unique and provided we preserve a continued consciousness which we can recall at any time, our identity as humans can exist in any form, shape, or body.

• A comment on Conversation: What makes an idea spread? Duration? Quality? Loudness?

  Feb 28 2012: Hey Andrew!!!!!!
  
  I waited until the last minute to post for two reasons: 1. It slipped my mind that I also have to respond to yours even though we discussed it thoroughly offline and 2. It would be best to observe how our similar questions would spread.
  
  Just from this week’s observation, I feel that an idea spreads through group effort and empathy. I stated in my conversation that “idea production requires a group effort in which we all stimulate production and discussion like with neurons firing. The only way you can measure a signal or response is if multiple neurons within the same area are firing not just one because of all the noise that can distort a single low amplitude signal.” This applies for how ideas spread not only in the production. It takes many people to empathize and start discussions to propagate ideas. I have always focused on how I relate to an idea and made it very personal but the group dynamic is so important.

• A reply on Conversation: Would you rather be an information producer, propagator, or consumer?

  Feb 24 2012: Thanks for your comment!!!!
  
  Thank you for pointing out our complexity which I completely agree with.
  
  I love how you describe yourself to be a FILTER. It is similar to a propagator but a more specific classification. I feel the way to handle information not only depends on our set of values but also the situation to which we must apply those values. We may choose to do the opposite of what we normally would. Maybe to make your classification more specific, do you think we are conditional or situational filters?
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  A reply on Conversation: Would you rather be an information producer, propagator, or consumer?

  Feb 24 2012: Thanks for the comment!!!!
  
  I agree that moderation and balance is the key. I am curious as to how inspiration negatively affects your creativity. Is it because you are so caught up in admiration that you cannot produce or that you don't think you can compare?
  
  And I think your analogies are great, that we have the ability to override moderation which can be disadvantageous.

• A reply on Conversation: Would you rather be an information producer, propagator, or consumer?

  Feb 24 2012: Thanks for your comment!!!
  
  I don't think it necessarily a new thing we have to learn but something we need to become more comfortable with. Coming from a student's perspective, I think I have become complacent with absorbing all the information I can so I can produce something of significance. I think some people get caught up in that or become uncomfortable with their ability to contribute. I think we need to learn how to transition from consumers to propagators to producers with confidence.