TED Community » Matthew Cudmore

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Writing, Collaboration, Beauty, The Unfathomable Universe, The Incredible Fact that We Exist, Human Potential, Compassion.

An idea worth spreading

Compassion involves Grace (which is an attitude of Forgiveness: that it does no good to resent, to regret; that we must move forth, no matter what; that human failures are mistakes, even if intentional since intentions may be mistaken) and Hope (Faith and Interest in some Potential, and Self-Investment in that Potential, such that one will strive to secure and promote this investment, especially when it is threatened, and pursue the interest involved) with respect to every person. Compassion is the Active (rather than passive) Respect for Human Dignity. Basic Human Dignity depends on the fact that anyone may have tremendous Potential worth achievement; that some great Potential may depend on any person; that each person is Beautiful, presently, in retrospect, and in prospect. One might practise Compassion best with Empathy, but forgive nonetheless beyond one's capacity to comprehend and empathize: and help others, however one can, to the Opportunity to shine.

Talk to me about

The Nature of Reality, God, Soul and Spirit, Human Nature, Human Potential, Evolution, Good Bad and Evil, Beauty Ugliness and Art, Love and Hate, Rules, Education, Society, Anything Related

People don't know that I'm good at

Drawing, Programming and Web-Design.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +0.10 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A comment on Conversation: We need better tools for cooperation - not just better tools for our existing ways of communicating.

  Mar 3 2011: I'm always fascinated by possibilities for amending language/thought/communication. Whether to improve language education, or language itself, or the ideas we associate with words, or whatever, it's sure that in general public our collaborative strengths/skills/methods aren't excellent.
  
  Lojban is an intriguing project, though I won't invest myself in it. I like the idea of a community collaborating with purpose and common principles (though surely with deficiencies in the means/methods of collaboration) to develop/maintain/adapt a language.
  
  I'm also aware of L'Académie française, which (so far as I understand) comprises elected people who try to guide (according to established standards) the preservation/evolution of the French language. Though I don't know much about it. I doubt they've promoted any radical changes to the language, such as new grammatical devises or new function words.
  
  Sure we could develop software! What about a platform like Wikipedia where, instead of developing factual articles, we collaborate on clarifying the ideas behind words, etc.? But somehow I dislike the thought of a Wikideology.
  
  Ubuntu occurs. Why can't we apply to our languages the practises of open-source mass-collaboration: nor for profit but with passion for the sake of excellence, etc? But human-language patches could not be distributed as simply as software patches. Imagine writing an annual memo to all speakers of English, "Issue 2011: Suggested and Experimental Amendments to the English Language; and Concepts Currently Under Development"! ---Do you know about any such efforts already undertaken? I'd like to investigate.
  
  Or we can practise (from earliest discussions onward) expounding "The Sense in Which" and "The Extent to Which" and "The Circumstances under Which" what we say is true or meant; develop skills/strengths in that.
  
  But I would love to develop general tools that help us communicate not more profusely, nor more quickly, but more beautifully, and more exactly.
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Derek Sivers: Keep your goals to yourself

  Sep 8 2010: effect might happen [partly] because when we share our ambitions with our friends, who approve, some aspect of our nature supposes that those friends are our partners and we will work together to achieve any of our shared ambitions: but today, when we're all so individualist, in general each person is left to one's own pursuits, struggles and failures. in ancestral evolutionary contexts, we would share ambitions with intimate parties of partners, and might not often pursue ambitions when alone, but wait until partners are ready to come along. also: your sense of dignity is affected by telling others, and having others approve, of your intentions: now you can feel more socially secure, thus feel less urgent need to implement the intention, once others approve, and be glad that others know and applaud what you intend, even if you don't actually act on the intention right away.