TED Community » elizabeth muncey

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Environment, Education, Communication.. Emotions. Talking Therapies. Alternative Medicines. Beveridge's ideas. World Religions. World Trade. World Travel.

An idea worth spreading

Still working on this and looking for an appropriate photo of me. My Google icon is a large tropical tree against a blue sky. What if the eco-system a person supports is greater than the people they actually interact with on a day to day basis, greater than who they are related to, includes their ancestors and their descendants. What is creativity is there in all of us. What if people's ideas and communications lead to virtual babies as well as real ones. What if the great gifts to human knowledge and wisdom were the babies of people quite unable to communicate with the world in real time except through a highly specialised language. What might happen if there were no interpreters for that language. What might happen if there was insufficient knowledge of how to apply the information ? What if there was not the technology to allow the 'silent majority' to have a say. My passion is people and the environment they live in. My guiding light is my son. C=E(piersquared)=C

People don't know that I'm good at

Noticing, pondering, hypothesising, dreaming, What if's, researching, people skills. Working on evidencing same.

My TED Story

Any academic paper goes through a process of peer review and appraisal. Someone, somewhere has an idea, formulates a hypothesis, devises some kind of experiment to see what happens, writes that experiment out so others can replicate it, draws their conclusions, writes a paper and publishes it. Peer appraisal and review is important for adding further dimensions and thinking about original hypothesis. Important for fine tuning and refocusing. Happy Thanksgiving Day USA.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +10.60 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Conversation: indoctrination, I noticed something interesting.

  Apr 15 2013: Sorry have said so many times before do not have the appropriate technical vocab for such a highly complex subject. I understood the conversation to be a mixture of philosophy and economics and ideological perspectives. From an experiential point of view noticing huge changes in working practices due to the impact of technology, whole raft of the 'small' jobs like secretary, telephone operator, mechanics etc, all being replaced by machines - this is great when everyone still has some access to a way to pay the bills but not great when most people living hand to mouth, for the economy as a whole. Adam Smith writing at the start of the Industrial Revolution when people moved off the land into the cities to provide labour in the factories. Karl Marx writing at a time of massive social change. Economies meant to run in ten year cycles but now complicated by interconnectedness of so many different economies. Do understand, can only offer word from sociological perspective 'anomie'. Other talks on TEd about how funding sources affect academic direction and yes so frustrating when so much potential and talent wasted because people not able to tick the right boxes. A strong skill set and enough creativity and imagination to resolve problems and sufficient individual reward - whicfh I always understood to be the American way.
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  A comment on Conversation: If you could choose any historical figure to give a TED Talk, who would it be and why?

  Apr 12 2013: Would love to hear from the family of Isambard Kingdom Brunel - would love to know what his mother might have to say.

• A comment on Conversation: indoctrination, I noticed something interesting.

  Apr 12 2013: It seems to me each generation of people has different frameworks of experience, which are largely affected by what was happening when they were growing up. For example the people who survived the poverty and depriviation of the second world war wanted to create a 'utopian' society where everyone was valued and the vulnerable 'cared for' etc. Children were treasured and well resourced and offered a vision of the future where 'anything was possible'. The next generation rebelled against their families and became 'the first teenagers' with this age group being amongst the first to have spare disposable income. The next generation wanted things instead of relationships so money (mainly in the form of credit) was necessary. The next generation are now facing the consequences and are feeling so angry and bitter and disenfranchised. Appreciate this might sound simplistic. There is something about each generations experience of hope and fear and each generations experience of their societies overarching frameworks in all of this. Value laden words like good and evil unhelpful but need to be viewed in the context of the way a community communicated at the time. An education where people feel safe to question and test and reflect and a society that offers that opportunity becoming increasingly scarce. Well done Mr. Renwick - do agree the idea that there is only a limited amount of interpretation and one truth does very much influence academia and creativity and ultimately the resources that make an economy strong and resilient.
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  A comment on Talk: David Anderson: Your brain is more than a bag of chemicals

  Mar 17 2013: This is such a good talk - have always had huge reservations about pharmaceuticals for so-called mental illness. Would still suggest it is not just about individiual distress but also about that individual's environment and by this I mean the biochemical environment as well as the social one. Also noted the idea from the graph that there is a 'calm' before a trauma, which then creates a 'hypervigilance' state and of course the more intense or repeated the trauma, the less chance of some kind of calming down between incidents (not my idea but can't remember name of who at present). So perhaps my question is, is there a time at which the dopamine receptors become so compromised they are no longer capable of recovering their original functionality. A really powerful talk because it explains complex ideas in a useful, dialogue provoking way. Playing with science so useful.

• A reply on Conversation: How will travel change local places in the future?

  Mar 10 2013: Can offer you a 'case vignette' rather than a case study but might be of interest. Very lucky to live in Royal Borough of Greenwich, London, U.K. Local tourist and arts infrastructure extremely well developed but reported locally in minimal way in local press 'Greenwich Time' which is distributed free to local population because Greenwich Time is focused on local political and social issues and is effectively viewed as 'propaganda' for the local authority now. The local newspapers South London Mercury and South London Press very compromised as need to sell their titles in order to generate operating revenue. Newish publication now available in several local stores as well as local hotels and tourist attractions called Greenwich Visitor. Not everyone wants to be seen accessing an electronic device such as an i-pad and so a newspaper is hugely effective, pictures and words plus a certain anonymity in that it is not overtly a publication to sell a specific organisation but a certain ?lifestyle of things that might attract a certain way of being and behavimg.
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  A comment on Conversation: Should public schools be allowed to teach creation myths in science class?

