Blog #8
Oliver Sacks' TED talk was very interesting. He spoke about the Charles Bonnet syndrome and what hallucinations really mean. He spoke kindly and heartfelt about his patients and explained that they are not crazy or going mad like society today would easily think. I thought his talk was interesting because the Charles Bonnet syndrome is a syndrome that causes people with blindness or impaired vision to hallucinate things like faces, landscapes, cartoons and things like movies. He also said that the hearing impaired can hallucinate music.
I found this subject interesting to think about. Beethoven was completely deaf by his 20's, so was his beautiful music due to the absence of his actual hearing? I think this should be a significant marker of human behavior because it shows the reality of human capability. The absence of something we once knew altogether can be replaced by a better or equal element. In hearing there is a definite example of Beethoven and his music, as well as the woman who has Charles Bonnet that Oliver talks about.
Now maybe hallucinations should be viewed as the absence of an element that our minds desire, rather than going crazy (well if it fits certain circumstances). But what happens when you relate this concept to education? Well, an absolute contradiction. No school could mean better kids for the future? That doesn't work. I personally don't think it could work, but theoretically speaking maybe the absence of education could push students to do better than the social norms. Maybe an absence of lacking of education could spark a overflowing amount of creativity that could accommodate for a Conceptual Age that our class and Daniel Pink has pondered for so long. So could less and less education mean a step up in quality it is lacking today because of the overbearing amount of modern education? I don't think this concept would pass in any education system, but yes is something very captivating to think about. Although, I don't think this concept could work, could a smaller amount of education push students to realize its importance; therefore pushing them to work harder in its absence. Interesting, isn't it?
This is my last TED talk post and I would like to take to time to say that every TED talk I have watched with curiosity and intent. I respect every speaker and the difference they are making in the world. I find it absolutely astonishing. I think TED is a great program and I hope that people continue to share What Matters? to the world and them. I enjoyed this opportunity to reflect on these talks and the opportunity our class gets to share what matters to us. I hope everyone in this broad world gets to reflect on what matters to them.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Saving Faces
Blog #7
Iain Hutchison's TED talk was different from any other I have watched thus far. Just a warning, if you watch this talk it has some gruesome pictures of disfigured and badly injured faces. He is a facial surgeon. Yes, like plastic surgery, but no it is not as materialistic as you may originally think. Hutchinson talked about how a face transplant could mean a quality of life transplant. Transplants could not only change what they do in life because of their physical appearance, but change their health. Today facial reconstruction surgeons save many lives from horrible punishment by society or even death because of a tragic injury or disease. Iain talks about beauty as well as the technology they need to create healthier lives for people who need these surgeries.
Facial surgeons can replace the underlying skeletal system that is destroyed due to injuries or disease, but they can not replace the skin. Yes, they use skin from the back or other areas of the body to replace it. You might say, yeah, what's wrong with that? Well thats what I thought too and the answer to that question surprised me. The skin being replaced will result in necessary drugs depressing their immune system, which in turn will give them an increased risk of infection and malignancy. That is where they are failing. Facial transplants is what his dream is. That patients would be able to receive a facial transplant from donors who have passed away, which would be very controversial.
Yes, that took a long time to introduce, but it is interesting to go beyond the certain importance of looks in our culture and look at why that would be controversial. It is controversial because appearance is held at such a high level in our society. Judgement and first impressions are really based off of appearance. What is beauty? Well, scientifically speaking it is the symmetry of said person which humans find aesthetically pleasing. Aren't all humans symmetrical due to their mere human qualities? Yes, but the golden rule also has something to do with all this mumbojumbo. The thing that really confuses me, is why does it matter? Did society become so sexually driven that our instincts lead us to accepting attractive humans easier? Did society just become used to the idea that beauty is better? I have no idea, but it is a topic that interests me.
For example, Iain says that we only see the reflection of ourselves as well as fractions of seconds caught with a camera. Those things barely reflect what we actually look like to other people. Its interesting to think about because much like death it is something society will never really figure out. There are giant industries solely based of off appearance and yet something close to 1 percent of the world looks like what we see in magazines. Personally, I do not love or hate things such as the modeling industry. Actually, I really respect the modeling industry because I see it as an art captured with a camera lens. I just find it interesting that such a huge amount of people are captivated or obsessed with beauty. When we don't even have a sustainable definition of beauty. It is purely a perspective of humans. One human could be stunning to someone and absolutely repulsive to another. That example absolutely intrigues me. Well, all I can say is; everything comes down to perspective, everything.
