TED Community » Agustinus Lawandy

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I'm passionate about

Global Problems, Environmental Problems, Mechanics of the Brain, Science and Technology Development, Education

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  A reply on Talk: Frans de Waal: Moral behavior in animals

  Apr 12 2012: Daniel,
  Of course there is little morality in such things and it is not peculiar at all. It is simply a way for human to advance science. But because humans are more emotional than rational, there is ethics in science. For example we can not open someone's brain while alive and study them even if the person agreed and we cannot confine a human from conception to maturity for research even though such study will advance science faster. Morality and ethics in science is very inefficient, a bottleneck to progress, but humane nevertheless.

• A reply on Talk: Dan Dennett: Cute, sexy, sweet, funny

  Dec 1 2011: I believe religion and science can coexist, as a matter of fact many philosopher and brilliant scientist are religious people, guess who proposed the Big Bang? Georges Lemaître, a Belgian priest. I myself am an Atheist and I believe that science and religion can coexist if and only if religious institution does not slow science progression.

• A reply on Talk: Daniel Wolpert: The real reason for brains

  Nov 30 2011: Let's see the definition - "the brain is designed to produce adaptable and complex movements"
  Now laziness as explained in Wikipedia "Laziness (also called indolence) is a disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to do so"
  So laziness translates to: "the brain produce movement that exert least energy possible energy while the body still has enough energy reserve to do more intense movement"
  An example would be, sleeping, you would be moving occasionally in bed, your muscle will contract slightly occasionally, your eyes would rotate rapidly during REM stage, your organs will still move to keep the body going, but sleeping is not an intense activity at all.
  What's so hard in explaining it? Are we not on the same page?

• A reply on Talk: Daniel Wolpert: The real reason for brains

  Nov 30 2011: Well it is, and he explained it in his past talks http://cbl.eng.cam.ac.uk/Public/Wolpert/KavliTalk "but I can't let a neuroscientific fact stole a good joke" ;)

• A reply on Talk: Daniel Wolpert: The real reason for brains

  Nov 30 2011: This discussion made me curious so I searched and one of the definition of machine is
  "4. An intricate natural system or organism, such as the human body." from TheFreeDictionary This doesn't just translate directly as human body, but it actually defines it.
  What I can not see is why do you feel 'machine' have a bad connotation? " ... This reason is that we animals are the most complicated and perfectly-designed pieces of machinery in the known universe." Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins
  Machine, is a word, only a word, that symbolize an idea, the idea is never exact and varies individually. If you wish to give 'Machine' a negative connotation, fine. "It's a very ugly habit to say that people are machines." But do not expect people to understand you if you do not try to understand them.
  I'll give another example, when I was an elementary grader my teacher kept telling my friends to shut up (small children are extremely noisy), when the children doesn't stop talking then they will shout "Are you animals that can't be told?" this is one way to distill a negative connotation in an idea, while a zoologist would be perfectly fine calling themselves animals. One definition of animals is "A living organism that feeds on organic matter, typically having specialized sense organs and nervous system and able to respond rapidly to stimuli" another is "A person whose behavior is regarded as devoid of human attributes or civilizing influences, esp. someone who is very cruel, violent, or repulsive" The idea of a word is never exact, use it however you wish, but do not expect to be understood, if you do not wish to understand other people.

• A reply on Talk: Daniel Wolpert: The real reason for brains

  Nov 30 2011: How is it same thing? It seems to me Moshé Feldenkrais is focusing on increasing self-awareness through movement, while Daniel Wolpert is focusing on the mechanics of movement in the brain and using his findings to improve robotics. Two entirely different subject.

• A reply on Talk: Annie Murphy Paul: What we learn before we're born

  Nov 30 2011: Excessive dieting during pregnancy would put the baby in the similar situation with someone starving, and if the mother doesn't really understand what nutrition she needs, the baby will have defects, just search 'pregnancy nutrition'.

• A reply on Talk: Annie Murphy Paul: What we learn before we're born

  Nov 30 2011: "pregnant population of Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq and else where. These places still have horrible conditions for the pregnant women. "
  What do you mean by horrible conditions?

• A reply on Conversation: What is your greatest passion and how have you been able to develop and sustain it?

  Sep 5 2011: I am still thinking how I'm going to make money though... I keep remembering myself how naive I am, and if I were alone I would probably not survive, I spent years under the protection of my parents who sooner or later going to leave me struggling all by myself, that makes the difficulty of getting an A in all subjects pale in comparison (at least in my imagination)

• A reply on Conversation: What is your greatest passion and how have you been able to develop and sustain it?

  Sep 4 2011: mmm try new things? I got this idea to learn a lot of things all by myself using tutorials from the internet such as trying to work out without going to gym, how that sounds?