Sep 18 2012: Just watched this and was enjoying it until he mentioned the stuff about the 911 tower collapsing not being shown on tv till 24 hours later. I was SURE that this was not the case and immediately stopped watching the video to investigate and of course found all the comments saying how wrong he was.
I guess its kind of ironic that a guy giving a talk about faulty memory should include faults from his own memory. However to present it in such an arrogant way and be totally wrong has just destroyed his entire credibility, and probably career (unless he goes into politics).
For once, in this particular case, I agree the talk should be removed. It detracts from the otherwise awesome credibility of TED itself. Also like others have said, people might believe what he is saying is true, and look foolish by passing this on to others. Not everyone reads the comments or fact checks. We assume TED has already done that.
Mar 30 2012: Wish people would stop using the term "too expensive", "cost effective". This is the planet we're talking about. You're putting a price on the earth. If even something as little as the President of the US or the Queen of England were dying, people wouldn't dare say the treatment is "too expensive", we'll have to let them die.
Now we're talking about "THE EARTH", the "one and only". Money is just some fabricated concept. Please, just save the planet, and stop debating cost.
I'm glad he was invited to speak. Even happier that Chris gave him a severe grilling at the end.
This kind of short-sighted thinking is exactly what TED should be and IS exposing nicely for what it is.
There are some things I would agree with him 100%:
YES, we need to get off Opec Oil, or wherever it comes from.
YES, we need a comprehensive 10, 20 year energy plan, irrespective of government, just like the Chinese have.
However:
NO, we do not solve this issue by digging holes, destroying the environment and investing in unsustainable fuels.
We cannot believe or trust a word this guy says as he is too heavily invested in the solution he's proposing.
We need a comprehensive solution to trucking and personal transportation. This will surely involve Solar, Wind, and some kind of advanced energy storage solution. Next we need to put Detroit back to work building lightweight, solar powered vehicles at a reasonable cost which everyone can use with zero emissions and completely sustainable.
What we need is billions and billions invested in Solar, power storage, and transportation with no hope of a quick return. Europe is already starting to get the idea, so what is the US waiting for ?
We do not need some cry baby who lost a measly 150 million in wind and now is looking for another avenue to make another quick buck by raping the planet.
Thankfully millions will see this talk and hopefully not be buying it. He's right up there and hopefully going the same way as clean coal.
Oct 20 2011: Totally dude. Very poor credibility and virtually everything she's said has been already been documented thoroughly in other books written years ago.
Supporting videos also did nothing for me. Its like DUH. And also, I guarantee that any half decent actor would be able to breeze past any of the lie detecting tells that she claims. You expect me to believe that Merryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman etc, can't do a convincing fake smile complete with eye line contraction. No frickin way. Watch Natalie Portman in Black Swan for example and tell me that if she lied to you, you could tell ?? I'm not buying it.
In my experience, the only decent way to get to a lie, which will bypass any acting ability is by probing of facts. A decent liar will not only be a great actor, but will have an answer for every possible probing question. Sure.. when you're asking probing questions, you can watch for tells, but the police have been using these techniques for centuries. What she's said is nothing new.
A better book would be "How to Lie Convincingly (including why and when)" :-)
Jul 22 2011: Totally agree. In fact I've often thought about setting up a "country" or at least "corporate entity" which could issue and "Independent Passport". The Entity would then negotiate with small countries to get this "Independent Passport" accepted without a visa, at least for tourism at first.
Once the Entity builds a critical mass of subscribers and small countries, they would then have some money and power to negotiate with the larger countries to try and get it accepted.
In order to get this "Independent Passport", the applicant would have to go through a rigorous set of ID and biometrics and the passport would cost similar to a normal passport.
After tourism has been granted to a large number of countries, work permits could then follow.
We just need an alternative for people who just happen to be born in the wrong place. I have a UK passport and can pretty much travel anywhere, but even if you drive a Ferrari in China, you'd need a visa for pretty much anywhere you wanna go.
Jul 22 2011: He's preaching on as if "democracy" is the only way to go. He rightly points out that "to go around preaching democracy is associated with extremism", yet in fact that's exactly what he's doing.
To suggest that the world should start a grass roots youth led democracy movement is just like saying "if you can't beat em, join em".
And of course... I'm sure the CIA is fully aware of how to start a grass roots democracy or whatever movement you want. And I even seriously doubt that they had zero involvement with the sudden "enlightenment" of the entire Arab Spring.
Democracy is overrated, has serious flaws and doesn't work great in countries owned by large corporations anyway, because its all about money for advertising and buying off politicians.
Hopefully the middle east, and TED in general can come up with something better than democracy.
In one point in the talk he points out that the world is not being run by a communist dictatorship. Well, hold on a few years and you'll have China taking over and we'll see how he likes the world's outlook then.
I do like his points on how to start a movement. In fact, I'm sure a lot of small, weak, radical organizations are taking notes and will be the first to use these ideas.
