TED Community » Buchilo Moyo

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Systems thinking, futurism, behavioural psychology, industrial dynamics...

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• A reply on Talk: Leslie Dodson: Don’t misrepresent Africa

  Dec 4 2011: I was tempted to reply in the same vein as you did after reading the comments about IQ and such, then I thought better about it. I will rather dismiss it as 'the rationalization of the victors' mentality. There are more suitable forums than TED for that kind of 'discussion.' :)
  
  As you rightly said, African problems will ultimately be solved by Africans. The requirement is to recognise the negative fatalism for what it is - regardless whether it springs from well-intentioned or hostile entities, is internally generated or external. The key is to focus on economic development and there are encouraging signs of that in many African countries, despite aid.
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  A comment on Conversation: What's one thing you wish you had learned in school?

  Dec 1 2011: What if your teacher had stated before a class that one thing you would be taught that day was going to be a lie. But you would not be warned which fact.
  Maybe there would be group discussion to try and deduce which was the lie, maybe the final exam will be to demonstrate why the information is false.
  
  I may not be explaining this well. But growing up (pre-internet era) there were these trusted controlled sources of information right: textbooks, experts, national newspapers, authorities, compendia...
  You went to school, sat attentively in class and you absorbed and hopefully came out the wiser!
  With the explosion of information and opinions and sources in this century, that trained instinct of passive obedience suddenly feels dangerous vulnerability.
  
  If I wish anything, that critical thinking and (healthy) skepticism had been a larger part of my syllabi.
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  A reply on Talk: Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers

  Nov 21 2010: An interesting anecdote. Made me think that from a social evolutionary point of view, Wolfram's observations may be just describing the inevitable. Consider an earlier example about the introduction of writing as a mainstream tool and its detrimental effect on what must've been accepted standards of rote memorization. I'm sure there were ancient Greek or Roman teachers who must have despaired as you do; but that their generation of students could no longer recite common folklore, recall with precision a speech they heard a year before, or follow 'simple' directions...
  Doubtless writing technology extended the breadth of our collective human capacity, but at the expense of individual ability. Calculators and computers will do the same as they become more ubiquitous.
  But maybe that is necessary step of that social evolution, even if it is uncomfortable to witness.
  Maybe these 14yr olds only look awkward because they are straddling two general (universal) technologies?
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  A reply on Talk: Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action

  Nov 6 2010: Hi James, I see your point. But I think of the problem more as of map orientation. Say everyone agrees that the map (mission statement) is accurate, detailed and agreeable; give that same map to different individuals on a real task and they are very likely to interpret it differently. Not everyone will reach the same destination at the same time. Some will get lost everytime but vehemently persist they followed the directions precisely!
  I think his idea of a 'golden circle' is more like a compass for the map. At the minimum you can ensure your employees read the map the right way up. At best, you share your vision with consumers especially early adopters more clearly, faster.
  That's how I read the talk anyway. I would like to know if the idea is developed further.
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  A reply on Talk: Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks

  Jul 26 2010: Moreover every group that holds the weighted end of the balance of knowledge-power in their grip, and the attendant moral authority that is perceived to come with it, need (or deserve) the existence of a potential corrective force.
  I don't think of wikileaks as 'a force for good'. That to me is an irrelevant judgement. In my mind it is a reactive force, which makes it necessary one.
  Will wikileaks make the world a safer place? Who knows. Does it disrupt the stability that is treasured by a subset of the world's population?
  I think it exposes the *cost* of that treasured stability borne daily by those who are not the beneficiaries. If the latter are open to self-reflection and take action, then it may be a force for good.
  But this potential alone (to tip events) supersedes any arguments about Assange's ulterior motives.

• A reply on Talk: Jay Walker on the world's English mania

  Feb 11 2010: Thanks, interesting article. I've always wanted to learn Esperanto but never quite got (my lazy a ) past intention. Possibly because I have such low incentive to learn it?
  It is a nice argument about colonisation but any lingua franca, including Esperanto, would have the same deleterious tendency of driving a native language to 2nd class I think.
  And the english language is being pushed to new directions by the new technology (new slang, abbreviations, etc IMO) and all these new speakers will have their impact. I think it could be a radically different english in 100 yrs time. It would evolve as the demographic changes, but not likely to be replaced.

• A comment on Talk: Clay Shirky: How social media can make history

  Feb 11 2010: I wonder how the Chernobyl disaster would have played out if social media had existed in the form that it does today?
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  A reply on Talk: Clay Shirky: How social media can make history

  Feb 11 2010: When a majority consensus position becomes "the ability to make decisions", then its no longer good or rational decision-making - its just populism. The latter has been tried before many times Sai, and it ends in tragedy.

• A comment on Talk: Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry demo SixthSense

  Apr 13 2009: Congrats to the MIT Media Lab, and Pranav in particular.
  It is amusing to listen to some of the naysayers who have commented. Their reasons are as old as the ages. Its not good enough, its too dangerous, it will never work, its a gimmick, ya-da, ya-da. They probably said that to the guy who harnessed fire. All inventors/innovators have to take this crap from people who have no ability or imagination. Do you people never get tired?? This video was not a product launch or advocating 'big brother'. Said for the nth time in history, if you can't or won't, leave it alone - if you think you can, don't tell, prove!
  Again hats off for an insightful and exciting talk.