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• TEDCred score: +0.90 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +3

  A reply on Talk: Kirby Ferguson: Embrace the remix

  Aug 11 2012: Exactly my thoughts. What's original in all of the products that Mr. Ferguson brought up is the perspective. An iPhone may be an amalgamation of previous technologies, but doesn't it seem shortsighted to just pick at small elements in its design (i.e. multi-touch) without considering how the device was put together overall? Steve Jobs introduced a product with many elements which were stolen from other manufactures, but it was his creative vision for the device that produced something original.
  
  To me, it feels like the talk totally misses the mark. There's really a huge difference between a product that's just a remix of ideas and another product that transcends its elements to become an original device.

• A reply on Talk: Claron McFadden: Singing the primal mystery

  Aug 11 2012: I don't think it was written to be esoteric, or even mystical, or primal - that's just how it's perceived by the public. I think it was written to explore possibility - as McFadden said, it is an ode to the possibilities of the voice, and a very true one at that.
• +3

  A reply on Talk: Tracy Chevalier: Finding the story inside the painting

  Jul 25 2012: I think she definitely has an interesting perspective to share though, as an author inspired by these paintings. I'm glad that she's noting how ineffective the usual way of going around a gallery is (briefly seeing all of the paintings, but not really gaining insight into any of them).
• +1

  A comment on Talk: James Stavridis: A Navy Admiral's thoughts on global security

  Jul 25 2012: While I would love to take this talk at face value, I find it very hard to do so when the member countries of NATO seem increasingly determined to erode our personal freedoms (indeed, by building walls, such as with the many bills designed to censor and surveil the internet). I also find the term 'soft power' to be somewhat disturbing - call it what you like, it still ends up being a militaristic attempt to exploit social networks and to convince the population that you do not have any ulterior motives when you clearly do.
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Can we have a singular worldview to rule us all?

  Jun 12 2011: I think so, one day. I believe that this goal is still way beyond our times, though I definitely think that it is achievable. It reminds me of Kant's work, and his argument that there is an universal sense of reason that everyone can objectively agree to. This philosophy was expanded in Rawl's idea of the invisible veil. It might take a while, but a singular worldview seems inevitable to me.

• A reply on Conversation: How Can We Make TED Attractive To Children?

  Apr 15 2011: Sounds like a solid start. Gaming seems to be one of the many ways to reach out to youth (like myself). I think in general, though, we just want to be inspired and interested. TED is absolutely fantastic, but I can imagine how it could really appeal to the youth by inviting youth speakers to talk about pertinent issues to the youth of today. It would be useful to people of all ages...many youth issues are really just global issues in different clothing.

• A reply on Conversation: How Can We Make TED Attractive To Children?

  Apr 15 2011: Fantastic idea. I think the key will be to ensure that it doesn't feel contrived like many of the educational children's programs of the past that were supposedly written by "kids" for kids.
  
  I like this concept a great deal. Youth inspiring youth; we'd be speaking to each other with relevant issues in mind in the same language.

• A reply on Conversation: How Can We Make TED Attractive To Children?

  Apr 15 2011: There are definitely a few teachers who are using TED videos in class. I was actually first introduced to TED by a Wade Davis video shown in History class a couple years ago...more recently, my physics teacher has used TED videos as an introduction to modern physics (ie. the LHC, superstring theory).
  
  I think the first step is to spread this site to school districts, and hopefully it will take off from there as more and more people in guidance positions discover TED. There's unfortunately a bit of a bias against a lot of internet video in school because the only such site that many people have been exposed to is Youtube and the various viral videos up there. However, TED's such a great repository of knowledge that it seems inevitable that it'll eventually become a mainstream educational site.
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: How can we empower kids to reshape the education system? *A TEDActive Education Project Question*

  Apr 14 2011: That's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy don't you think? An initial step would be to avoid talking down to kids. After all, if you treat them as if they're irresponsible, they will almost inevitably turn out that way. You mention than children do not know what is good for them, but perhaps it's the adults who have forgotten what education truly should embody. Kids want to be intellectually stimulated in an interesting way. However, much of school work is mechanical...you can hardly expect children to have a love of learning if they've already been exposed to years of the grind.

• A reply on Conversation: How can we empower kids to reshape the education system? *A TEDActive Education Project Question*

  Apr 14 2011: Yes! As a high school senior, I can attest to this--education has to be more personalized, and kids should feel like they're investing in their education rather than working through a dictat.
  
  It is absolutely imperative to begin this process at a young age. From my experience of going through the public school system in Canada, kids are naturally creative, innovative, and curious people--if anything, I think the emphasis should be on developing a method that can teach children 'the necessities' while still allowing a great deal of space for children to pursue their interests. This reminds me of the Montessori system, which purportedly has generated good results in kids and youth who have attended the program.
  
  The focus on totally linear academic learning in most public schools has generated quite a few ridiculous circumstances in my personal past. The fact that children are assessed on how 'creative' an art project is or how neatly they've coloured within the lines should definitely be raising eyebrows! Kids are taught from the very beginning that there is only one right, linear way to do things and to not even consider other approaches to problems. If this is how the system works, where rote, monotonous learning is continually perpetuated and creative learning/teaching is almost non-existent, it is unsurprising that the apathy rate in students is so high.
  
  Kids fundamentally want to be engaged and in charge of their work! The prevalent education-in-a-box paradigm, however, has to be changed in order for that to happen. Learning should be a co-operative process that emphasizes creative development equally, if not more so, as much as the academic subjects.