Now that I have ranted about beauty and what any of it means, I would like to say that Iain beautifully presented his talk and captured my attention fully. His cause was framed nicely and it made me think about many different things. It was different from any TED talk I have watched because it was controversial rather than widely accepted by society, which I think is an important risk to take. Overall, it was a very intriguing talk and made me think.
Iain Hutchison's TED talk was different from any other I have watched thus far. Just a warning, if you watch this talk it has some gruesome pictures of disfigured and badly injured faces. He is a facial surgeon. Yes, like plastic surgery, but no it is not as materialistic as you may originally think. Hutchinson talked about how a face transplant could mean a quality of life transplant. Transplants could not only change what they do in life because of their physical appearance, but change their health. Today facial reconstruction surgeons save many lives from horrible punishment by society or even death because of a tragic injury or disease. Iain talks about beauty as well as the technology they need to create healthier lives for people who need these surgeries.
Facial surgeons can replace the underlying skeletal system that is destroyed due to injuries or disease, but they can not replace the skin. Yes, they use skin from the back or other areas of the body to replace it. You might say, yeah, what's wrong with that? Well thats what I thought too and the answer to that question surprised me. The skin being replaced will result in necessary drugs depressing their immune system, which in turn will give them an increased risk of infection and malignancy. That is where they are failing. Facial transplants is what his dream is. That patients would be able to receive a facial transplant from donors who have passed away, which would be very controversial.
Yes, that took a long time to introduce, but it is interesting to go beyond the certain importance of looks in our culture and look at why that would be controversial. It is controversial because appearance is held at such a high level in our society. Judgement and first impressions are really based off of appearance. What is beauty? Well, scientifically speaking it is the symmetry of said person which humans find aesthetically pleasing. Aren't all humans symmetrical due to their mere human qualities? Yes, but the golden rule also has something to do with all this mumbojumbo. The thing that really confuses me, is why does it matter? Did society become so sexually driven that our instincts lead us to accepting attractive humans easier? Did society just become used to the idea that beauty is better? I have no idea, but it is a topic that interests me.
For example, Iain says that we only see the reflection of ourselves as well as fractions of seconds caught with a camera. Those things barely reflect what we actually look like to other people. Its interesting to think about because much like death it is something society will never really figure out. There are giant industries solely based of off appearance and yet something close to 1 percent of the world looks like what we see in magazines. Personally, I do not love or hate things such as the modeling industry. Actually, I really respect the modeling industry because I see it as an art captured with a camera lens. I just find it interesting that such a huge amount of people are captivated or obsessed with beauty. When we don't even have a sustainable definition of beauty. It is purely a perspective of humans. One human could be stunning to someone and absolutely repulsive to another. That example absolutely intrigues me. Well, all I can say is; everything comes down to perspective, everything.
Now that I have ranted about beauty and what any of it means, I would like to say that Iain beautifully presented his talk and captured my attention fully. His cause was framed nicely and it made me think about many different things. It was different from any TED talk I have watched because it was controversial rather than widely accepted by society, which I think is an important risk to take. Overall, it was a very intriguing talk and made me think.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Under Pressure
Blog #6
I really enjoyed Dave Egger's TED talk. His presentation was great and he showed many pictures of the difference he and the people helping him could make. I found it intriguing. I absolutely agree with the statement that students will do better and thrive in education when the spotlight in shown on them or attention is drawn to them. I think his project to change public schools is a great idea. His pirate store was a great idea because I think it is extremely important to connect education to something whimsical. School can change everything, but many students don't realize that because it hasn't been exposed to them in a way that will inspire them.
When I was younger I fell in love with writing. The fact that absolutely anything could happen by the means of writing it down captivated me. I was inspired by the endless possibilities and the simple joys writing brought to me. I wanted to be an author for the longest time, but that all changed as school progressed. I was forced to change my attention from writing to other areas in school to be successful in the future. I feel as if education today broadens everything that needs to be learned in schools to the point where it becomes increasingly difficult to focus on your passions as a student. I don't think parents and elders respect the passion and drive behind younger students because it seems as if they couldn't possibly know what they want to do in the future rationally. Yes, that might be the case for some, but not for every single child. I feel as though school and the increasingly difficult standards of modern education, especially the expectations of colleges, have slowly decreased my passion and time I could really focus into writing or other passions. Yes, students need to be aware of a certain amount of information, but when does it become harmful to his or her possible future? I still have a love for creative writing and I think I always will, but it is not as beautifully creative and capable as it could have been had I focused on it when I was younger.
