TED Community » George Kong

More About Me

I'm passionate about

thinking without boundaries.

An idea worth spreading

Irrespective of how well something can be done now, it can probably be done better. Nothing should be so sacrosanct that it is immune to criticsm, analysis and reinvention.

Talk to me about

how ideas in the future play off each other, that defy traditional ideas of the future which are usually played out in a vacuum.

People don't know that I'm good at

changing the world. Yet.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +46.40 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A comment on Conversation: Is it feasible or desirable to ever completely understand the human brain?

  Sep 23 2012: Yes and sure.
  
  But the brain is a subject of immense complexity. Its full function may never enter the realm of common knowledge, but with the fullness of understanding, we may finally come to end debates* on the nature of consciousness, mind-body dualism, etc.
  
  *even though those things can already be readily inferred with a good deal of evidence and keen reasoning by those well studied in its function and composition.
  
  But I suspect it'll be a while before that knowledge is as readily accepted as the spherical nature of this planet, or its rotation around the sun... just like evolution, despite its age and considerably massive weight of evidence, is been rejected by many across the world not for its veracity but for its implications.
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: How can we sustain infinite growth on a finite planet?

  Sep 22 2012: By completely reconsidering our concept of growth.
  
  Instead of economic growth, what about the growth of the 'sustainability bubble' (not in the perjorative economic sense, but in terms of what the bubble grows to encapsulate)?
  
  That is, the more energy and the more materials and technologies we are able to bring under the banner of 100% sustainability, the more real growth we have.
  
  At this point in time, we're in a negative growth phase in those terms - because we're making things less sustainble through our actions.
  
  Another angle to consider growth from is experiential and information growth. Imagine high quality VR technology... essentially a maturation of visual/sensory computing technology found in games; it's a system that will provide experiences independent of material consumption.
  
  And ultimately, that's kinda what the human experience boils down to - a series of interlinked and interconnected sensory experiences. The experience of conspicuous consumption can be easily replicated in virtual space - and in doing so, it can reduce the importance of real conspicuous consumption.
  
  How much value is there in a boat, a big house, a fast car... when all these things are difficult and expensive to purchase and maintain - and there's an alternative where you can experience all these things and better at next to full sensory fidelity in VR?
• +3

  A reply on Talk: Jon Ronson: Strange answers to the psychopath test

  Aug 21 2012: This is a terrible video feeding its audience a great deal of misinformation.
  
  Psychopathy is indeed a mental illness of the worst kind, but because it is so devastating and divisive. The symptoms of psychopathy are representative of natural behaviour in all people to some degree, but the actual cause of psychopathy is quite unique - that is a malfunction of the emotional system which helps an individual develop a matrix of normal appropriately socially adapted behaviourial responses.

• A reply on Talk: Jon Ronson: Strange answers to the psychopath test

  Aug 20 2012: http://www.amazon.com/Snakes-Suits-When-Psychopaths-Work/dp/0061147893/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345438237&sr=8-1&keywords=snakes+in+suits

• A comment on Conversation: Is intelligent design science and should it be taught in public schools?

  Aug 18 2012: It will be a swell day when the law recognizes the dogmatic indoctrination of children by their parents of spurious arbitrary beliefs as a form of child abuse that it is.
• +2

  A comment on Talk: Jon Ronson: Strange answers to the psychopath test

  Aug 18 2012: Hmmm... after reading Robert Hare's rebuttal to Mr. Ronson*, one might be tempted to say that Mr. Ronson might be somewhat psychopathic himself. That is if we were to use Mr. Ronson's level of understanding on the issue of psychopathy as the measuring stick. But really Mr. Ronson is just been an unprofessional journalist that is using his skills to spin a yarn, and sell some books.
  
  * http://www.psychopathysociety.org/images/hare%20commentary%20on%20ronson%20april%2017%202012.pdf

• A comment on Talk: Jon Ronson: Strange answers to the psychopath test

  Aug 18 2012: From what I've come to understand about psychopathy - the primary root cause of it stems from a maldeveloped emotional/limbic system. If you can feel emotions to any degree of complexity or nuance, it's probably safe to say you are not psychopathic.
  
  Of course, that doesn't help us on the outside of your mind reach a diagnosis, but if you're prone to diagnosing yourself, then you should at least realize that before you start to make calls like "I may be a *little* psychopathic".
  
  No individual trait of psychopathy is actually an indicator of psychopathy. It is only when you have most if not all points on the checklist does it become a useful indicator. Even then, it's not a certain thing - with a strong history of psychopathic behaviour been the necessary indicators to make the determination.
  
  While society should generally be aware of the issue of psychopathy - it is also something that requires a strong caution against overdiagnosing. Perhaps what we need are more specialized tiers of psychopathy managing institutions - rather than just normal society > mental institution. Perhaps education programs tailored for vulnerable children and teenagers (i.e. the educators are aware of the nature of psychopathy, and are as a result, necessarily more patient and firm with their wards), as well as prison for psychopathic inmates (isolating them from normal inmates who are less likely to commit violence).
  
  But the most important part of the awareness needs to be a reexamination of social institutions and values. The understanding that we are delving into a form of social madness by so cavalierly catering towards characteristics that we can readily and easily recognize as deleterious and damaging. Specifically as it relates to the economy, corporations, and even politics - all of which we've designed in a way that all too often conflates merit with social manipulation.
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Joe Smith: How to use a paper towel

  Apr 29 2012: Paper towels? I have pants...
  
  What a crazy cultural addiction to needless consumables we have. In highlighting how to make the act of using such a consumable efficient, Joe Smith might have unwittingly highlighted how needless these consumables actually are.

• A reply on Talk: Jonathan Foley: The other inconvenient truth

  Apr 9 2012: Permaculture seems like something that could catch on given the right sort of marketing.
  
  There's a whole organic food movement going on that's catching on... so this could piggy back off that, creating the freshest and most organic foods.
  
  But the other half of the equation is food and recipes that are suitable for use with localized products - given that each locality produces a different range of natural ecological products, it would seem that recipes would have to be varied along with it. But that too can be a 'sexy' idea - having a pattern or recipe for designing and creating permaculture restaraunts and attached farms that are marketed as providing diners with the best, freshest local produce.
  
  It seems also that such a movement could leverage the growing power of localized (internet based) social networking to get the necessary knowledge out there (that is, the knowledge of which micro-ecosystems are suitable in that climate and region, and what specific foods and recipes could be produced from it).

• A reply on Talk: Jonathan Foley: The other inconvenient truth

  Apr 9 2012: I may have misread/misinterpreted the criticsms section from Wikipedia.