TED Community » Maria Bolgar

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Global responsibility

An idea worth spreading

As I see, through correct approaches and algorithms information coded in ancient beliefs become true knowledge.

Talk to me about

Every aspect of science

People don't know that I'm good at

Putting 2+2 together. Enthusiastic about new scientific ideas, Like to re-think acquired knowledge. Have repeatedly achieved the state of "enlightenment" by willing to discard ideas proven mistaken.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +4.00 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Should Euthanasia be legalized in every Country?

  Mar 13 2011: As old question as mankind itself. I am all for it.
  I think, euthanasia IS legal in the whole world for everything but humans. I mean, all over the world humans have the right and possibility to decide for animals, plants, the whole natural environment. Most frequent case is when an animal is thought to be in great pain, and we are all allowed to seek means of putting them out of it.
  As I see, human euthanasia is also all over the world, only not properly institutionalised. Right now in most countries euthanasia is declared illegal. Yet, when in those same countries a patient is declared brain dead, close relatives are asked to practise euthanasia i.e. permit "to pull the plug". So that organs could be used for transplant, or costs of maintaining the body could be cut. In poor countries, the machine itself could be needed for another patient with a better outlook.
  In my country, human euthanasia is illegal. A mother, throwing a hair dryer into the bath to help her little daughter of 13 with terminal cancer, and begging with her to do it, went to prison for 20+ years. I have the right, however, to refuse treatment but I'm not going to be given enough morphine to ease the pain sufficiently, or put to sleep until I die. However, I have the right to commit unaided suicide. Very humanistic! In Holland, waiting for the doctor to arrive with the legalized syringe is only useful for the rich with good lawyers. Aided and active euthanasia, where one is able to ask for help, may not the same as situations with totally incapacitated people. But is there really a difference when it comes to making the decision? I think, patients should be given a lethal dose of whatever tablets and let decide themselves, when and where they want to take them.
  Legalised / institutionalized or not, I think, eventually it will always come down to the given situation, and the humanity of the given role-players. As it has always been the case.

• A comment on Conversation: Where do our thoughts come from?

  Mar 13 2011: As a pro simultaneous interpreter I think I can testify that at least my thoughts are not coming from my own knowledge only. The most prominent experience suggesting that to me was when some 10 years ago, I was interpreting at a Bahai conference (on religion and history). My turn coming, unexpectedly, I had to translate a Hungarian scientist's presentation on her latest discoveries on the operation of the human brain, and quantum physics. She didn't know English at all. Imagine how worried I became. I had never dealt with those, not even at the level of curiosity, and this was the first time in my life I first heard the term 'quantum physics'. In Hungarian, save for English! The other reason of worry was that my English was supposed to be used by the other booth to translate the presentation into German. In desperation, I closed my eyes. After a few seconds, however, "something clicked" in my head. I shifted over to a dreamlike state, with very vivid pictures racing through my head at what felt light speed. Another 40 minutes later I was woken up from this state by the German colleagues shaking my hand, saying that they never had experienced before such real-time simultaneity, and accuracy. The topic of the presentation, the way I managed to translate - out of pure desperation -, and similar experiences told by colleagues, make me believe that many thoughts cannot come and are definitely not coming from my own brain. There must be some very physical interconnection among brains, which, in the lack of purely scientific algorithms, we, humans are more willing to accept as a spiritual experience. It taught me the lesson that even if I'm unable to go into the intricate formulae of mathematics/physics I can follow the ideas of contemporary scientists. Some quantum physicists even spell it out that, eventually, one should "feel" quantum physics because the brain is max. 4D but the multiverse is nD. It makes me think that spirituality and science are supportive siblings.

• A comment on Conversation: Why are we British so bad at customer service, when all we have left is the service industry?

  Feb 27 2011: Could it be because of the "at least we are British" approach?
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: How would you describe the purpose of life in one sentence?

  Feb 26 2011: Learning.