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About Me

Enterprising explorer, social commentator, occasional technologist and person of goodwill.

Location:
United States, Washington, DC
Current organization:
Stanford University
Past organizations:
Microsoft, PayPal, Deloitte Consulting, Booz Allen Hamilton
Current role:
Student
Gender:
Male
I am:
Activist, Blogger, Change Agent, Concerned citizen, Entrepreneur, Explorer, Idea generator, Marketer, Social entrepreneur, World traveler
Languages:
English, Spanish
My website links:
TariqWest.com
Universities:
Stanford University
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More About Me

I'm passionate about

education, health care, sustainability, renewable energy, development, paradigm change

An idea worth spreading

Charity is a habit that is developed and practiced; if you don't practice it when you have little to give, you won't practice it when you have a lot to give.

Comments

  • TEDCred score: +0.20 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

  • +1

    A comment on Conversation: Reading science fiction for a more critical view of our society?

    Jun 1 2011: One of the best courses I took in college, in terms of critical analysis of forces, social and technological, impacting our society, was English 176 at Stanford (Science Fiction: Human Identity in the Age of Technology). I think a similar exploration in High School could have been really valuable in providing accessible handles for complex and important ideas. As a teenage scifi nerd I remember reading Asimov and Clarke and Card and Heinlein and seeing important societal parallels and commentaries. There wasn't really any outlet for those understandings in my High School curriculum. In recent years, I look to TV shows like Battle Star Galactica as potentially brilliant tools for introducing and engaging young people in important conversations about topics such as ethnic and minority politics, religious fanaticism, war and occupation, women's health and reproductive rights. One book that I'd put at the top of a teen reading list is 'Oryx and Crake': http://j.mp/ig2Tdi
  • +1

    A comment on Talk: Maz Jobrani: Did you hear the one about the Iranian-American?

    Dec 20 2010: The bit about border control in Kuwait is great! It reminds me of my experience at the airport leaving Morocco last year. I'd been in Morocco for a couple days and quickly became accustomed to greeting people with "As-salamou ʿaleykum". As I approached the border control agent, I greeted him customarily. He responded with instructions in Arabic, then, upon seeing my American passport, paused and looked at me warily. As he flipped through it, eying each page carefully, he continued in Arabic. I stared blankly for a moment before asking if he spoke English. He didn't but we managed to settle on an odd, French-afflicted Spanish as a common language. "Your mother, where is she from? Your father, where is he from?" I responded "the United States" to both. Apparently thinking that I hadn't understood his questions, he repeated them. I gave the same answers. Continued here...http://bit.ly/eW0HPQ
  • +1

    A comment on Talk: Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty

    Dec 10 2010: Interesting if not completely convincing. A curious footnote, the talk didn't mention anything of beauty outside of the European cannon.
  • +1

    A comment on Talk: Dan Gilbert: The surprising science of happiness

    Mar 7 2010: A powerful idea, the coupling of recklessness and cowardice "when our fears are unbounded".

  • A comment on Talk: Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice

    Mar 7 2010: Brilliant, a poignant counterpoint to Gladwell's talk on diversity, taste, tomato sauce.
  • +3

    A comment on Talk: David S. Rose on pitching to VCs

    Jan 26 2010: Thank you - this was the most cogent explanation of what a VC pitch should look like that I have encountered. For the first time in my life, I can actually imagine myself doing this.

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