TED Community » Zdenek Smith

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Providing access to education
Helping children and youth with basic needs
Promoting and support women's rights
Engaging people with science and technology
Discussing issues and seek solutions

An idea worth spreading

I believe that education is one of the most important building blocks of democracy, human rights and social progress. I think the most important education includes ethics and morality, science, psychology, philosophy, history etc. Educated individuals and societies have the power of knowledge to prevent or eliminate wars, dictatorships and poverty. Education leads to freedom, happiness and good relationships .

Comments

• TEDCred score: +125.40 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Conversation: If communism was working the way its progenitors wanted it to, would it be better than capitalism?

  May 9 2013: Thanks for sharing the link.
  
  Energy is not easy/cheap to store, transmit and it dissipates over time. It is also not as portable as money?

• A comment on Conversation: Which method of avoiding water shortage is more valuable: developing new sources of water or conservation of it?

  May 2 2013: I think we need to both conserve water and find new resources. We also need to develop and utilize existing technology that will allow us e.g. to effectively use sea water.
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: History tends to repeat itself. Empires rise and fall in a vicious circle of greed, tribal thinking, prejudice, misunderstandings and envy.

  May 2 2013: Yes history has interesting stories about rise and fall of empires and organizations.
  
  I think there are two main reasons for this: illegitimate leadership or failure to adapt to change.
  
  Nowadays some of the new "empires" like USA, European Union and organizations like Google and Amazon are less likely to fall and might be with us for very long. For example, Google constantly adapts and even leads change.
  
  cheers
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: What is the future of "western" education? How will knowledge be conveyed to the next generation of students?

  Apr 29 2013: Yes, society and esp. younger generation will also be part of pressure on the education system to change and adapt to new needs and views of its students.
  
  Hopefully public education will adapt fast enough to provide its students enough skills for 21st century jobs.
  
  Interesting times indeed. cheers

• A reply on Conversation: Can money really buy happiness?

  Apr 29 2013: I agree. I also think that different people will experience different happiness when they become rich. Some people will be able to quit their job and instead work on things they love, even create their own company. Others will start spending their money on lots of stuff, chasing their happiness. You can go to Hawaii only so many times before it stops being attractive. Eventually they will get bored of all of it and become depressed, experimenting with drugs, and experience depression.
  
  So I think it comes down to whether you are able to make good use of large amounts of money and find motivation to enjoy the money without excess and with a good purpose in your life that will keep you happy for rest of your life?
  
  cheers

• A comment on Conversation: What is the future of "western" education? How will knowledge be conveyed to the next generation of students?

  Apr 29 2013: I think what you describe is common all over the world and not "Western" specific?
  
  I agree that our current teaching model is very old and we need a new way to teach everyone because our society is getting more complex. The ongoing automation will further decrease the number of jobs that require minimum education while jobs with high requirements in IT, sciences, bio technology and similar will continue to increase.
  
  I think we don't realize how much technology changed education (and this is just the beginning). Before the Internet era, students had to rely on their library to find answers and research material. With the Internet everyone has unprecedented access to knowledge on any topic. For example, Wikipedia is helping over a billion people around the world to understand any topic. Collaboration tools and sites allow students and teachers to collaborate. Free online courses and classes allow students with no income to learn material from top Universities like MIT etc.
  
  We are also seeing slow but positive change in how classrooms are organized. For example, some schools are experimenting with Khan Academy and similar systems where students are more active in the learning process and teachers can focus more on individual students.
  
  I think the future is very promising as students will have more access to wide range of online resources.
  
  cheers
• +2

  A comment on Conversation: TED should partner with Marblar.

  Apr 26 2013: Thank you for sharing this idea. Interestingly TED is working on a new version of its website that will allow TED community to collaborate around ideas from TED talks. With the help of community more ideas can succeed.
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: If communism was working the way its progenitors wanted it to, would it be better than capitalism?

  Apr 22 2013: Instead of choosing between communism and capitalism, why not have an alternative that have the benefits but not drawbacks of both systems?
  
  The alternative can have "communism" like benefits for all regardless of abilities such as free education, healthcare, same opportunities, protecting individuals/society against irresponsible companies, help for the disabled etc..
  
  It can also have capitalism-like framework of market driven economy, awards based on performance, valuation of skills/abilities, money-based banking system.
  
  Because of technology progress, society resources are increasing to the point where all people will have their basic needs (shelter, food, clothes etc.) provided regardless of their income or situation.
  
  However, there is a danger that big corporations and wealthy individuals will take more resources from the society than they contributed (like tax avoidance, low taxes, too favorable laws etc.). This disparity and injustice can lead to social disorder and revolution that can bring communism back.

• A comment on Conversation: What do you think about the tragedies that occured this week?

  Apr 22 2013: For me, the Boston tragedy highlights a few opportunities and problems in our society.
  
  It is good to see how well community can collaborate in providing information and evidence to authorities. In today's age of pervasive communication and video coverage, dangerous individuals are easier to locate and deal with.
  
  Unfortunately some politicians are using tragedy like this to vote for laws that increase surveillance and impose further restrictions on our rights and freedoms. This is a dangerous trend that can lead to a policy state.
  
  As usually, some people talk about conspiracy theory claiming that government stage those attacks and spread misinformation.
  
  Hopefully the government put in place laws we do need such as gun control. We also should educate young people with subjects on ethics, morality, empathy democracy and human rights.

• A reply on Conversation: What do you think about the tragedies that occured this week?

  Apr 22 2013: I agree with Fritzie. The reality is much more complicated.
  
  I think the following contributed to the tragedy:
  - on the Internet young people can easily get "inspired" and learn how to stage attacks
  - some people are psychopaths and they do not behave and think in the same way we do
  - integration to a society that is radically different from your culture is difficult
  - violent games and movies make young people less sensitive to violence?
  - access to guns is not enough regulated