May 28 2011: Just tested to see what I was doing and I found that even though I was looping over the same way as in his "weak" version, I was actually getting the strong version. This was because of the way you do the step before it. So .. if you're getting a weak version, just change the first crossover step to the other way and you won't have to re-invent the loop. Useful talk though. However... even though I've been doing the "strong" knot my whole life ... it still comes undone quite often, so I don't wanna imagine what it would be like if I'd have been doing the wrong version. ;-)
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A comment on Talk: Scott Fraser: Why eyewitnesses get it wrong
I guess its kind of ironic that a guy giving a talk about faulty memory should include faults from his own memory. However to present it in such an arrogant way and be totally wrong has just destroyed his entire credibility, and probably career (unless he goes into politics).
For once, in this particular case, I agree the talk should be removed. It detracts from the otherwise awesome credibility of TED itself. Also like others have said, people might believe what he is saying is true, and look foolish by passing this on to others. Not everyone reads the comments or fact checks. We assume TED has already done that.
A reply on Talk: T. Boone Pickens: Let's transform energy -- with natural gas
Now we're talking about "THE EARTH", the "one and only". Money is just some fabricated concept. Please, just save the planet, and stop debating cost.
A comment on Talk: T. Boone Pickens: Let's transform energy -- with natural gas
According to Wikipedia.
I had a feeling the UK sent at least one down to the Falklands in the 80's. Apparently, the UK already decommissioned 2.
This is of course, if we can believe Wiki, but probably more reliable than this guy.
A reply on Talk: T. Boone Pickens: Let's transform energy -- with natural gas
A comment on Talk: T. Boone Pickens: Let's transform energy -- with natural gas
I'm glad he was invited to speak. Even happier that Chris gave him a severe grilling at the end.
This kind of short-sighted thinking is exactly what TED should be and IS exposing nicely for what it is.
There are some things I would agree with him 100%:
YES, we need to get off Opec Oil, or wherever it comes from.
YES, we need a comprehensive 10, 20 year energy plan, irrespective of government, just like the Chinese have.
However:
NO, we do not solve this issue by digging holes, destroying the environment and investing in unsustainable fuels.
We cannot believe or trust a word this guy says as he is too heavily invested in the solution he's proposing.
We need a comprehensive solution to trucking and personal transportation. This will surely involve Solar, Wind, and some kind of advanced energy storage solution. Next we need to put Detroit back to work building lightweight, solar powered vehicles at a reasonable cost which everyone can use with zero emissions and completely sustainable.
What we need is billions and billions invested in Solar, power storage, and transportation with no hope of a quick return. Europe is already starting to get the idea, so what is the US waiting for ?
We do not need some cry baby who lost a measly 150 million in wind and now is looking for another avenue to make another quick buck by raping the planet.
Thankfully millions will see this talk and hopefully not be buying it. He's right up there and hopefully going the same way as clean coal.
A reply on Talk: Pamela Meyer: How to spot a liar
Supporting videos also did nothing for me. Its like DUH. And also, I guarantee that any half decent actor would be able to breeze past any of the lie detecting tells that she claims. You expect me to believe that Merryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman etc, can't do a convincing fake smile complete with eye line contraction. No frickin way. Watch Natalie Portman in Black Swan for example and tell me that if she lied to you, you could tell ?? I'm not buying it.
In my experience, the only decent way to get to a lie, which will bypass any acting ability is by probing of facts. A decent liar will not only be a great actor, but will have an answer for every possible probing question. Sure.. when you're asking probing questions, you can watch for tells, but the police have been using these techniques for centuries. What she's said is nothing new.
A better book would be "How to Lie Convincingly (including why and when)" :-)
A comment on Conversation: The Right of Free Travel (visa-free) for Every Human Being on Planet Earth
Once the Entity builds a critical mass of subscribers and small countries, they would then have some money and power to negotiate with the larger countries to try and get it accepted.
In order to get this "Independent Passport", the applicant would have to go through a rigorous set of ID and biometrics and the passport would cost similar to a normal passport.
After tourism has been granted to a large number of countries, work permits could then follow.
We just need an alternative for people who just happen to be born in the wrong place. I have a UK passport and can pretty much travel anywhere, but even if you drive a Ferrari in China, you'd need a visa for pretty much anywhere you wanna go.
A comment on Talk: Maajid Nawaz: A global culture to fight extremism
To suggest that the world should start a grass roots youth led democracy movement is just like saying "if you can't beat em, join em".
And of course... I'm sure the CIA is fully aware of how to start a grass roots democracy or whatever movement you want. And I even seriously doubt that they had zero involvement with the sudden "enlightenment" of the entire Arab Spring.
Democracy is overrated, has serious flaws and doesn't work great in countries owned by large corporations anyway, because its all about money for advertising and buying off politicians.
Hopefully the middle east, and TED in general can come up with something better than democracy.
In one point in the talk he points out that the world is not being run by a communist dictatorship. Well, hold on a few years and you'll have China taking over and we'll see how he likes the world's outlook then.
I do like his points on how to start a movement. In fact, I'm sure a lot of small, weak, radical organizations are taking notes and will be the first to use these ideas.
A comment on Talk: Terry Moore: How to tie your shoes
A reply on Talk: His Holiness the Karmapa: The technology of the heart