TED Community » Jonathan Huang

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Cars, weightlifting, traveling, and the outdoors

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I am a third year Chemical Engineering student at the Cooper Union in New York City.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +1.10 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Conversation: Will mind-reading eventually become a reality and what are the implications for humanity?

  Apr 21 2013: Neema, I agree with you.
  
  One day soon, we may be able to read the human brain and interpret the mind using technology. No matter how basic the mind reading is, it is a terrifying thought that technology will have advanced that far. Of course, this sort of technology can be beneficial for use as medical treatments, but imagine all of the negative possibilities it enables for mankind. In essence, we as humans need to be weary of the advancement of technology. If technology advances too fast, too quick, it has the possibility of being very harmful to the human species. What does this mean for our future, if such mind reading technologies were available? How could we trust the technology? Mankind will be a much different animal when this sort of technology is readily available and used.

• A reply on Conversation: Is the heart overlooked when it comes to intelligence?

  Apr 16 2013: What sorts of intelligence do you think we can obtain from the heart?
  
  My take on this is that the heart is a muscle. Therefore, how can the heart have any intelligence? Looking at the basics, the brain is made up of neural cells while the heart is made up of muscle cells. These are intrinsically different. I really don't think that our heart can have any sort of intelligence. If it could, then could our leg muscles have intelligence? I understand that there are nodes that send electrical signals in the heart, but they are merely there to keep the heart contracting at a steady pace.

• A reply on Conversation: Will making rockstars out of women in science get more girls interested in science/technology/engineering/math (i.e. STEM) fields?

  Apr 16 2013: I agree with Ben here.
  
  Every person should have their own choice as to what they want to do with their lives. However, if we take that too freely then there will be no guidance to our youth. Its the guidance and social stigmas that push the youth to grow into something one day.
  
  If girls don't want to enter scientific fields, why make them? Maybe its only a matter of social stigmas. What society accepts as truth is hard to change; you never really know where and when social stigmas are going to end up.
  
  As Avi says, the stigma of the male dominated society is only a residue of Old World ways. In today's world, anyone can enter the science field without any real prejudices.

• A reply on Conversation: How can we better harness our human capabilities to develop medical technology?

  Apr 9 2013: I agree with Kyung.
  
  Medical care is a huge thing in todays world. Humans rely on medical technology advancements to keep the average human lifespan growing. After studying EKG and EEGs, I do agree that it takes a very well trained eye to detect symptoms in the signals. We should develop some sort of device that can better make this distinction. Furthermore, developing a small easy to use device will allow for a greater reach to medicare and allow less accesible areas reach the same lifespan as others.
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Do we rely too heavily on technology for medical diagnosis?

  Apr 2 2013: I agree Kyung.
  
  Humans make mistakes as well. In most cases, human error occurs much more frequently than machine error. Technology is quite useful when it comes to redundancy of outputs and consistency. However, the most fool-proof way would be to have a check system where the doctor and machine must be in accordance. The reliance on technology is useful as it save human time and allows for a higher level of productivity.

• A reply on Conversation: What good is being able to control our dreams?

  Apr 2 2013: Lauren,
  
  Interesting take on dreams. We do often hear of dreams being this magical thing. However, I think there is a valid reasoning to it. In our dreams we can often do things that are impossible in real life. Yet, in this subconscious state our minds truly believe that we are in reality... until we wake up that is

• A reply on Conversation: What good is being able to control our dreams?

  Apr 2 2013: Wow Phillip,
  
  Your ideas really ring a bell. Looking back at my dreams (that I still remember), I tend to wake up when a near-death scenario occurs. Perhaps this is the point in the dream that one realizes that reality no longer exists and thus the brain comes back into consciousness.

• A reply on Conversation: What good is being able to control our dreams?

  Apr 2 2013: Swetha,
  
  I never really thought about how my dreams come about. But now that you mention relating dreams to daytime memories, I can recall many dreams that have come about from events that have occurred during my conscious state.

• A reply on Conversation: What good is being able to control our dreams?

  Apr 2 2013: Awesome that you bring up meditation as we just spoke about this subject in class!
  
  I think that meditation is another form of mind control and something that is definitely relevant. Meditation is supposed to calm the soul, from what I understand. Perhaps lucid dreaming also calms the human body in its conscious state.
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: What good is being able to control our dreams?

  Apr 2 2013: Thats my problem with lucid dreaming and controlling your dreams. What happens if the dreams lose their mystic nature when we learn to fully control our dreams? Is this a part of human nature that is now lost?