The thing that scares me is the fact that schools, as I see them, partially enforce the idea that a job is something that earns you money, not something you do because you love it. That schools enforce the ideal of perfection and knowing everything is the best thing for a student to have as an asset for college. Think about what that could do to kids. It could change their future for the worse. The increasing stress and expectations of the education system eat at my heart because I don't want the simplicity of the passion for learning to fade away like mine did. I want to sit at the computer like a did as a child, and type up my dreams into a little story. I can't do that anymore; maybe because of the pressure of the education system and my desire to do well, or maybe because of the reality of life, but either way I think that Egger's movement in education could help fix some of these situations. His simple movement to inspire students could just change the world.
I really enjoyed Dave Egger's TED talk. His presentation was great and he showed many pictures of the difference he and the people helping him could make. I found it intriguing. I absolutely agree with the statement that students will do better and thrive in education when the spotlight in shown on them or attention is drawn to them. I think his project to change public schools is a great idea. His pirate store was a great idea because I think it is extremely important to connect education to something whimsical. School can change everything, but many students don't realize that because it hasn't been exposed to them in a way that will inspire them.
When I was younger I fell in love with writing. The fact that absolutely anything could happen by the means of writing it down captivated me. I was inspired by the endless possibilities and the simple joys writing brought to me. I wanted to be an author for the longest time, but that all changed as school progressed. I was forced to change my attention from writing to other areas in school to be successful in the future. I feel as if education today broadens everything that needs to be learned in schools to the point where it becomes increasingly difficult to focus on your passions as a student. I don't think parents and elders respect the passion and drive behind younger students because it seems as if they couldn't possibly know what they want to do in the future rationally. Yes, that might be the case for some, but not for every single child. I feel as though school and the increasingly difficult standards of modern education, especially the expectations of colleges, have slowly decreased my passion and time I could really focus into writing or other passions. Yes, students need to be aware of a certain amount of information, but when does it become harmful to his or her possible future? I still have a love for creative writing and I think I always will, but it is not as beautifully creative and capable as it could have been had I focused on it when I was younger.
The thing that scares me is the fact that schools, as I see them, partially enforce the idea that a job is something that earns you money, not something you do because you love it. That schools enforce the ideal of perfection and knowing everything is the best thing for a student to have as an asset for college. Think about what that could do to kids. It could change their future for the worse. The increasing stress and expectations of the education system eat at my heart because I don't want the simplicity of the passion for learning to fade away like mine did. I want to sit at the computer like a did as a child, and type up my dreams into a little story. I can't do that anymore; maybe because of the pressure of the education system and my desire to do well, or maybe because of the reality of life, but either way I think that Egger's movement in education could help fix some of these situations. His simple movement to inspire students could just change the world.
Works Cited:
"Dave Eggers' Wish: Once Upon a School | Video on TED.com." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. <http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html>.
"Google Images." Google. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.talkingfingers.com/educational-reading-software/wp-content/uploads/child_writing.jpg>.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
This is Your Brain on Optimism
Blog #5
"It's extraordinary how far beliefs can take you." Caroline Casey's TED talk really truly inspired me. She is legally blind and was completely unaware until her 17th birthday. Well, how in the world could that possibly work? Well it was just how it was to her, thats how the world was. She didn't know any different. She fought and fought against her blindness and pushed through that difficulty, but she didn't realize that she was fighting herself. Casey talked about how her optimism and the acceptance of her true self including her blindness made her see clearly and give her the final push to be happy.
I agree with Casey that self belief can push a human being so far. She did so much with her set back that even people without anything holding them back could do. I think it is absolutely astonishing what the human emotions can accomplish. In fact in an article about health and its relation to optimism and pessimism it stated, "A body of research has linked optimism to better health" ("This"). The human emotions are a complex and difficult aspect of life to fully understand, but they can prove to thrive when it comes to motivation. Casey's blindness originally was a negative in her life, something she wanted to push away. Once she gained a new and clearer perspective of her life she used it to go beyond her expectations of her limits. She helped people like her be able to see because of her passion. She turned that negative into a positive and I think that is an important lesson for anyone to learn in their lives.
