TED Community » Harold Saxon

More About Me

I'm passionate about

politics; human rights; psychology; anthropology. (people, in other words.) oh! and books.

Talk to me about

yourself; people; books

Comments

• TEDCred score: +0.50 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Do we really need Royal Families and their regencies? Why dont we just dismiss them?

  Sep 15 2011: We don't really need them. But they're fun to look at. They're sort of the face of their country, and it's been that way for quite some time. It's really just following an ancient tradition. Though I agree that they aren't really relevant in today's political climate.

• A reply on Conversation: What would be a self-awareness test that humans could not pass?

  Sep 15 2011: No, I mean 'us', as individuals. For example, why would I choose to smoke cigarettes even though I know they'll give me cancer?
  I think conscience governs how we behave toward others, which is entirely different from how we treat ourselves.
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: What would be a self-awareness test that humans could not pass?

  Sep 12 2011: An ability to clearly understand what is and is not good for us. I think it's certainly something humans ought to have, but we don't.

• A comment on Conversation: What subjects do you think you should be taught at school nowadays?

  Sep 12 2011: I'm currently a high school student and I can tell you that Home Economics classes have been largely discontinued- and as someone who has absolutely NO domestic skills whatsoever, I really wish we had one. And then there are all the fun classes like Philosophy, or Anthropology, Psychology, etc.

• A comment on Conversation: What is the single most important question that the youth of this era need to ask themselves?

  Sep 12 2011: Where are we going? I feel like a lot of my peers are just sort of living without thinking about the future and I think we could really benefit from some... direction, I guess.

• A reply on Conversation: Where is the centre of the universe?

  Jun 9 2011: I agree with you. I wonder if other species are anthropocentric or if it is a uniquely human idea...?

• A comment on Conversation: What gets a conversation going?

  Jun 8 2011: I click on the things that don't sound boring. Occasionally I start to comment but realize I don't have any idea how to say what I think in a coherent manner, as Christopher said.

• A reply on Conversation: Nothing's off topic

  Jun 8 2011: Tim, that's incredibly interesting. I don't think the idea of an antimatter universe fits into that theory but it's very interesting nonetheless. (I admit to not fully understanding the mathematical bits, though)
  Reading the Wikipedia article made me think about Schrodinger's cat some more. I read somewhere that Schrodinger actually hated the idea of Schrodinger's cat. As I understand it, he wanted to simplify quantum physics but he actually made it more complex.
  The idea is supposed to prove, or maybe explain, that it is the act of observation itself which conforms reality into a specific state. I disagree, though Was the Earth not round when people thought it was flat? Maybe I just don't understand quantum physics.
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Is true gender-neutrality/genderlessness possible?

  Jun 8 2011: I read about this too. Honestly, I think it's a terrible idea. Although we can argue that gender norms in our society should be changed, I don't think subjecting your child to the world's prejudices is a good way to change them. I fully support loving your child for who they are, but I think these parents are still forcing a gender identity onto their kid, although not in a traditional manner. Also, how is this going to bode for the child for the rest of their lives? Kids can be cruel, school will be hell for Storm. The parents are being naive by not considering that.
  My verdict is that this is a fascinating experiment, but the parents have seriously poor judgement.

• A reply on Conversation: Why do/don't you have a profile picture?

  Jun 7 2011: You can. In my experience, people have less respect for younger individuals, and, to a lesser extent, women. Julie Ann verbalized her point much better than I did, and I agree completely with her. I would prefer to be judged only by my ideas rather than by my appearance, age, gender or level of education.