TED Community » Janet Karasz

More About Me

Talk to me about

I value dialogue, a genuine meeting of minds.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +0.30 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +2

  A comment on Conversation: If one's mental illness could be cured by a single pill, would you choose to do so?

  Jul 3 2012: There are many in my family who are mentally ill. I have seen the debilitation these diseases cause, and I would not wish them on my worst enemy. CT scans now show lesions in the frontal lobes of untreated Schizophrenics. This is worse than an unusual and creative mind; this is a mind under attack. The illnesses of the mind elude treatment because the very center that we depend on for self-diagnosis, our mind, is affected. The person must take a terrific leap of faith and trust the healers, when their very reality is untrustworthy. Additionally, the medications we have today have significant side effects. I see others have noted the "flat" personalities that result. These medications are not a cure. They are palliatives (except for depression perhaps). I fantasize about the creation of a Nanite tribe that would map a brain, repair connections, and disentangle the terrible neuron loops that trap the ill in delusion. This would be a benevolent Nanite tribe of course, self-destructing in a final act of altruism when their work is done.
  
  If there were a magic pill to cure paralysis, would we be having this conversation?

• A reply on Conversation: A conversation with Prudential: As people are living longer, how can we plan for a retirement that could last up to 30 years or more?

  Apr 25 2012: I am of a generation that just heard that my retirement age has been extended to 67. I have no doubt as the deadline looms that it will creep ever forward.
  
  I like your thought that the concept of work - then retirement - has to undergo a fundamental shift in perception. I also plan on staying active as long as my health allows. I fill my days with volunteer activities and hobbies that I am passionate about. I enjoy all my days including the salaried ones. I suspect I will carry this same vitality and optimism through my sixties.
  
  The concept that one is to work for others for a peculiar and particular life-sentence, deferring living for oneself afterwards has got to go. I suspect if I do officially retire, I will carry on hobbies and interests that may not provide a STEADY income but will fill my days.
  
  To answer prudential, I think it is unfair to suggest that the vital young invest ever more for an extended
  retirement".

• A reply on Conversation: How do we get back the neighborhood?

  Mar 28 2012: How about kindness/hugging flash mobs? Here is the Haleleujah chorus in a food court.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE
  Of course, this would take a little more PLANNING than a a spontaneous event....
  
  I suspect the civic authorities are cautious about such things because they are so UNCONTROLLED.

• A comment on Conversation: Is the future "infinite copyright" ?

  Mar 21 2012: I understand the importance of copyright to properly compensate creatives and inventors, but copyright law is in need of serious reform. It is too complex. To comply, all creative works must be stamped with the author, and the author must explicitly give up their "rights" to compensation to make it freely available. In the world of Open Data, this becomes a nightmare. I've also heard of companies trying to copyright genetic string combinations, which I believe a Judge sensibly shot down.
  
  To replace copyright, could there be a voluntary option to be designated state sponsored creative? Or would that be just as awful? I am thinking of the Japanese Living National Treasures and how they are honored.

• A reply on Conversation: How do we get back the neighborhood?

  Mar 20 2012: I read about the thresshold of about 200 that any one person can know well in Gladwell's book the Tipping Point. Is it not possible, even in a big city, to have pockets of familiar neighbours of about 200 each? The larger city can support the infrastructure, while people are better at making connections (given the opportunity, location, and tools).
  
  Jim Diers gives compelling evidence from two neighbourhoods in Chicago; one vibrant, one disconnected. Both were similar demographically. When a killer heat wave hit the city, no-one died in the vibrant community. Neighbours checked in on the vulnerable, because they knew where they were. It was not so fortunate in the disconnected community next door.

• A comment on Conversation: How do we get back the neighborhood?

  Mar 20 2012: If we are looking for a technical solution, you might be interested in the Open Data Movement. The City of Vancouver has risen to the challenge and provided an Open Data platform available for developers.
  http://data.vancouver.ca/

• A reply on Conversation: What if the Cannabis plant was essential rather than illegal? Would prohibition of it be possible?

  Mar 20 2012: There is no such thing as a perfect food. As omnivores, we benefit from variety. Each of the examples provided have a different ratio of protein to fat, fiber content, and so on. All of the examples have good fat. The energy available by weight is much higher for the hemp, because of the high fat content. So one would eat it like a nut (in small doses) rather than a meal (as in an avocado sandwich).

• A comment on Conversation: How do we get back the neighborhood?

  Mar 20 2012: I found comfort in concepts laid out in Jim Diers' Neighbourhood Power. He gives tips on how to engage people in projects, especially building neighbourhood "bumping places" where we come together and interact.
  
  I wonder if there is something fundamentally flawed in the process of developer to town submission to build. The developer does his best to build what we say we want. But our craving for georgeous indoor spaces and Privacy may come at the cost of engaging our neighbours.
  
  Might individuals, public service associations, and clubs be given the tools to put together coherent submissions for community projects - such as the ever-popular community garden - that the town can comprehend and support to implementation?

• A comment on Conversation: When the brand others have made for you overwhelms the real you, how do you re-brand yourself as yourself?

  Mar 15 2012: Have you heard of the Klout influence report? I ran it on myself and sadly found out that my internet persona is that of "Observer". I am far away from being a Mover and Shaker. On reflection, though, I've decided to own it. I am a natural introvert. I do sit back and absob my surroundings before I speak. Being a sharp observer in these chaotic times can be a hot commodity. What would be most excellent is to be heard those few times I do choose to speak up.
  
  Great thought-provoking subject, thanks.

• A comment on Conversation: What if the Cannabis plant was essential rather than illegal? Would prohibition of it be possible?

  Mar 15 2012: Having spent a career in the belly of bureacracy, I have an aversion to any policy based on dogma. I have witnessed the effects of such policies, and it is never good. I understand how the "war on drugs" may have brushed aside a plant wtth potential beneftis. On the other hand, it is just as extreme and ill-informed to replant our boreal forests with hemp. Monoculture is BAAAAAD.
  
  The nutritional content above fails to put it in context, that is "Serving Size". I've done a quick browse through the internet and compared the nutritional content of the contenders I mentioned against Hemp seed. Each one, however, has a different serving size: Hemp - 56 g, Soya 86 g, Avocado 164 g, and Chickpea 150 g. I think the different serving size has to do with the various fat content and total calorie counts. It turns out Hemp is loaded with fat. Not a good idea to eat a half-cup at a sitting, as we can happily do with an Avocado. When I compensated the various nutritional contents to the same serving size (114 g), Hemp is the winner for protein content (25 g) compared to the Avocado, (10 g). But the total fat content is also higher for the hemp, (35 g) compared to the Avocado, (3 g).