  Feb 27 2013: Educating young minds in critical thinking skills is difficult particularly in an environment where funding for schooling is piecemeal and partisan. There is a similar situation here in the UK with 'faith' schools, where particular religions will not allow their young people to mix with the mainstream because of the fear the children, who are very bright, will come back home and start asking 'awkward' questions. There also tend to be 'fashions or trends' in teaching methodology as much as in any other specialist field. So 'putting mythology' in science textbooks - actually it can be helpful to name 'the elephant in the room'. It can help engage children and start debates about the processes of belief structures and the outcomes which can then be compared and contrasted with other frameworks for exploring the phenomena we experience. As you have pointed out it is when teachers start using value laden words like 'good' and 'evil' etc that the children start to get confused and fearful which is always bad when you are hoping to nurture creative, independant thinkers who are prepared to challenge 'what is already known'. Teach a child to read 'critically' and how to use a library effectively and creatively. Give them 'hands-on opportunities to explore materials and their properties eg growing crystals is always a favourite. That really sets 'the cat amongst the pigeons' when the youngsters can grow their own crystals. As to what the 'creationist' stories actually say, it is important to remember they are products of the time they were written and it is only in the last hundred years or so that the general population has had a decent standard of basic literacy and numeracy. Some of the 'creation myths' especially amongst 'abooriginal' peoples are very interesting insights into complex dynamics between people and their lived social groups and their local environments. Agendas and funding going to cause trouble so experiments plus books better balance maybe.
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  A reply on Conversation: Who’s had a rough or violent upbringing?

  Feb 27 2013: G'day mate - so very proud of you. You have noted that 'mind-set' that makes already vulnerable people even less of a person and more of an 'object'. In the UK at the moment we have a government that seems hell-bent on ripping away any quality of life for those who are unable to access the job-market. The last several months have been filled with media reports about benefit 'scroungers' and the new Personal Independence Payment that is replacing Disability Allowance is set to potentially remove 500,000 claimants more. The assessment procedure has been designed to reduce the number of claimants, end of story but it actually is going to have the effect of pauperising and isolating people. That's when the really nasty stuff happens 'out of sight'. In the current economic climate many services are being 'contracted out' to business organisations and the chance to live independantly in the community and to experience a safe, tolerant, dare I say 'loving and inclusive' care service is getting scarcer by the day. So if it takes 'evidence-based' practice frameworks to get funding to get a more long term project off the ground would you go for it? Not sure if allowed to mention specific organisations here on TED but you might like to look at the Princess Royal Carer's Trust website. Another organisation is www.stophateuk.org. So someone has something wrong with their body or mind so what they still have potential. BTW still think you are great for having the courage to be aware of your past and how it still impacts you. Do you like the 'Black Dog' psych books ?

• A comment on Conversation: Who’s had a rough or violent upbringing?

  Feb 25 2013: Matthew you might like to read the works of Alice Miller and have a look at books about intergenerational coping mechanisms (dysfunctional ones). Have had several conversations lately with people locally on much the same theme ie how come no matter how hard you try to be 'different' from your parents and resolve to never ever be like they were, it just keeps coming back to bite you. Not sure what Kate Blake meant about 'horrible deaths' but all I can say to you Matthew is try and stay in the 'here and now' . Do very much agree with what you are saying about the global disease of abuse and it's long term effects. Breaking away from dangerous family relationships is great. As Don has pointed out, it takes huge strength to keep going. Know there is research about the neurological effects of childhood abuse and am trying to check this out. I understand the terminology to be to do with the 'comedrone' of nueorological functioning (sorry if spelt wrong). Do also agree that in a product and market lead economy where there is this idea that a product will fix the problem going to get that 'contamination of a community' effect - think it is colloqially known as the 'one bad apple' syndrome. Matthew want you to remember you are a survivor and it might be so helpful to you to work as a mentor with young teenage boys in particular, just as part of the 'fight-back' against the long-term effects of abuse. Yes would definately agree for a child seeing their parents behave in one way around them and in a completely different way when visitors come is possibly the most damaging of all because it totally messes up your trust in yourself, as you said.

• A reply on Conversation: "Why Can't We Solve Big Problems?"

  Feb 24 2013: Thank you, yes fog (feel like female version of Homer SImpson sometimes).

• A reply on Conversation: How will travel change local places in the future?

  Feb 24 2013: From my personal experience and very aware have some rather strong opinions and words. My paents could not afford television when I was young. I had the advantage of spending the first eight years of my life in a hugely beautiful, rather intense and dramatic environment i.e. earthquakes, gale force winds, lived by the coast, child of migrants, at multi-cultural primary school in a very unique time and place. On return to UK so very 'grey' in so many ways, no longer able to play out bare-foot, cold, social structure so different, plus parents used television as a 'universal pacifier/child minder'. Still remember not being able to participate in playground games as no tv so didn't know about programs. An avid reader, always curious. good imagination, read National Geographic but already so acquainted with Maori culture. Father continued to travel for work and so experience of other cultures. SO simplistic language for difficult concepts. Understand old expression was 'culture-shock'. TV programmes dilute sensitivity to regional accents eg Aussie program Neighbours watched by a whole generation of university students now that 'lift' at the end of a sentence actually part of a way of speaking here now. Media images every day of extreme human behaviours and complex issues also 'desensitises' possibly. An image on a screen is so not a way of understanding a culture. So very lucky to have diverse cultural experiences at a very young age. Now live in very culturally diverse area and trained as counsellor, need to understand potential impact of local belief systems to improve therapeutic relationships. Programs on tv are 'dramatisations', 'in-extremis', 'theatre', infotainment gives some insight but is a very pale imitation of the real lived experience of the dirt and grime and thrills and resourcefulness and skills needed to truly experience a local environment. Appreciate a bit muddled, can refine further iif required.