Personally, I have had to go through multiple situations like that which eventually I learned to learn from rather than pessimistically go about it for the rest of my life. When I was around eight years old my mom was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Being an impressionable and sensitive eight year old I thought I was going to lose my mom. She had been sick with many other illnesses, but I thought cancer was the worst of all things imaginable. I was even scared to be away from her so I didn't go to sleepovers. Eventually, her thyroid was removed and she is happy and healthy today, but I took that negative situation and turned it into a lesson over the years. One needs to value the mortality of oneself; they need to live life to the fullest because it is not something you can just throw away or give up on, it is something you need to push through in the hardest of times. Another true tragedy was the death of my friend Sammy. In the summer before seventh grade I remember driving home and my mom telling me that she has some bad news. A plane had crashed on my classmates' Oregon vacation home and Sammy and his little sister Grace had passed away. I honestly had no idea what to feel, I was absolutely stunned. I went through a rough spot after that because I couldn't believe that someone my age was gone. My class of 42 kids pulled together and supported each other through the truly tragic event, but as I got older I still couldn't believe that someone so young and kind wasn't here. Being here is a gift that not everyone is granted, every gift taken away is a tragedy but all gifts should be embraced.
Casey's talk reminded me of the strength of the human soul and how far beliefs can help a person along their journey in life. I truly respect her story and the emotion she put into her TED talk . It was inspiring. It showed how the hard parts in life make a better person of everyone. Perseverance and pulling through difficult situations is something that I truly respect in everybody.
Works Cited
"This Is Your Brain on Optimism - Newsweek." Newsweek - National News, World News, Business, Health, Technology, Entertainment, and More - Newsweek. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. <http://www.newsweek.com/2007/10/23/this-is-your-brain-on-optimism.html>.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Changing the World
Blog #4
Clay Shirky's TED talk was all about cognitive surplus. Cognitive surplus is the ability of the population of the world to volunteer and to contribute and to collaborate on large global project. Therefore Mr. Shirky is saying that when it comes to technology the world as a whole needs to come together on an emotional level and collaborate on global projects. When the world needs to come together economically it does not do so well. This reminded me of probably the most important piece of technology to me: YouTube.
YouTube is a website that enables anybody to upload and watch videos. Not only is YouTube a website, it is a community, one that comes together emotionally. YouTube fits into Shirky's idea of cognitive surplus like a pea in a pod. YouTube is important to me because it allows any person of any age to show and share new perspectives. This is incredibly important because it allows this virtual community to connect emotionally. People create videos because of their passion and because they want to, not because of economic reasons. Although there is such a thing as a YouTube partnership, which provides money, the YouTuber needs to create videos because of a passion and emotion they have before they earn the very difficult to receive partnership. Shirky talks about collaborating and YouTube is a great example of that. YouTube pulls together the world because of the emotion it brings to all different types of people. YouTubers from all over the world can collaborate on videos. The most important thing about YouTube is that it can truly make a difference in the world. Whether the situation involves helping others, protesting against governments, or just making people happy, YouTube can always push and support these situations to really change the world. YouTube really shows the effectiveness of Clay Shirky's idea of cognitive surplus. It is not economically based and thrives on passion and emotion shared by the people of the world in their "free" time. Heres a video that sums up the greatness YouTube has brought to all societies:
Presentation: Shirky mainly just used talking as his entire presentation, but gave some examples of websites or other things he was talking about in a slideshow. I think this was an effective way of presenting his idea because it inspired people and showed them what he was talking about.
Clay Shirky's TED talk was all about cognitive surplus. Cognitive surplus is the ability of the population of the world to volunteer and to contribute and to collaborate on large global project. Therefore Mr. Shirky is saying that when it comes to technology the world as a whole needs to come together on an emotional level and collaborate on global projects. When the world needs to come together economically it does not do so well. This reminded me of probably the most important piece of technology to me: YouTube.
