TED Community » Yuguo Zhang

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Getting the hard jobs done and having that feeling of accomplishments... Motivated to try to succeed.

An idea worth spreading

Believing in yourself while having a proper expectation out of you. Don't push too hard on yourself. Expect yourself to do the best you can, and you may find that you can exceed your expectations to be amazingly successful!

Talk to me about

Any science stuff..especially chemistry, since I'm gonna be majoring in chemical engineering. Also any party politics stuff(in U.S.) and elections. The election is coming up; I'm so excited!!

People don't know that I'm good at

Observing people and analyzing, guessing people's thoughts. That I may seem very diligent might give people a impression that I'm not very sensitive, but actually I am~

My TED Story

I discovered TED through a video online and it directed to the official website. I immediately fell in love with this ocean full of brilliant ideas and inspiration. On the one hand it just improved my English more and more, and also I can my brain upgraded more and more!~

Comments

• TEDCred score: +104.30 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A comment on Conversation: What are the best and worst laws and practices of your region/state/country

  Sep 23 2012: Oh, I can't say about the worst law, but the worst thing is that laws in my home country get overridden all the time. Few people really have legal awareness. Due process? That's just a "process".
  
  The best part? Well...you can pirate numerous songs, movies, books and update your phones so you won't have to pay for apps. (I guess that could be a "good" thing sometimes. But, as for the message it sets forth, it's still no good.)

• A reply on Conversation: Is Faith inherently irrational?

  Sep 17 2012: Your example for fish is just a ratiocination activity, which requires making assumptions. That a theory can be backed up by compelling or overwhelming circumstantial evidence doesn't automatically render the theory rational or self-evident.
  
  Like I said below, faith and rationality just come together to form our perspectives, but that doesn't compromise the fact that faith is inherently irrational.
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  A reply on Conversation: Is Faith inherently irrational?

  Sep 16 2012: Rational evidence doesn't depend on an authority to claim it. Say you are reading a scientific paper and you somehow agree to its reasoning, so obviously you believe the reasoning is correct because it's logical, reasonable and rational, not because the person who's proposing this theory is an expert or a pundit. The source of evidence comes from axioms or common senses. We hold strong belief to those things because it's something that is widely accepted for its intrinsic value and self-evident. All the other argument or inference starts from there.
  
  I agree with you that "it shouldn't matter if it is based on faith or not, it should matter where the faith is applied to". But that doesn't compromise the fact that faith is inherently irrational, maybe even just like us as human beings. Faith and rationality maybe just come together to form our perspectives.
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  A reply on Conversation: Do you find it difficult to engage in intellectual conversations with people in general?

  Sep 16 2012: Haha thank you Colleen.
  
  My dad tells me all the time that I'm not that knowledgeable because of my lack of experiences and I still need to go through a lot of things. From within I don't want to accept that but I try my best to convince myself that he has a great point so I can actually learn more:) I used to be all cavalier like a typical teenager but now I feel like I've grown a lot:)
  
  As always it's really nice talking with you!

• A reply on Conversation: Should couples contemplating marriage use genetic testing to determine if they should have children?

  Sep 16 2012: Thank you, John. Great topic too.
  
  I think some people from our generation might be interested in genetic testing, but I won't say it's gonna be a large percentage. Further generations will probably be more into this new technology.
  
  And yes, I do think teenagers have a right to know more about their bodies, as long as those tests are perfectly safe to an immature body. Actually I believe I'll even give a shot :)
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  A reply on Conversation: Is Faith inherently irrational?

  Sep 16 2012: Since your evidence for intelligent aliens is characterized as circumstantial, coincidence and/or non-foundational, I won't regard this type of evidence plausible or rational. Therefore, the faith you hold upon is still a belief not backed up by rational evidence.
  
  By the way, because the topic you cited is a long-term debate. Neither side can be called "rational" in absolute terms.

• A comment on Conversation: Is Faith inherently irrational?

  Sep 15 2012: I believe this question can be a semantic game in a sense. But to me faith is inherently irrational since your beliefs backed up by evidence are rational, which are not faith any more.
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  A reply on Conversation: Do you find it difficult to engage in intellectual conversations with people in general?

  Sep 15 2012: Lol I'm flattered :) You know I first came to TED to watch those videos to improve my listening skills... but obviously I've changed my expectations here.
  
  You are right that our comfort level is very important. When I don't feel like talking too much(meaning I don't feel much comfortable around), I will just be a introvert. But when I do, I can be a noisy one...
  
  Haha I guess I wanted to say like "extreme nonconformists" or "radicals"? That's an interesting thing to know that you were a "hippy" in 60s lol. I wish I'd had a chance to remember it... it looked quite fun in those clips I've seen.
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  A reply on Conversation: Do you find it difficult to engage in intellectual conversations with people in general?

  Sep 15 2012: Thank you Colleen! I really appreciate your compliments.
  
  Yes, like you said, the conversation may evolve or may not. From my high school experience, when I first talked to someone, I will have at least a grasp about how he will think of an intellectual conversation, because you know for some people, they dislike participating in an intellectual conversation. For instance, when I say something, say, nerdy and intellectual, he be like:" What? Speak English, Hugo." But I also have a friend who I love to talk to him about politics, we always spark great debate together.
  
  While on platforms like TED, I'm inclined to say we usually just go directly to intellectual conversations since some assumptions are rightfully made: pretty sure jocks, hippies, rebels wouldn't even peek up at this website lol.
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  A comment on Conversation: Should couples contemplating marriage use genetic testing to determine if they should have children?

  Sep 15 2012: I still remember in high school biology class when we learned about genetics, we did a lot of practice problems associated with recessive and dominant gene and all the cross-genetic stuff, like predicting what color eyes of a couple's kids will have and calculating the probability. My friends and I used to joke a lot about "Who the hack will calculate those factors before they want to have a kid? Who cares when a married couple just want to have a child?"
  
  This new technology could be a useful guide to people whose ancestors possess some kind of genetic disorders like tay-sachs or galactosemia(as we know recessive disorders tend to appear across generation.) so that they'll have a grasp what might happen to their offspring.
  
  But to me I don't hope the technology will have any impact on people's values of dating and relationship, especially those at a early stage. We shouldn't entangle some genetic traits with our genuine emotions after all, and only for those who seriously consider settling down can take a pragmatic approach to test themselves.