TED Community » Colin MacAskill

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• A reply on Conversation: Is there a correlation between David Christian's big history and Terence McKenna's novelty theory?

  May 25 2011: Yeah that's what I understood of David' talk as well, it's a really ineresting way of looking at the history of the universe. This is what Mckenna maintained as well, and he observed like Dave that each stage of complexity evolves at a quicker rate than the stage preceeding it. For example, after the big bang took place it took hundreds of thousands of years for the universe to cool and to begin forming the hydrogen bond - an extremely long time to make a relatively small jump in complexity. Just looking at the 20th century, when there was merely 60 years between the time we invented the first aircraft and the time we landed on the moon, I think it's safe to say that the universe seems to be bulding on complexity at an exponential rate. This suggests that there will eventually be a point where ever-incresing complexity will hit its asymptote, and Mckenna suggested it would be in 2012. I've always found this a little hard to believe, but who knows? There's been a lot of transhumanists over the past few decades proposing humanity will soon hit the technological singularity, perhaps there's a correlation there.

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

  Apr 11 2011: News on television has never appealed to me.. I've turned to internet news providers for the past few years years and I find the content covers a much more expansive area than that provided by any TV news station. Also the internet gives you some control as to what news you read/watch, so it takes away the the arbitrary medium in which these stations convey their message.
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  A reply on Conversation: Who thinks it's time for TED to get behind the marijuana legalization movement?

  Apr 7 2011: Perhaps you don't recall what happened last time alcohol was prohibited?
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  A reply on Conversation: Who thinks it's time for TED to get behind the marijuana legalization movement?

  Apr 7 2011: There's lots of debate on whether it's addictive, I think it depends on the individual. But whether it is or not, should the government be permitted to tell an adult what he or she can put in their own body in the privacy of their own home? I thought a government's job was to govern, not babysit!
  
  Also, I don't believe legalization and social acceptance have to go hand in hand. Unfortunately that is the case with alcohol, which is why our television and billboards are flooded with alcohol ads telling you to drink. And people wonder why our society has an alcohol problem! Legal or not, no drug - alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or whatever - should be advertised.. at least not as aggressively as most goods.
  
  And well said Nick, I agree.

• A reply on Conversation: Who thinks it's time for TED to get behind the marijuana legalization movement?

  Apr 7 2011: Yes, and I am a young Canadian.. I think you may have missed my point? I'm not denying the the lenient attitudes most young Canadians have towards marijuana, but it's certainly not the only issue we're concerned with.
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  A reply on Conversation: Who thinks it's time for TED to get behind the marijuana legalization movement?

  Apr 7 2011: I completely agree that it's a touchy subject, but if we refrain from discussing it for that reason how will it become an un-touchy subject? We need to change our attitudes towards this issue, simply ignoring the drug war isn't getting us anywhere.

• A reply on Conversation: Who thinks it's time for TED to get behind the marijuana legalization movement?

  Apr 6 2011: Yes, you would think :P although that isn't the case at all, I've witnessed plenty of young Canadians committed to helping resolve many issues, you'd be surprised! I felt the need to put this particular issue up for discussion because although it may adhere to the stereotypical "Legalize it" mentality, it is nonetheless very important.
  
  And with all the major issues in the world, we could only expect the US to keep spending their money mingling in the affairs of foreign nations across the planet - especially when there's a war taking place at their border! Looking at the number of lives ruined by the drug war next to the pointlessness of it all really is astonishing, and I think it's time for people to start reflecting on these policies rationally.

• A comment on Conversation: What is the psychological interpretation of dreams..?

  Apr 6 2011: According to Jung dreams are unconscious elements of our psyche coming into contact with our conscious. Dream interpretation is very tricky, the majority of the time the "message" we are trying to convey to ourselves comes in the form of symbols or symbolic experiences. Many native and indigenous cultures share dreams and interpretate them for each other almost as a ritual every morning, as they believe there to be important things to be learned about ourselves. Jung spent decades analyzing dreams and came up with some interesting stuff, to say the least.
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  A comment on Conversation: Wealth and power have been our conventional measures of success. What definition will better sustain us now and how can we move into it?

  Apr 5 2011: Funny, I had a similar conversation with my dad not too long ago and he thought the same thing.. I don't think I could answer it any better than Alan Watts did in this short video, check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4
  
  "What would be a better definition of accomplishment for us and how could we collectively shift toward embracing this?"
  
  That seems to be the golden question, doesn't it! Although its subjective nature makes it tricky.. Accomplishment is relative to each individual, and I believe you must find yourself before you decide what it is in life you wish to accomplish. I can't speak for everyone, but in my experience learning who you are and what makes you happy in life is the path to true happiness. A system focused the mass production of happiness instead of material objects would be much more accomodating to the individual, although the way that would go about is beyond me.
  
  Without doubt, our system has many negative aspects: the overproduction/overcomsumption of goods, material fetishes, classism, growing economic inequality - it's not a pretty picture. Everyone should know that life isn't a race to aquire as many material goods as possible before death, and in reality, hoarding your wealth only hurts those who don't have enough to make it by. If we want a serious change, I don't think much (or any) of our current system can be salvaged. This corporate-consumermania headache we have in place isn't making our lives any better while destroying the environment in the meantime.

• A comment on Conversation: How could we relate to the world around us without the concept of time?

  Apr 5 2011: It's possible that the concept of time is culture-relative. I remember Pinker mentioning an indigenous culture in his book "The Language Instinct" which had no linguistic symbol for time (or perhaps it was for the past and future tenses, I can't quite recall), anyways, they conceived of "time" as an ever-existing, present state. It's impossible for anyone raised in Western society to conceive of time in this way, I'd say much of our linear perception of time comes from the extent we rely on the calendar and time itself in our everyday lives.