TED Community » Leo Bi

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Inspiration, sharing, social capital, film, music, food, rock climbing, adventure.

An idea worth spreading

It's only in uncertainty, you have the greatest opportunity to produce an unexpected result. I think this idea as well as 'sharing' itself is something that is missing in the worlds civilised societies.

My TED Story

At the moment it involves roaming TED.com and spending my spare time watching inspiring talks, moving performances and amazing technologies that make a difference to the planet we live in.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +21.10 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A comment on Talk: Ed Boyden: A light switch for neurons

  May 21 2011: This is amazing and terrifying all at the same time.
  
  Call me old fashioned but I can't help but be reminded of the good old days of Electro Convulsive Therapy.
  
  Unlike ECT, this actually might work.... which makes me even more concerned.
  
  Companies will be able to "fix" your schizophrenia..... while "sampling your memories'' for targeted marketing campaigns for a "better consumer buying experience", by 'switching on' dopamine production when you see the product that has been "recommended" for you.
  
  That will teach you.... literally.
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles"

  May 4 2011: The point made here is sound. However, online platforms like google and facebook are only partly responsible for filtered content. You may have heard of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Engineers. it is a huge job market. One of the primary SEOs roles is to 'game' popular portals such as facebook and google to present their clients online content to you, the customer, before anyone elses.
  
  TED's own online community had its own form of filtering, with the old 'thumbs down'. Enough thumbs down, a users (presumably horrible) comment will not show unless you click on it explicitly (this feature is now gone). Even now one could still argue that talks presented at TED are at the mercy of 'human filtering'.
  
  Lets get straight here, these online platforms are amazing and they can serve the purpose of enriching every human beings life, and making a difference to our global community, indeed it already has.
  
  If there is money to be made, business will make it. There is nothing wrong with this, it is how the basic capitalist driven community functions. It is not like this everywhere in the world, but it is definitely in developed country. Our survival in this environment is dependent on each and every one of us making money, and if that is the case then there will always be people manipulating amazing inventions like facebook, google, and even TED for profit, and not necessarily the enrichment of humanity.
  
  Where does this leave us? it comes down to a sense of trust combined with my own courage to question, and platforms giving me access to question.

• A comment on Conversation: LIVE CHAT with Mike Matas: Monday, May 2nd, 1PM-2:30PM EST *UPDATE: Extended through May 6th*

  May 2 2011: Hi there!
  
  I must say your program brings media rich presentation to a whole new level. It is outstanding.
  
  The questions I wish to ask are questions to you, and to anyone else you work with, if they would be so kind as to share their thoughts.
  
  Firstly, why have you (personally) created this?
  
  Secondly, will you openly share the technology itself, for instance, under open source?
  
  Thirdly, if you are planning something like opensource, why?
  if you are not considering something like opensource, why not?
  
  
  Thanks for your time.
  
  Leo!

• A comment on Conversation: What do you want from the news?

  Apr 21 2011: Firstly, the truth....
  
  Secondly... transparency..... being able to trace their source of information.... or if the source is to remain confidential, that fact shared explicitly. An access to act is also critical. For instance, if a news paper has an article about going to war, it could also publish information on who to contact to get further information, or who to express your concerns too etc.
  
  http://www.ted.com/talks/dave_meslin_the_antidote_to_apathy.html
  
  This is a great talk that outlines this idea and other flaws in media. Hopefully it will get your cortex flowing with ideas :)
• +9

  A reply on Talk: Caroline Casey: Looking past limits

  Apr 9 2011: I think, the point is exploration of one self, through success and failure. But as Markus put it, rarely are the majority of these stories widely share or even acknowledged and such is the obsession with pop culture.
  
  Human beings are an egotistical species and we desire to be acknowledged, praised and respected. The idea of 'being recognised' is constantly bombarded into us with the elaborate 'celebration' of individuals on the vehicles of mass media, so much so that people plugged into these mediums become obsessed with the celebration rather than the exploration.
  
  Not to disrespect the people being acknowledged, more often than not, these people are extraordinary and their stories enrich and touch myself and others alike in profound ways.
  
  Perhaps, the point is creating something worthy of your life, someone worth being, for the sake of that alone, not for anything or anyone else.

• A comment on Conversation: How do we create meaningful yet affordable changes to prepare our students for future collaboration with those in China, India, etc.?

  Apr 7 2011: Creating a co-operative movement in a world governed by competitive capitalist economics is the major challenge. I believe if a profound impact is to be made, the culture of communities is is the foundation on which all of this occurs. Analysis, problem solving, empathy, compassion, courage, curiosity, effective communication are all critical skills.
  
  Analysis and problem solving are skills that are accessible and very prevalent in our education systems and professional communities. However, empathy, compassion, courage, curiosity and communication are not so much. I believe the first major step would be to discover ways to nurture these values in people, there lies the big challenge. The principals in waldorf education looks promising. But, I think it extends beyond schooling and these values must be present in all aspects of ones community, family, friends etc.

• A reply on Talk: Michael Pawlyn: Using nature's genius in architecture

  Feb 10 2011: tell that to the people living in Africa

• A comment on Talk: Cynthia Breazeal: The rise of personal robots

  Feb 8 2011: wwwwooooooooooowwwwwww........ this is awesome. turning science fiction into science..
  
  The exploration of humanity, through technology.... in the very literal sense. Brilliant.
  
  That being said, I cant shake off the feeling that we should invent a hand held EMP device... just in case :) but then, using it might be equivalent to killing an 'intelligent' (?) being???
  
  Dilemma...............
• +3

  A reply on Talk: Martin Jacques: Understanding the rise of China

  Jan 31 2011: If the people of china do become a world leading community.... i hope they realise that the 'chinese'/'non-chinese' are distinctions manufactured by people...
  
  i hope that the 20% of planet Earths human beings, living in the nation of China, realise that we are all fundamentally homosapiens.... part of wider eco-system ..... on a very finite planet...
• +2

  A reply on Talk: Naomi Klein: Addicted to risk

  Jan 19 2011: I think you need to have a look at the nature of disaster behind climate change. Climate change is sending environmental variables to levels that we have never seen in our modern scientific history. Yes, it is speculative to a degree, because we no experiment that can simulate earths complexity accurately, except the earth itself.
  
  We have other complex systems that we have learnt from. Take the human body for instance has a healthy core body temperature of 36-37 degrees C. Bodily functions begin to fail if you move even 2 degrees C above or below this normal range. You cant predict the exact moment organs are going to fail but you don't need a doctor to know the person is in trouble. Commonsense.
  
  There is also a ton of expert research done with this as well. You don't need to be a scientist to see the proof. Australia, Brazil and Sri Lanka, the first 2 experiencing the worst floods in recorded history. Look a few years back you see worse, Look at the glacial barometers etc.