TED Community » Somak Mitra

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My TED Story

A TED talk was shown in class one day, and from there the TED fever spread.

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• A reply on Conversation: Will "Watson" a supercomputer and his offspring eliminate millions of white collar jobs within a decade?

  Nov 7 2011: Provided that the resources necessary for the usage of the technology are readily available and low in cost. Here most of us do not use washing machines as we do not have a 24 hour water supply. So unless there are measures to spread the resources as well as the technology, the technology will not catch on.

• A reply on Conversation: Will "Watson" a supercomputer and his offspring eliminate millions of white collar jobs within a decade?

  Nov 6 2011: Here in India many of us wash our clothes by hand. Some of us wash our own clothes and some of us hire maids to wash it for us. It saves a lot of water too. I think your belief is based primarily on first world experiences.
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  A comment on Conversation: Do we really need Royal Families and their regencies? Why dont we just dismiss them?

  Sep 20 2011: Royal families are a sense of identity for nations. Even though they are outdated they still inspire the images of eloquence and grandeur that they did in their glory days. Since we can all connect with the scale of things, the grand scale of all things royal still appeals to us, though now we can dismiss their actions as wastages of taxpayers money.

• A comment on Conversation: If the Genomic Revolution is upon us, what basic human rights will this challenge?

  Sep 20 2011: When we look at science we always look at two faces of a coin, one good and one evil. Science as a method being equal, it is the uses that it is put to that defines the greater outcome. Nuclear fusion and fission created both nuclear plants and nuclear bombs, and there are of course many other examples.
  
  It will all depend on who gets this power, and as it turns out, the global superpowers always have first access to the latest scientific inventions. Now it will up to that country to decide to what use to put it. Genome mapping, once fully done, will be a minefield of ethical concerns, many of which Richard mentions.
  
  What is interesting in this regard is that all the problems are related to economics and geopolitics, and I'm afraid that it will come down to the method in which the maximum profit or political influence is achievable. Human rights and ethical concerns have been and still are regularly flouted for economic motives and there is no reason to believe that it will change anytime soon. The only possible positive scenario I see is for governments to enforce strict decisions on the usage and applications of these methods after a national consensus and then stick to it without bowing to economic pressures.

• A reply on Conversation: We need another renaissance soon

  May 3 2011: Of course preserving a culture is dependent on the people of that culture itself. In that I agree with you. But here is my theoretical process which I believe can gradually lead to the extinction of a culture. This is theoretical as I mentioned and may or may not happen.
  
  If say, 30 percent of people of one generation are affected by globalization, either by the internet or by immigration. Now the future generation of these people will be less likely to know their original culture, and gradually this process can increase the number of people who are ignorant of their culture to a considerable extent.
  
  If we see one generation who are unaware of their culture grow into adulthood and produce progeny, then it is unlikely that that progeny will learn of their culture.
  
  However, this theory is a pessimistic one, and I am confident that the tools of globalization can also hold a culture true to its origins and its people.

• A reply on Conversation: We need another renaissance soon

  May 3 2011: But there is a risk here of the culture getting wiped out with time. As the new generation is exposed more and more to the globalized culture, he/she will feel that is the only option available. And if this happens over some generations, some practices may indeed die out.
  
  However, there is a positive side as well. The media, specially the internet can be used to propagate a native culture as well. I know of people who have started businesses whose products on Indian culture, traditions, sights and sounds.
  
  So while the internet and globalization runs the risk of destroying a culture, it also has the potential to spread it and keep it alive.

• A reply on Talk: Devdutt Pattanaik: East vs. West -- the myths that mystify

  May 3 2011: The weird thing is that religion has been tied with morality. It all depends on your upbringing. My father has no problem with me questioning my beliefs, but my mother does. So it becomes a conflict for me as I don't want to hurt my mother.
  
  Also, it often happens that since few people question God, there aren't enough people to raise questions. Many of my friends, who are studying science, have never questioned their beliefs, taking it to be outside their purview. Yet many arts majors have. So it depends on upbringing as well the company you come in contact with.

• A comment on Conversation: We need another renaissance soon

  May 2 2011: I agree with the part about the internet. I believe it is a powerful tool, as the revolts in Egypt show.
  What the renaissance did was formulate a new way of living, scientifically and culturally. What I feel as the new age renaissance is globalisation. However, globalisation is something that threatens to wipe out a lot of indigenous cultures by promoting the American style all around the world. While I welcome new cultures, it shouldn't be at the cost of other cultures. And ironically, it is the internet enabled people, specially the youth, who are most vulnerable to this trend.

• A comment on Conversation: Why do we only use medication against phyciatric problems.

  May 2 2011: The major issue here is time. Apart from meds, the other solution would be to visit a psychoanalyst. But treatment through psychoanalysis takes time, though it is more permanent and more effective. So the quick fix solution is to take pills, which do provide a short term solution, but have no good long term effect. People just aren't willing/capable to invest time in themselves anymore and this leads to all kinds of trouble, from obesity to psychiatric disorders being made worse by pills.