TED Community » Joe Woodhouse

More About Me

I'm passionate about

the development, in a critical mass of people, of a balanced big picture awareness in the service of humanity as it confronts the rapidly deepening planetary crisis.

An idea worth spreading

I launched a website called Ark of Awareness which is a synthesis of science, the experience of present centered awareness, humor,community and art. It is designed as a nutrient for the development of a balanced big picture awareness and as an experiment in connectivity for the aware. http://www.arkofawareness.com/

Talk to me about

science of consciousness, evolution, new awareness, an emergent symbiotic collection of aware humans, planetary predicament, climate change, astronomy, physics, meditation, Zen, power of now, yoga

My TED Story

TED connects many aware people on Earth. Every week I learn new things about remarkable people working to improve the human condition.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +39.80 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +6

  A comment on Talk: Sebastião Salgado: The silent drama of photography

  May 5 2013: I find this talk as well as Sebastiao's photography to be highly inspirational. His big picture awareness moves us to revive our forests thereby repairing the dysfunctional and maladaptive awareness of our human collective. There could be no better or worthwhile plan for humanity at this point of unprecedented human crisis. This is an alternative to the denial, ignorance and hateful violence which grows daily on our planet... my heart goes with this great man and all that he advocates.

• A comment on Talk: Dean Ornish: Your genes are not your fate

  Apr 16 2013: My wife and I were inspired by Dean Ornish to adopt a whole food plant based diet over two and a half years ago. We have experienced what we consider to be almost miraculous improvements in every aspect of our lives. For instance, I have stabilized a life threatening heart condition and taken my cholesterol from 248 down to 177 without medications. Even more amazing are the improvements in awareness and cognition. We share our journey, and especially the delicious food we have been eating at the following non-commercial website. http://www.newparadigmhealthcookery.com
  
  We wish to thank Dr. Ornish for his pioneering work, for the knowledge that has empowered us and for the exuberant health that has resulted.
• +3

  A comment on Talk: Wade Davis: Gorgeous photos of a backyard wilderness worth saving

  Mar 4 2013: This was an extremely moving talk. This is one of the key decisions of our age as corporations ask themselves if they can morally ruin the habitability of our planet for short term profits. It is thrilling to experience the courage, authenticity, and wisdom of a speaker like Wade Davis.
  
  This is the theme from the movie, "Avatar" only it is playing out here on Earth. Awareness of this pattern may be essential to the survival of our civilization.
• +2

  A comment on Talk: Marcus Byrne: The dance of the dung beetle

  Dec 16 2012: Livings things dance with the Universe to adapt and survive. Makes you wonder how effective our current human dance with the Universe is? Human beings, in our current predicament with the habitability of our planet collapsing, seem somewhat like the beetle whose orientation has been shifted by the experimenter. All of sudden, we don't know where we are or what to do...
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Teenaged boy wonders play bluegrass

  Nov 21 2012: This is a heart warming TED classic performance. It made my day... made me laugh out loud with joy! Thank you!

• A comment on Talk: Matt Killingsworth: Want to be happier? Stay in the moment

  Nov 10 2012: This is an important talk and is part of a growing base of scientific knowledge that will be the foundation for developing a skill in modulating awareness. This is a potentially transformative development for our species and planet in this time of unprecedented planetary crisis.
  
  Coming from many sciences pertaining to the human brain, patterns are revealed that allow us to develop a flexible, present centered, big picture awareness in the service of all life on this planet... knowledge becomes power to solve problems and transform our personal world which in turn, if accomplished by a collective, could transform the planet to a more sustainable state.

• A comment on Talk: Seth Shostak: ET is (probably) out there -- get ready

  Jun 3 2012: This talk is excellent and contains three extremely important insights... 1) We are likely to find evidence of life on other planets within ten years. 2) Our awareness will be shifted in entirely unexpected ways. 3) Our chances to survive as a planetary civilization are being severely damaged by the anti-science ignorance of the so called "right wing"... those whose minds have been ruined and narrowed beyond repair by totalitarian religious and political ideologies.
  
  The best aspects and most hopeful aspects of humanity at this juncture in our history, when we are facing planetary predicaments of unprecedented scale, have to do with developing a skill in modulating awareness to make our collective awareness big picture, whole Universe nothing excluded, embodied, present centered, flexible and free from the horrific destructive and stultifying impact of narrow false belief that is commonly seen in fundamentalist religions.
  
  Science in general and SETI are important aspects of developing a skill in modulating awareness.
• +2

  A reply on Talk: Paul Gilding: The Earth is full

  May 20 2012: Nick, Excellent commentary. Perhaps the financial system is like the agar plate with bankers, and those who work in the corporate and financial sectors the unthinking bacteria...but a humanity that is free from the illusions of the current financial and economic system would have the capacity for a more intelligent response in the face of our current problems.
  
  Be that as it may, there is every sign in the world right now that our global financial system is collapsing... all the nutrients in the agar have been used up. The Eurozone is starting to unravel with increasing speed. This is exactly as per Paul Gilding's predictions!
  
  What is interesting is that politicians of every stripe seem totally oblivious to the real problems... our most powerful leaders are in total denial... either that or that are just trying to hide the truth of our predicament so that people do not panic and make it worse than it already is.
• +1

  A comment on Talk: James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change

  Apr 25 2012: I just watched the final episode in the remarkable "Frozen Planet" series featuring David Attenborough as the narrator. The episode is titled, "On Thin Ice"...
  
  This is a must see for all who are concerned with accurate awareness of man made global warming.
  
  Perhaps one of the reasons that we have so many denialists posting here at TED is that the polar regions of our planet are out of sight and who cares about ice? Dysfunctional awareness works by being narrow and creating distraction. But what is happening to the ice cover in the Arctic and the ice shelves in the Antarctic will have a major impact on civilization and is currently changing at an astounding and unprecedented rate. This is the big picture that we all need to include in our awareness.
  
  It turns out that the events at both poles regarding the ice are mind boggling and Earth changing and these changes can be seen and measured right now. The consequences for all of Earth are huge...
  
  David Attenborough, without being alarmist in any way and without pointing any fingers just shows you, with compelling video exactly what is happening. Why not get informed? Just see for yourself without argument or fear, what is happening to our planet and how it will affect your life and the life of your children.
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Jonathan Haidt: Religion, evolution, and the ecstasy of self-transcendence

  Apr 25 2012: Here is another quote from E.O.Wilson's book... and I ask, as he does, What is human nature? If we could become aware as a collective of the actual truth about ourselves as human beings, wouldn't that be immensely helpful? I think Jonathan Haidt is drawing our attention to an important aspect of human nature and this knowledge could be used to powerfully expand our ability to solve our problems.
  
  "Perhaps most people, including most scholars, would like to keep human nature at least partly in the dark.  It is the monster in the fever swamp of public discourse.  Its perception is distorted by idiosyncratic personal self-regard and expectation.  Economists have by and large steered around it, while philosophers bold enough to search for it have always lost their way.  Theologians tend to give up, attributing it in different parts to God and the devil.  Political ideologues ranging from anarchists to fascists have defined it to their selfish advantage."