TED Community » Lorraine Owen

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• A comment on Conversation: Do right and wrong exist?

  Mar 6 2013: No, I would not call it instinctive in the scientific sense. I would call the examples you site cultural. But I would posit that within each culture certain criteria exists that designate an innate feel for right and wrong. You seem to be wanting a universal definition of right and wrong. I am not addressing what I would consider lesser instances (i.e. "womenfolk to leave the house"). In my culture, that is not an issue. I am speaking to universal instances, like murder. I do realize their are cultures that condone murder for various reasons. If you examine those reasons, truly examine them, whether they are legal or not in each respective instance, the bottom line is that even in these instances of condoned murders (since we are grappling over right and wrong) there is an element of selfishness and control. Would you like to be on the receiving end? That is really all you have to ask yourself.

• A reply on Conversation: Do right and wrong exist?

  Mar 5 2013: Why do you agree with me? You FEEL that it is wrong to kill an innocent person, as mentally healthy people would feel that it is wrong. We could get into a long philosophical discussion about right and wrong, and about exerting control, and about human rights and all kinds of topics that would attempt to quantify what we know intrinsically. All you have to do is posit the golden rule in any questionable situation - would you like this to be done to you? Or your child? Or your parent? Or your spouse, sibling etc.? That's a good litmus test to help determine what is right or wrong to do. That's why the golden rule has stood the test of time.
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  A comment on Conversation: Is capitalism sustainable?

  Mar 3 2013: Since when is Bono the bastion of common sense? He makes great music but he lives in a rarified atmosphere. He is out of touch.
  
  Capitalism is not passe' in that it is a good economy that gives people hope and incentive: incentive to provide for their children and give them a better life (education, health care etc.) AND, the most important thing of all, the notion that one does it by hard work (and faith), not by hand-outs. Hand-outs decrease self-respect.
  
  People confuse wealth with happiness. Happiness is having enough for a happy and healthy life for one's family and some extra for improvements. The worst thing that can happen to people as a whole is to have no incentive.
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  A comment on Conversation: Should employers not hire you or fire you when they discover your bad credit history?

  Mar 3 2013: They should hire you. Everyone makes mistakes (by the way, there is no "s" on "want"). How can anyone ever correct themselves if not given the chance.
  
  By the by, that's what Christianity is all about - giving people another chance.

• A comment on Conversation: Do right and wrong exist?

  Mar 3 2013: Are you kidding me? If someone came over to your house and killed one of your loved ones for no reason, it would be WRONG. You would know it. You would not have to know whether or not they believed in God or not. You would not have to know if they had mental issues that may (later) mitigate the perps culpability. You would know, as anyone else would, that it was WRONG for them to kill an innocent person.
  
  Wake up.
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  A comment on Conversation: Scottish Independence: confidence, courage and ambition

  Mar 3 2013: At the risk of sounding pie-in-the-sky, or worse, not being current, do not worry about all of the issues and problems to be worked out. Attain your independence. Watch the film "Gandhi". Study your history. Gaining independence does not mean immediate success. Nor does it negate it. You have every God given right to have your own identity and do not need to be validated by any other entity. Do it. Show the world a new way.

• A comment on Conversation: In most professions and academic fields, imagination is more important than knowledge.

  Apr 29 2012: I'm looking at Charles' comment a day ago and it struck me: why don't we infuse our dissemination of knowledge with a healthy dose of imagination. For example, in school, why give teens math "problems" for homework. Why not issue math "puzzles" instead? This silly notion can be expanded and it's not so silly. While teaching geometry, why not display the figures in a format that might demonstrate visual weight, symmetrical and asymmetrical etc. That image could vibrate more than the optical receptors - it could stimulate an area of creativity that might have lain dormant.
  
  I think creativity can be "taught" in that it can be fomented by certain approaches, attitudes and surroundings. While Knowledge IS essential to education, careers and callings, most creative people seek knowledge that then may produce more creativity. The danger with focusing on the superiority of Knowledge is that people can become complacent. They can believe that knowledge is definitive. It's not. Knowledge is only knowing as much as we are capable of definitively knowing. Creativity is not relying on definitive models of knowledge - creativity creates the next newer model of knowledge and looks forward to the excitement of being eclipsed.

• A comment on Conversation: Black Holes are Subduction zones in Space.

  Apr 29 2012: Thank you. Everything natural gets recycled at some level. Seems reasonable to me.

• A reply on Conversation: What do you think of the idea that the Universe has a process similar to plate tectonics.

  Apr 29 2012: Thanks. I think it may be a way to recycle the material of space, so to speak. Everything, every single thing is in motion on several levels. Why not the fabric of space?
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  A comment on Conversation: It is no longer possible for a society to regard any living man or woman as a hero in the modern age.

  Apr 24 2012: True heroes stand the test of time. The media is a trend machine and trends change so the media's assertions or assessments may not stand the test of time. True heroes are timeless, even if forgotten. All true heroes have/had flaws and they know/knew it. Hero does not = flawless. Heroes do not have to be BIG in any way. Everyone is capable of experiencing being a hero in some small way at some time in their lives. Consistency is the hard part. Consistency in aspiration, with and despite difficulty, is the stuff of true heroes.