TED Community » Emanuela Villa

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Languages & translating, reading & writing; photography & music (I play the flute & the sax); sports; mysteries & thrillers; Ancient History, Geography & GeologY; and much much more :-)

An idea worth spreading

Invest some time and money in microfinance: it is the best way ever conceived to reduce poverty and give people the chance to make their dreams come true.

Talk to me about

Anything, as long as you are reafdy to accept that my answers will be polite, respectful and generally open-minded.

People don't know that I'm good at

Making impressions; playing poker; cooking; fixing stuff.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +3.00 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Talk: Mike Matas: A next-generation digital book

  May 3 2011: Ditto Elena!I am not sure I would call this a "book", though I would probably like to try it. I also think the way each one of us learns and retains information differs from individual to individual and cannot be boxed up into a unique system or a unique medium. The book as it is now (ink, paper, glue and a cover) can already be many things: an information "warehouse", a storyteller, a documentary, a guide, an instrument of peace or a pointy, deadly weapon, sometimes it can even be your worst enemy (you heard me, Chemistry Book :D).It would help a lot, I think, if creators of new technologies did not insist so much in using the "us the new vs you the old" technique when presenting their inventions. Readying "Othello" on an E-book will not make me more intelligent or more Shakespeare-friendly that readying its original in-Folio: it will simply mean I will be able to access that first, delicate, precious edition without having to wear an anti-germs body suit and a mask. But if I am not able to get the meaning of the Bard's work this inability won't change according to the medium I use to read his plays.Maybe we should all celebrate the fact that someone has proven yet another time what great things man can create when he uses his mind for solving problems instead of creating them, and then let everyone choose for themselves what they think is the most suitable means of getting the information they want.One last note on translating programs: judging from the general non-quality of online translations in many websites and on social networks like Facebook, a device that "translates" contents in various languages sends "linguistic shivers" down my spine :)

• A reply on Talk: Jessica Jackley: Poverty, money -- and love

  Oct 27 2010: Ditto!
• +1

  A reply on Talk: Jessica Jackley: Poverty, money -- and love

  Oct 24 2010: I think the problem with charity is that there are many people who tell everyone they donate and help and then it turns out that is not even remotely true. An Italian journalist wrote a book about this obscene habit among the so called V.I.P.s, but there are many "common" people doing just the same thing. I find this silly and insultant to the poor and to everybody's intelligence, but the problem is not charity but the way it is used by someone to indeed feel good about themselves (and receive some applause).
  Kiva is not based on charity but on lending: you actually know what the money is needed for and you get it back, and there are blogs and newletters from the field that keep you updated about the loans. It is not pushed by a mere "put the money in the bag please" logic.
  "Evil" is not in the things or ideas around us, it is in HOW we use those ideas or
  things. And not being informed about what we do is none and nothing's fault but our own.
• +3

  A comment on Talk: Jessica Jackley: Poverty, money -- and love

  Oct 23 2010: I also do not understant why Jessica's hint at Sunday school and her Christian experience is such a big deal for some of the people who have commented here. I did not know being religious was a federal crime.
  And as someone correctly said, it is not like she was trying to convince people to convert: she was just openly tellign where she was coming from, through what experiences she has come into contact with the world of the poor and how she has decided to help.
• +2

  A comment on Talk: Jessica Jackley: Poverty, money -- and love

  Oct 23 2010: In open disagreement with one of the latest comments, I have been moved by this talk, not so much because of the person who delivered it, but rather for the message. I did not need convincing on microfinance: I have come to know about it through the words and works of Professor Yunus, so what Jessica is saying her was not new to me. I belive microfinance can be a good way to end poverty, maybe not the only one, but it is definitely better to engage in microfinance that sit on a couch and shoot our cynicism towards someone who is TRYING to make the world a better place.
  Someone here called Jessica "naive": if you listen to the first part of the talk, it seems to me she has done much reasoning about what it means "to give to the poor": one may not believe in the idea she has come up with, but it should at least be recognized she has built something pout of her ideas instead of merely talking about them and avaoid acting about them.