TED Community » Tanu singh

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• A reply on Conversation: Where would you place Colony Collapse Disorder in relation to the many other problems facing our society?

  Mar 15 2012: Rishi, I was truly thinking along the same lines of how this may become a positive in creating more jobs. As my thought was underway though, I thought, is the creation of more jobs more important than saving our ecosystem? Instantaneously, I shut down that very capitalistic driven thought of mine but, I can see many people taking advantage of the current economic situation and implanting thoughts such as the disappearance of bees being a positive, as it would create more jobs, for personal gains.

• A comment on Conversation: Where would you place Colony Collapse Disorder in relation to the many other problems facing our society?

  Mar 14 2012: The fact that 90% of our fruits and vegetables are a result of the pollination done by honeybees, I believe, is a great reason for us to be worried about our future without them. What baffles me is their mysterious disappearance! If there are no carcasses then where did they go?
  As for their importance on our list of environmental issues facing our society, I believe that honeybees are tied into each in every issue. Be it the loss of genetic diversity among many species, climate change, water pollution, or even pesticide use. Since the reason for C.C.D. remains unknown, I think it's completely valid for us to consider it a high priority issue. To take something as C.C.D. lightly seems quite naive, as it is a phenomenon that is unexplained. The cost of replacing honeybee pollination practices with manual labor of pollinating our fruits and vegetable seems unimaginable to me. The best way to tackle this issue on the rise would be to research each and every thing that could be causing C.C.D. If that means we must take educated guesses then that may be the price we have to pay. The survival of the honey bees seems critical to not only many plant species but us, humans, as well.

• A comment on Conversation: Where would you place Colony Collapse Disorder in relation to the many other problems facing our society?

  Mar 13 2012: As I was researching about this topic, I found a great site by the U.S.D.A- A.R.S. (US Department of Agriculture- Agricultural Research Service). The site answers commonly asked questions about C.C.D.
  
  http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572

• A reply on Conversation: Are memes important for our survival? How can we draw on memetic theory to inspire ideas of sustainability that go viral?

  Mar 9 2012: I absolutely love the fact that they've taken something so negative and turned into a positive illusion. You almost end up cheering the plastic bag but then in the middle of it you're exposed to extremely disturbing images of marine life suffocating due to plastic. I think those images arise a feeling of ambivalence in the viewer which helps convey the message in a very strong manner. You are just left there reconsidering every choice you have made in the past and how much of that plastic patch may be the result of your choices.

• A reply on Conversation: Are memes important for our survival? How can we draw on memetic theory to inspire ideas of sustainability that go viral?

  Mar 8 2012: I completely agree with your last statement. It's very likely that memes will be the end of us. Unless, we turn that idea around and use these memes to save ourselves. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this but the most powerful memes that I have come across in the context of sustainability have been very "earthy", nature driven. As in the meme, to me, describes a lifestyle that is much simpler. A life style that we may have experienced in the past. So, maybe instead of moving forward our society needs to move in retrograde in order to conserve what we may have left now.
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  A comment on Conversation: Are memes important for our survival? How can we draw on memetic theory to inspire ideas of sustainability that go viral?

  Mar 8 2012: I'm not sure how many people may have already seen this but, I felt it necessary to share this link.
  The Majestic Plastic Bag ( Example of a very powerful meme)
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-Q59am5SsM

• A reply on Conversation: Are memes important for our survival? How can we draw on memetic theory to inspire ideas of sustainability that go viral?

  Mar 8 2012: I completely agree with you. To think of memes in a religious light really exhibits the impact a small symbol or action can have on an enormous population. Which is exactly why in order to make our current generation more aware of our ecological crisis memes seem to be the perfect weapon. We require a meme that is just as powerful and effective as a "simple" cross.

• A comment on Conversation: Are memes important for our survival? How can we draw on memetic theory to inspire ideas of sustainability that go viral?

  Mar 8 2012: This concept to me is absolutely awesome and so powerful. I hadn't thought about this till date, but upon reading this I realized how memes have played a huge role in my own personal life. When I recently moved to Eugene and started attending University of Oregon, my one and only goal in life at that point was to get my degree. I never thought of life outside or beyond that, moreover, I never thought of life beyond myself. As selfish as that sounds. I cannot describe to you how much my life has changed since when I first set foot into Eugene. I started to notice numerous recycling bins which I can tell you from personal experience were not as available a couple of years ago. I began to recycle as I noticed other around me being so cautious. Soon, I was working for the E.N.R. (Environmental Natural Resource) department at the U.O. Law School which led me deeper into this field. Before I knew it, I had transformed majorly in my lifestyle and was persuading others to do the same. To me it took more than one meme for me to follow and learn this new lifestyle, but nevertheless it was memes that have led me today to be this environmentally aware person. What worked for me were numerous internet resources but, my biggest influences came from my peers. So how can we utilize the power of memes to educate and spread sustainable practices? By becoming strong memes ourselves. If your one single action is able to change just one other person, just know that it does not stop there. When you think you've reached one, you've really reached an innumerable number of humans beings.

• A reply on Conversation: When it comes to vaccine intervention for disease control, should personal liberty go before the benefit to society?

  Mar 8 2012: Don't you think that there are actually very few people who remain in monogamous sexual relationships throughout their lives? Plus I don't know why we aren't considering that people lie all the time without being mindful of others' health and safety. We all should know by now that there are very few instances in our human race when people have learned from their historical mistakes. Though, I find the idea of mandating such a vaccine quite radical, hearing the statistics of how many women are infected just between the ages of 18-24 is very disturbing. With such rising numbers of infected individuals we should definitely consider the possibility of this particular vaccine mandate.
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  A comment on Conversation: When it comes to vaccine intervention for disease control, should personal liberty go before the benefit to society?

  Mar 8 2012: I feel that sometimes people need to be told what is right and what is wrong. Though, nothing is ever that black and white. There are a few select things in life that seem like an absolute necessity and I feel that vaccination against a "killer virus" ,as you called it ,is that necessity. I completely agree with the argument that people need to be educated about such dangers but sometimes that isn't enough. When we say that people should be able to make their own decisions as to whether they want to protect themselves from such a virus or not; we think of the responsible people but, what about the rest of the population. What about those people who don't always make the correct decisions for their own well being? Should the rest just pay the price for others' mistakes? I personally believe that women or men should get vaccinated for their own selfish reason of protecting themselves not because they're being told to.