TED Community » Seda Demirel

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Going beyond the ordinary...
"The world is my true ratio Its people are my nation."

An idea worth spreading

YUNUS EMRE'S HUMANISM

Knowledge should mean a full grasp of knowledge:
Knowledge means to know yourself, heart and soul.
If you have failed to understand yourself,
Then all of your reading has missed its call.
What is the purpose of reading those books?
So that Man can know the All-Powerful.
If you have read, but failed to understand,
Then your efforts are just a barren toil.
Don't boast of reading, mastering science
Or of all your prayers and obeisance.

If you don't identify Man as God,
All your learning is of no use at all.

The true meaning of the four holy books
Is found in the alphabet's first letter.
You talk about that first letter, preacher;
What is the meaning of that-could you tell?

Yunus Emre says to you, pharisee,
Make the holy pilgrimage if need be
A hundred times-but if you ask me,
The visit to a heart is best of all.

Talk to me about

Anything...
We all have stories to tell.
I would have loved to listen to yours :)

People don't know that I'm good at

knitting :)

My TED Story

Has Just begun...

Comments

• TEDCred score: +287.20 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A comment on Conversation: Should countries abolish the two party political system ?

  Oct 19 2012: Well, being turkish, I can even beg for the two party system right now...
  For the last 10 years the "one" party getting elected and kicking us in all means...
  I feel like living through the movie AGORA, (Life of Hypatia) :(

• A reply on Talk: Elif Shafak: The politics of fiction

  Oct 19 2012: LOL....
  not that bad, come on!!
  she plagiarizes, you know ;)
• +2

  A comment on Talk: Elif Shafak: The politics of fiction

  Oct 19 2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=C4C1CTpK1cs#!
  
  It has been a while I was away but, checking the posts below, Turkey is in a much much worse position now. Well done!...
  
  BTW, I wonder why someone like FAZIL SAY is not invited for a TED Talk.
  He has given so much more to the world than Elif Safak...
  
  For those interested;
  World-famous Turkish pianist Fazil Say has appeared in court in Istanbul charged with inciting hatred and insulting the values of Muslims.
  
  He is being prosecuted over tweets he wrote mocking radical Muslims, in a case which has rekindled concern about religious influence in the country.
  
  Mr Say, who denies the charges, said recently he was "amazed" at having to appear before judges.
  
  Rejecting an acquittal call, the court adjourned the case until 18 February.
  
  Prosecutors brought the charges against Mr Say in June. He faces a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison although correspondents say any sentence is likely to be suspended.
  
  The indictment against him cites some of his tweets from April, including one where he says: "I am not sure if you have also realised it, but if there's a louse, a non-entity, a lowlife, a thief or a fool, it's always an Islamist."
  
  Dozens of the pianist's supporters gathered outside the courthouse with banners, one of which called on the ruling Islamist-based AK Party to "leave the artists alone".
  
  Mr Say has played with the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and others, and has served as a cultural ambassador for the EU.
  
  Egemen Bagis, Turkey's minister in charge of relations with the EU, suggested the case against him should be dismissed, saying the court should regard his tweets as being within "his right to babble".
  
  However, Mr Bagis also criticised the pianist for "insulting people's faith and values"...
  BBC news
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Translating TED.com website into other languages...

  Feb 15 2011: Dear Anwar, I cannot agree more!
  I remember one of our translation team members had it done but it takes time and effort to get it individually. Still, he made it. Tony Yet.
  http://www.tedtochina.com/

• A comment on Conversation: Is permaculture a feasible alternative to traditional agriculture?

  Feb 15 2011: It took ages for me to find the "natural-organic" tomato seeds even in Turkey, a country that used to be the wonder of agriculture. Therefore, Mark, I get the point in your comment very well. Still, I could not make it in my balcony, the sun was my problem, I assume.
  
  Lately I was in Tanzania, and to my surprise the tomatoes and the onions we bought went bad so quickly. When I asked, they told me the villagers cannot afford to pay for the scientific agricultural methods that are used nowadays to help them keep their vegetables fresh. To be honest, their taste took me back to my childhood. So delicious!! I could not have enough!
  
  Dear Harald, after reading your comment I remembered and went back to Dan Barber's lovely talk; "How I fell in love with a fish" http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_barber_how_i_fell_in_love_with_a_fish.html
  
  Re-watching the talk, I realised the minor points I missed during the talk; Miguel, Dan Barber's hero, was from Tanzania and he started his career in Mikumi National Park, and that is where he had his inspiration. And That was exactly where my Tanzanian tomatoes were coming from. From a small village 30 mins away from the park. A funny and sweet coincidence.
  
  I believe we need more scientists whom are also experts on relationships just like Miguel!...

• A comment on Talk: Bart Weetjens: How I taught rats to sniff out land mines

  Dec 7 2010: I think I will be visiting this lab real soon...
  ;)
• +2

  A reply on Talk: Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks

  Nov 30 2010: In fact they are not blind, they are only "afraid"... :D
  Everyone cannot handle truth as truth can be a really very heavy item to carry on your back ;)
• +1

  A reply on Talk: Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks

  Nov 28 2010: Absolutely...

• A comment on Talk: Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks

  Nov 28 2010: Shocking Turkey documents by WikiLeaks
  Turkey allowed weapons flow to Al-Qaeda, the web-site claims some documents to be published will reveal.
  WikiLeaks, which specializes in publication of classified documents, has gotten hold of classified official documents that prove that the Turkish authorities allowed money and weapons to pass across Turkey's border with Iraq, en route to Al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq, the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat reported Thursday.
  
  The newspaper also reported that the US helped the PKK, a Kurdish seperatist organization.
  
  Wikileaks is reportedly set to release embarrassing top secret US diplomatic files. The whistle-blowing website is preparing to release cables sent from American embassies around the world.
  http://www.haberturk.com/general/haber/575049-shocking-turkey-documents-by-wikileaks

• A comment on Talk: Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks

  Nov 28 2010: Finally...
  WL Hands on TURKEY :)