Members Jozef C

Jan 23 2012: If there were still Mayans, they would just make another calendar.

Jan 23 2012: It is said that what is called the Spirit of an Age is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. In the same way, a single year does not have just spring or summer. A single day, too, is the same. For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation.

:: Hagakure

Oct 25 2011: I preferred watching the artist draw in fast-forward over seeing them animated with sound effects and such. It made the complex ideas easier to follow, being able to read along with the artist's hand. Still, wonderful work!

Feb 2 2011: I agree, Richard! This is just one thread in a huge forum beneath this video. It only takes a single informed individual with credible sources to refute an argument like the one above, and then the issue will be closed for good.

If a debate continues, so what? Those that want to take part can, those that don't, don't have to. Those that see it as irrelevant, uninformed, or vulgar can simply click the 'thumbs down' button. That's why it's there!

Feb 2 2011: Isn't the point of having the 'thumbs down' button specifically to hide those responses that you may find inappropriate, uninformed, or vulgar?

Feb 2 2011: I must agree! You said it best yourself when you spoke of Kurgan inspiring you to get more involved on the TED website. Months ago I noted that, while I knew I didn't agree with him, Kurgan had a valid argument that was hard to refute.

As I told him myself, if we aren't presented with these sorts of penetrating questions, we will have no good answers.

Feb 1 2011: @Keith W Agreed. Evidence is key. Holy texts are not evidence, because each was initially written down by a human, and every one of them has since been tampered with by other humans.

"god exists outside of time and so the rules of cause and effect do not apply."

What an interesting, yet confusing response. It implies that god is not part of this universe. He is not tethered by these rules, and yet he created the laws of nature that affect everything? He has no causes or effects, yet gives his followers strict commands to follow so that they may be properly judged? Doesn't that affect them? Weren't we created in his image, retaining his qualities? Either god is affected by these rules and thus must need a creator himself, or he is not and has no bearing on any sort of physical or social life--an impotent observer, a god of nothing. Either way, god is not necessary.

Jan 31 2011: But, to actually answer your question, "Would we get a similar result after 13.7 billion years?"

Not necessarily. There is never one simple cause to any event, social or otherwise, and something as far back and as vast as the Big Bang cannot be summed up into one specific thing that went 'right.' For all we know, this Universe has been compressing and exploding itself for eons, creating and destroying itself over and over, until some creatures took advantage of this hospitable environment and evolved to ponder our own existence and the meaning of the beauty behind all that we have come from.

One could ask, "who or what caused the Big Bang?" and "who or what made god?" And then, once you have an answer, you would ask, "Well, who made that creature?" And so on. ("It's turtles all the way down!") There is no need for us to say a god has created the Universe unless there is OBJECTIVE evidence of it. Once that evidence is found, then the theories will be adjusted to fit that evidence.

Jan 31 2011: @Abdel Forgive me for just jumping in.

What you've probably heard is that the entire mass of the Big Bang was so compressed and dense that it was smaller than a single Hydrogen atom. The entire Universe was compressed into a tiny dot.

Your next questions are confused. We can't 'explode' hydrogen. We can tear helium in two, which leaves us with two hydrogen atoms. Hydrogen only has one proton, so it can't be divided any smaller. Every other atom contains more than one proton, so it can be subjected to fission, or the breaking of the bonds that hold those protons together. Fission is what happens in nuclear power plants--uranium has 92* protons and releases a lot of energy when split. Fusion is what happens in stars where the super hot temperatures bond two hydrogen atoms into a helium. From then on, Carbon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen are produced by the star and projected out, which is in turn absorbed and used by planets, stars, or other objects.

Jan 26 2011: Individuals can't grow if they are killed in war. Why the necessary prescription?

If one doesn't take part in 2 arguments a week, are they to make up for it the next week with 4? If it's all 'on average,' can't the average be lowered if more people argue less?

Generalizing the human condition as if there were only one way to experience things is foolish. Some strive for conflict to help resolve it, others seek to incite it for their own clouded, subjective reasons.

Jan 17 2011: Luckily it is relatively easy to share ideas, so those few can spread the good word to their friends and colleagues!

Jan 17 2011: I thought he did a good job highlighting the differences but showing that we all at least partially support the same ideals and moral values. Common ground is easier to find than some think.

"Think conservative MINUS religion, and you will have what works best for this country."

Exactly. It's a give and take situation called compromise. One side is rarely 100% correct. We need both sides to be flexible to have anything worthwhile decided. Generalizations about the other side are foolish. Classifying individuals into your own idea of whatever -ism they belong to does no good, either, because there are always different interpretations of every possible -ism there is! Two conservatives can argue with each other with the same amount of passion; nit-picking a specific point that they may disagree on. The same goes with two liberals, two communists, etc. No one likes being classified because it unintentionally destroys their individuality.

Dec 31 2010: I agree that low-income families are largely ignored, but couldn't the vast homes of suburbia be adapted to help? I've lived in plenty of old Victorian-styled homes that had been remodeled to house three or four families in separate apartments.

Dec 29 2010: I think a big problem is the use of the word "perfect." Since everyone can have their own subjective opinion on what this perfection is or should be, it makes the whole idea imperfect. We're perfectly imperfect, which sounds perfect to me.

Thijs says, "But we humans are born without vulnerability problems."

I think it goes without saying that a baby on it's own is vulnerable as is. Newborns cannot survive without parental figures providing food and shelter, among other things. We are literally born into a state of vulnerability, become more aware of it as the years go by and subsequently try to hide it in public.

Dec 26 2010: NurAlhuda: Through a microscope, all humans look like a mass of cells. The only difference between us and single-cell organisms is that our cells have evolved to work together in a functioning body, performing tasks for systems inside that body. Blood cells, skin cells, brain cells...

Inside of those cells--and everything else that reproduces--is DNA. We all share DNA because we have all inherited it from a shared ancestor. There is beauty and elegance in that thought.

Dec 26 2010: However, it seems the older I get, the less I can afford--and I'm sure I'm not alone. This is a viable and functioning alternative to buying new, which will always be an option to those that seek it.

Dec 1 2010: Don't you think it's a little simplistic to generalize the entire human race as being completely power-driven?

The camel story wasn't a trick. It was a way of showing how solutions can often be overlooked in the heat of conflict. He's not talking about 'tricking' the Middle East into getting along. He's getting them to look past their differences and embrace their similarities through a strong cultural heritage of respecting Abraham.

Of course it won't work for everyone. There will be people fleecing tourists--just like any other tourist hot-spot. But the idea of hospitality with regards to Abraham seems like an idea that a great deal of the general public would get behind and support not just for peace, but for a little slice of revenue.

There are people in Israel and Palestine who care. This trait has been given to countless other humans of many different origins.

Nov 15 2010: More people need to see this excellent film!

Sep 28 2010: At 6:55 ~ 7:10 he specifically quotes Proverbs justifying corporal punishment of children.

His anecdote of the Taliban's opinions of physics was about as harsh as when he was comparing himself to Edward Witten (15:15). All he was saying is that he and the Taliban (generalizing) are not physicists, and so their opinions about things such as string theory shouldn't hold merit.

Sep 22 2010: I believe you're thinking of Bill Engvall... Oh how I wish I didn't know that.