TED Community » Nicholas Lukowiak

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Cognitive (evolutionary) studies, writing, religion, philosophy, psychology, [human] nature and astronomy.

** Check out my blog!

An idea worth spreading

Talk to strangers,
do not fear anything,
and never be afraid to say "I don't know,"
Don't judge people on how they look,
their age,
or anything else tangible,
judge people on what they preach and question.
Live life.
Find the memento mori

Talk to me about

Anything + Everything
If you do not know what you want to do with your college education
If you just need to talk to somebody

People don't know that I'm good at

Cooking

My TED Story

Found TED off of stumbleupon.com and I was always "liking" (a function of SU) videos of talks on here decided to join. Now a huge advocate of TED.

2 years later - Not as active as I once was, but still partial partisan!

Comments

• TEDCred score: +58.40 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Optimistic View of The Future

  Apr 30 2013: Transhumanism ideologies involving heavy pragmatic and existential supplements in order to craft singularity of true equality (- all basic needs for human beings as global requirements. Basic needs: education, food, shelter and resources like the internet).

• A comment on Conversation: A Challenge: Taking Responsibility

  Apr 30 2013: Those who are bored take the most for granted... Number one thing being a privileged enough mind to not worry about basic needs like shelter and food... They are taking their mind for granted, what your mind can provide for you is everything and anything as far as bettering yourself as an individual. As far as wanting to be someone famous, well, if that is the goal, you will always be bored.
  
  Perhaps some of this discussion can carry over to recent bombings and shootings in America?

• A comment on Conversation: Are people of faith in fact gullible?

  Apr 29 2013: Perhaps instead of practicing Neo-Atheism, the question of what makes people gullible in general can shred light on some issues here...
  
  First off, people of faith? I will assume 'religious fundamentalist' is your inference, since faith is STRONG belief and as emotional intelligence theory suggest - the separation between emotions and reason are not the fine line philosophers would love to suggest. I have faith humanity will not destroy itself, faith that European countries (plus America) will stop being ignorant toward foreign policies... Yeah I guess that makes me gullible, since the contrary of these faith-based thoughts are more likely.
  
  So, what makes a group of people gullible? Or an individual within a group? (social cognition studies)
  
  Well, like I am sure you read some fine atheist materials (blogs, forums, articles, etc) we can call them scripture. Yet, they are not ancient nor bound to predisposed organizations (per say), but many people would have read the same scriptures and would have based mutual arguments off of them. What we have here is the idea of 'people' letting 'people' know what to think. Well that is a part of human thinking... When I want to know if something is worth thinking, I research or find someone who has the knowledge to get me started with that certain thinking. How can I at any point begin to Question without having known previous answers, questions and solutions to previous Questions?
  
  Essentially what makes people gullible is a state of emotional acceptance they involve themselves with others in order to be comfortable with overall cognition.
  
  A child will accept your candy without thinking you're a stranger, but thinking candy brings them joy. Emotions trumped reasoning, but not a fair example, since as adults we think about what makes us happy as a part of our reasoning.... right?
  
  What you want is a justified way to insult individuals who practice dogmas and biased band wagon thoughts... hard to do when guilty of such....
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Are people of faith in fact gullible?

  Apr 29 2013: They assume more than they can possibly know - sounds gullible.

• A comment on Conversation: Does religion cause the placebo effect?

  Apr 12 2013: "You choose to accept God, correct? There for it must be conscious. You choose to believe that your faith will help you in life. Maybe god exist, maybe not. Just like the sugar pill you will get the benefits regardless."
  
  1. A lot of people are given 'God' through indoctrination. I do not necessarily accept 'God' until God is defined.
  2. Yes, but the consciousness of God existed before I did, thus 1. and thousands of years of documents of information relating to an idea of 'God' or many ideas.
  3. People do believe the faith does assist them in life, yes, but this does not inference to the fact it is a 'placebo effect', therefore there exist a physical substance which an individual believes will help them in such a cognitive reaction.
  3.a. As the below will summarize - calling it a 'placebo effect' ignores a lot of relative reasoning behind faith-based conformism and practice.
  
  It's not that the faith makes people happy or feel enlightened, necessarily. It's that the refusal of the faith will cause dysphoria. If the faith is never challenged they are happy, but there are no sugar pills there is environment and education. This isn't about tricking the brain, this is about straight out brain chemistry relating to social and group-thinking.
  
  What effects the final cause of both 'placebo effect' and 'faith-based states of mind' may be ontologically similar but the exact nature of the cause, goes beyond even those two concepts. What causes someone to feel better on false premises? (To simplify it to such a simplistic answer (placebo effect) shows disregard for the nature in which humans think, a complex activation of evolutionary factors and cultural responses PLUS more)
  
  Let me put it this way. Religious belief or faith, is not at the extent of taking a red pill or the blue pill, lol.
  
  Faith in anything develops overtime with communal and cultural interactions. The reasoning one would believe to take a pill and feel better, is a cultural+individual causality.

• A comment on Conversation: Collective effort for common good

  Apr 12 2013: I wrote this paper a little while ago for a class, and feel as though you may like to read the scattered arguments and vague relative science theory.
  
  Abstract: There is a paradox that permeates our American culture which has been (and is) manifested: 1. when the American Dream interlaces in our education (media, schools and cultural history) and 2. our natural instincts of being socially altruistic - conflict in order to create primary values. By citing a literary theorist as well as an evolutionary sociologist, the (three part) argument will be made for: A. the paradox actually exist, B. where one can see active examples and C. how it can/does effect us in value forming. As the argument formulates, I will go as far as to suggest the reasoning of this paradox goes beyond our society's conscious control, and part of the said paradoxical problem may very well exist in factors which historically proven to be evolutionarily beneficial - which today, unreflected and uneducated on, proves the opposite.
  
  http://ezinearticles.com/?First-Step-to-Contemporary-Civil-Disobedience:-Identification-of-the-Paradoxical-Issues&id=7415922

• A comment on Conversation: Men do a terrible job in ruling our world. So it is about time we allow women to rule instead and see if they can do a better job.

  Apr 12 2013: What psychological evidence can you provide to defend your position, rather than mere hearsay of political ideology (which at this point in time have openly imbedded corrupt systems into the infrastructure of government)?
  
  I do not mean this in any offensive way, I actually agree, but am wondering if you have any cognitive proof which would assert women as being a better leader than men. I have read case-studies where women are better language teachers, but not leaders or politicians. So, please, any data, share.
  
  - All the best with your campaign

• A reply on Conversation: Why and when do you decide to like either a comment or conversation?

  Mar 29 2013: Fritz! You are definitely a large contributor to the conversation boards as well as someone I do not skip over reading.
  
  Thanks for commenting!

• A reply on Conversation: Why and when do you decide to like either a comment or conversation?

  Mar 29 2013: I always enjoy the things you had to say Pabi.
  
  Definitely, your statement is why I usually like your comments.

• A reply on Conversation: How do we define existence?

  Mar 28 2013: Zen :-D