TED Community » Gaurav Gupta

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• +4

  A comment on Conversation: What is the most awe inspiring fact you know?

  Jun 16 2012: I just figured that a billionaire who had 30 Billion dollars had more money than 39 of the poorest countries put together.
  
  Also, he had more money than the whole nation of Democratic Republic of Congo earns in an year, and Congo has 72 Million people!!

• A reply on Conversation: What is the most awe inspiring fact you know?

  Jun 12 2012: Allan, I agree with you whole heartedly.
  
  I could not have better summaried my sentiments.
  
  I feel what you call "emotionally grounded" is what I meant by being in a "state of strength"... i.e. feeling strong, perhaps by feeling grounded, comforted or by believing in the fact that there is a god that is omniscient and therefore can protect from everything.
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: What is the most awe inspiring fact you know?

  Jun 6 2012: I really wonder about our disbelief in death, while we all know for a fact that that is a reality. We also know that death is inevitable and uncertain.
  
  We know that it is also uncertain. Hence, it could happen anytime. Just as I type maybe.
  
  However, we hope that it does not. We grossly overestimate the chances that it would not.
  
  We grossly overestimate the chances that there is a god. Simply because we like to believe that. The privileged connection with a supreme being is one reason.
  
  Also, having all the answers, feeling certain, therefore also having access to the answer of death, all these make it a very likable proposition.
  
  I think this is what makes god such an important part of our consciousness, our being conscious human beings, who can think about themselves thinking.

• A reply on Conversation: What is the most awe inspiring fact you know?

  Jun 6 2012: Can you please help resolve my confusion.
  
  What about unintended consequences. In which case the entire purpose of the cause would become creation of effect A, while there has also been an effect B. In which case it will become impossible for the cause to be the "entire purpose" of cause A.
  
  Would love to discuss effect, decision, being, viewpoint once we resolve cause. Thanks.
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: What is the most awe inspiring fact you know?

  Jun 4 2012: Thank you for your comment.
  
  I agree with "it is illogical to make any claim about "all" people in any grouping". I really meant to point towards the majority that sustains a major idea, be it science or faith. There may still be a problem with generalization here, however the idea is to find a common distinction between the scientific group (that strictly believes in science) and the other group (that largely accepts science in the paradigm of faith).
  
  So my understanding was, one would believe in something, only because there are reasons to believe in it.
  Once reasons run out, we turn to faith. As a result, we try to reason away any uncertainty with "faith".
  
  The advantage of uncertainty is, if we could learn to live with uncertainty, there is a greater chance that we would reach new answers and better questions, opposed to a situation where we do away with uncertainty with faith.
• +6

  A comment on Conversation: What is the most awe inspiring fact you know?

  Jun 3 2012: This is also a realization.
  
  All reasoning individuals, those that reason everything, question their own belief system continuously. Because they do, they are always in doubt of what is "right".
  
  All those who believe are never in doubt of what is "right".
  
  This means that those who live in doubt, are always in a state of weakness. And those who are in a state of faith are always in a state of strength.
  
  However, it is the reasoning doubting ones who are really strong because they can live in this weakness of strength and discovery. Just the fact that scientists have more cause to celebrate when a theory is disproved and a new paradigm is created.

• A reply on Conversation: Do you have a small idea to make this world Green? Mention if you already use it.

  Jun 2 2012: About household waste recycling, we had a great idea presented by a bureaucrat from Andhra Pradesh during TED@Bangalore last month.
  
  They have a system in which waste is collected from households every morning, by hand pulled carts and it is separated into colored bins, recyclable and composting waste, right at the time that it is collected.
  
  Again, this cart meets a bigger truck, that meets a bigger truck capable of carrying 30 Tonnes of waste. At the dumping site, they place the waste in composting heaps rather than just dump them.
  
  The recyclable waste never reaches a dumping site, it leaves for processing plants right after collection.

• A reply on Conversation: Do you have a small idea to make this world Green? Mention if you already use it.

  Jun 2 2012: R H, Could you please tell me more about the community recycling program.
  
  In India we have private recycling agents, these are really mom and pop size operations, they would collect recyclable waste (but this would be durable consumer goods or old newspapers etc), and pay a price to the household by weight.
  
  Through a hub and spoke model this reaches factories in some way. However, there is no control on how this waste is handled. Which is a big area of concern, still the net result is worth applauding.
  
  I want to understand how does the community recycling system works. Please help!
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Do you have a small idea to make this world Green? Mention if you already use it.

  Jun 2 2012: That's conventional and simple. I like that.
  
  I often wonder, what if everyone can have some level of greenery on their roof tops? In warm countries like India our roofs are usually flat, plus we are urbanly cramped for space so there are no gardens in a majority of Delhi houses.

• A comment on Conversation: Do you have a small idea to make this world Green? Mention if you already use it.

  Jun 1 2012: Is there any company that can supply cheap CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) modules for residential use? I find it quite appealing, it cuts my very expensive utility bill, and the cost of CSP can be recovered usually in less than half the life of the module. As long as the company takes care of maintenance as well, I have no hassles investing my cashflows upfront in my utility bill for the whole year.