TED Community » Nathan Bedrick

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Love, friendship, a greater truth, metaphysics, Leading those to lead themselves, removing terrible managers, art, freedom of expression, poignancy, sincerity, integrity, trust, and devotion.

An idea worth spreading

I wrote an essay a long time ago about 'who I am', and what makes me, me. It had a heavy point about self-confidence.

I believe that defensiveness hurts your self-esteem. The fact of feeling threatened may make you more set in your ways. However, feeling free without any danger means that you can change like the wind to changing circumstance or opinion.

I discovered this during my late night frenzy of self-discovery. At that time, it seemed almost revolutionary. It still does, for me. I would have loved to find the paper that described this, but sadly I cannot.

Talk to me about

Love, friendship, websites, Youtube, fears, hypnosis, freedom, sexuality, hopes, fears, inspiration, etc.

My TED Story

One video inspired me to watch another. Soon, I'm commenting. So many great ideas here-- I fear that I may run out of things to watch!

This means that hopefully you will keep providing great material for me to watch. :)

Comments

• TEDCred score: +51.20 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +3

  A reply on Talk: Neil Harbisson: I listen to color

  Jul 24 2012: But that's not what's important. The important feature is the contrast between colors. The contrast between the colors/sounds themselves remain true in spite of the machine's assignment from color to sound.
• +2

  A comment on Talk: Thandie Newton: Embracing otherness, embracing myself

  Nov 21 2011: I think Thanadie hits the nail on the head-- that many of us are actors so entrenched in our roles that we forget our personhood underneath.
  I can only hope this talk helps other people to take their "selves" less seriously as truly being "who or what they are".
  I've been hoping for a talk like this--one that talks about how we can forget we're wearing masks. I'm much luckier that Ms. Newton hits the ball out of the park, too. B)

• A comment on Talk: Roger McNamee: Six ways to save the internet

  Nov 16 2011: I see a lot of people commenting on how "Sales of oranges don't cut into watermelon's share of the market. People eat watermelons more now than they did ever." This corresponds to the graph that Roger has at the beginning, about how Windows only accounts for 50% of internet-connected devices. Basically, complaints saying that he's mixing the wrong data or reaching the wrong conclusions.
  
  But he's not wrong, and those other OSes are cutting into our lives more. We only have so much time per day. Not all of us want to run to the nearest computer and look up answers to our questions-- so we use smartphones. And not all of us want to Google for an answer when we know of an app that can load faster than our smartphone browser, the google website, the RIGHT list of links, and the one website we want.
  Now that I have a smartphone, I find myself needing to use my PC and handhelds less. Does it change the fact my work PC's Windows? No. Does it change that most games work on Windows? No. But that's ONLY FOR NOW, and isn't the future.
  
  People complain that mobile devices generating the most portable game profit says nothing about PSP or Nintendo 3DS's viability. Or they say that PC gaming can't be done on a tablet. But this is all wrong.
  Minecraft is being moved to tablets, tablets can support bluetooth mice and keyboards, and primarily--ALL THIS IS EASIER THAN CONVENTIONAL COMPUTERS/LAPTOPS.
  As the tablet market grows, the thrill of developing for PCs will wane as developing for tablets or the web grows.
  
  And that's the final, key element in his talk-- developing for the web (which he credits to HTML 5.) HTML 5 allows for websites to work in an offline mode, HTML 5 can nix the need for Flash, and WebGL can control 3D Graphics.
  
  So, in summation, consider: A web browser, on an iPad/tablet, will be able to play 3D FPSes just by paying for the game at the developer website. Without Quake Arena installing Windows software.
  
  THAT is the future this hippie speaks of.
• +2

  A comment on Talk: Dan Phillips: Creative houses from reclaimed stuff

  Dec 14 2010: An earlier comment discussed that Dan Phillips fails to mention even more amazing aspects about his houses: That they are built by him and the homeowners, and are affordable.
  I feel a bit sorry for Dan-- his kind of honesty and obvious innovation usually gets the laughter he says he's received. It's usually our geniuses who don't fit in, just like those houses.
  I'd love a house with that much character. I can only hope Dan's message, wisdom, and teachings get passed down to others who can further his goals.
• +2

  A comment on Talk: William Ury: The walk from "no" to "yes"

  Dec 1 2010: I see a lot of comments split between religious identity, economical ideologies, and disdain for his idealism. I don't want to comment on any on that.
  
  What I want to comment on is what I think is a valid point of Ury's--that most sides in a debate forget their audience's desire in the noise of their battle.
  
  While people can argue for or against things, they may lose sight that their argument should not go on forever and will end no matter time nor humanity. If I'm not mistaken, Ury is saying that the party responsible for reminding those two is the 'us'. In a way, the ''us" who are caught up in the struggle between the powers.
  
  While this man has had practical experience being a mediator, I have never been hired for the position. Ideally, I think his hypothesis is correct, but I have yet to test this in enough instances to feel it's a strong motivator. Even though this, it connects with me emotionally.
  
  Thanks for the insight, William!
• +3

  A reply on Talk: Michael Shermer: Why people believe weird things

  Jun 6 2010: Ultimately, I believe you're missing the point of the original post-- Religion didn't develop vaccines, religion didn't develop the use of electricity, and religion didn't develop better ways to feed people.
  
  On the note of your tangent: I have yet to observe people murdering in the name of science.

• A comment on Talk: Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks

  May 16 2010: One of the best talks from TED that I have seen in awhile. I think that he managed to articulate complex concepts in quite a brief timespan.
  
  I think I felt a light come on when he described social networks as living beings that can remain even with people inside it dying. It made me consider, "How long have some networks lived?" Especially if they exist due to confounding as Nicholas put it?
  
  Imagine what I mean: If the first purchase of a car in a town created a social network between the purchaser and his/her mechanic. This social network including friends and the mechanic's shop or a love for cars. As the original owner and his/her mechanic die, the networks that were made from it continue to grow, perhaps due to the same town, or such.
  
  It makes me wonder how many networks I am unwittingly participating in that have yet to be labeled. Great work, Nicholas!

• A reply on Talk: Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks

  May 16 2010: Thank you very much, Ms. Ayşe!
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Dan Barber: How I fell in love with a fish

  Apr 7 2010: After watching this on my phone, I had to come back to compliment this talk.
  This harmonized world that Barber suggests sounds quite dreamy. Not to say it's unattainable, but that it's the kind of world I'd want to live in.
  I don't imagine that beef can be farmed in a similar way that is sustainable without hurting the environment badly. However, that's not for me to figure out.
  
  I can only hope more businesses on the right agricultural track are started because of this speech. Food that tastes great, you don't have to work to sustain, and is a boon to the environment? I can't see where humanity could lose, there.

• A reply on Talk: James Geary, metaphorically speaking

  Feb 27 2010: THank you very much, Jeremy! I owe it mostly to the people who take the time to find something they can relate to in what I say... Which TED is full of! :) Thank you too, for congratulating me.. Having '100+' is temporary, but I hope you find the TEDizens to be kind to you as they have been to me.