Members Juho Nieminen

6 days ago: Human conciousness is not just blank awareness. Mind has been molded by survival and it is full of inbord tricks that liberately confuse our inrospection (I'm not saying there is any "us" or "self", but never the less). These tricks of our biology direct our awareness to certain things, such as food, shelter, sex, possible danger...

In meditation you can quiet certain of these needs - and one of the most resiliant needs is the need to experience the self: this "I" who is meditating, someone who is thinking about the conciousness: ghost in the machine.
This barrier of plain self is propably there to keep us going. Given experience of clear-cut self helps us to focus on the exterior world, not the inner... because in the previous stages of evolution there has been little need for introspection.

The Self is allso part of the social game, networking: Me, You, Us - and Them. Emancipation from the falce selfhood requires more advanced society and prosperity; safe environment, mutual trust

Nov 12 2009: Funny - and what else?

When rating this video I also voted for "funny", but then I started to think why is it always just funny, when someone shows our psychological flaws and tendencies - and how to exploit them? Isn't is also quite tragic?

Advertizing (and media in general) can open and widen our perception, yes. But more often advertizing just creates these symbolic worm holes that drag people into thinking they should do/buy/act something they really do not wan't or need. I come from a (allmost woody-allen-ish) family where psychological reflection and psychological jokes are valued, so many times I've been one step ahead - but every child is born naive and vulnerable to psychological manipulation... and public shool does very little.

TED is a place (for now at least) of high morals and fresh, highly relevant reflections. Allmost every speech here has made me feel great and energized for hours. This video is no exeption. But in the end marketing-mindplay is tragic, not funny.

Nov 7 2009: Fantastic idea for a TED-precentation.

I'm a writer (poet, journalist) and I have noticed how important the location and surroundings are for my work. The best way to control my mental flow and inspiration is by controling my space: certain things I allways do better at office, certain things at home, at the library and so on.

I also have certain rituals (like many artists and athlets do) that tune me; they help me to focus or find energy and motivation.

Nov 7 2009: One root cause is our born desire not to believe in any root cause (cause and effect) but instead believe that we are just free independent minds, free souls in a free society. What she is talking about is "paradigm", a single construct that binds our minds - a monoculture, a field of hegemony, ideology, religion... but she puts it very softly.

Somehow we prefer coherent fiction rather that the chaotic truth. Conflicting perceptions often create enormous anxiety and fear. But if the differing stories don't clash and shake hands inside us individuals, they clash on the borders of states and civilizations.

Oct 18 2009: Meat today not only has negative production value: turning more calories into less calories, it is also major source of methane gas, warming the atmosphere.
a) We should not let those gasses run wild but instead somehow capture most of the farts and belches and burn them into energy. Same applyes to methane from garbage dumps and sewage system.

b) This is weird picture but relevant today: There is aproximately 900 million heads of cattle in the world today: weighting 350-500 kg per head. This is about the same amout of mass (kilograms of meat) as in all human populations: 6,500 million people (x 55-90 kg).

Two populations of equal size eating the grain produced by humans - and only humans suffer from starvation.