YouTube is a website that enables anybody to upload and watch videos. Not only is YouTube a website, it is a community, one that comes together emotionally. YouTube fits into Shirky's idea of cognitive surplus like a pea in a pod. YouTube is important to me because it allows any person of any age to show and share new perspectives. This is incredibly important because it allows this virtual community to connect emotionally. People create videos because of their passion and because they want to, not because of economic reasons. Although there is such a thing as a YouTube partnership, which provides money, the YouTuber needs to create videos because of a passion and emotion they have before they earn the very difficult to receive partnership. Shirky talks about collaborating and YouTube is a great example of that. YouTube pulls together the world because of the emotion it brings to all different types of people. YouTubers from all over the world can collaborate on videos. The most important thing about YouTube is that it can truly make a difference in the world. Whether the situation involves helping others, protesting against governments, or just making people happy, YouTube can always push and support these situations to really change the world. YouTube really shows the effectiveness of Clay Shirky's idea of cognitive surplus. It is not economically based and thrives on passion and emotion shared by the people of the world in their "free" time. Heres a video that sums up the greatness YouTube has brought to all societies:
Presentation: Shirky mainly just used talking as his entire presentation, but gave some examples of websites or other things he was talking about in a slideshow. I think this was an effective way of presenting his idea because it inspired people and showed them what he was talking about.
Works Cited:
Clay Shirky: How Cognitive Surplus Will Change the World | Video on TED.com. TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. <http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cognitive_surplus_will_change_the_world.html>.
YouTube - YouTube's Channel. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/user/youtube?blend=1>.
YouTube - This Is YouTube. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojqWclLQOxk>.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Room for Self Expression
Blog #3
In Dan Pink's TED talk he spoke about the motivation behind people's work. He gave evidence that if given a high incentive and a creative task, participants will do worse. Which is almost completely opposite from what you would expect considering how businesses run presently. Although Pink says simple tasks are done better with higher rewards, I find it very interesting that the creative jobs with higher incentives do worse. I can relate to this in the way that whenever I feel pressured into creating a drawing or anything with creativity involved I feel stressed and do not do as well as I would naturally do if I had just drawn something on my own. I find this study interestingly true. Here is a video which also talks about Pink's mindset about motivation and other things from his novel Drive:
When relating this to education, I immediately think of the arts program. Today, in public high schools students in art based classes are graded upon very strict rubrics. I don't think this should be how students should be graded; in fact I think students should be graded directly the opposite of that position. Yes, they should teach the students about the arts, but everything is art and is beautiful in its own way because of its individuality. I think public schools should have a broader acceptance for art in its varying forms. In a mindset of Daniel Pink, to create better work they should be more creative and right brained and given less pressure to create said piece of artwork. If creativity becomes a major staple of succeeding in the future's society as Pink predicts, shouldn't schools create a healthy and supportive environment of self expression instead of limiting it with rubrics and tedious expectations?
I was in private school for all my life until this year and I have found that a major difference in the systems is the limited expression in the arts. I love public school, my high school is an exceptional school in all areas. All I'm saying is that I wish that society as a whole would entrust upon its students to take learning into their own hands especially when it comes to the arts. Creativity comes from space and freedom, but with strict rubrics and highly specified expectations that creativity will not be able to flow as capably as it could according to Pink's aspects as well. Any type of art class should try to widen the boundaries, the space and freedom so this highly individual creativity can shine and flourish through students today.
Presentation: Daniel Pink is a very good speaker and his presentation mostly consisted of him just talking like many other talks. Pink uses emotion and passion to relate to the crowd and get their minds going. He illustrated the candle problem on a slideshow as well as a few highly important sentences in his speech. Pink captivated his audience with great enthusiasm and passion.
Monday, April 18, 2011
A Point of View
Blog #2
Response:
“If we want to discover the full potential in our humanity we need to celebrate those heart breaking strengths and those glorious disabilities we all have,” Aimee Mullins an amputee describes where the beauty in humanity comes from. I was truly awed at her TED talk. She spoke of the prejudice of people when they become fearful and I think that is a very important message to spread. Instead of being afraid of the unknown, like amputees, why don’t we embrace it? Why doesn’t humanity, as Aimee exemplifies with children she spoke to, forget about these things altogether and remain unified? I think she shows a beautiful story about how every single human being has their own disabilities and one that is more obvious to the public is judged upon. Amputees are not necessarily negatively discriminated against, rather they are assumed as weak or awkward to stand by or given sympathy they don’t necessarily want when that assumption is not true is any way shape or form. They are just people, like you and me, that just so happens to be missing something physical. But aren’t we all missing something, whether it be physical or emotional?
When I was younger I felt extremely horrible for amputees or handicapped people. I would stare like any other child would, not in a judgmental way, but more out of curiosity. Yes, it is different, but so is every other human being. One person in particular made me understand Aimee's thinking and the beauty of everyone's differences. His name is Josh Sundquist and he is one of my favorite YouTubers. He lost his left leg to cancer when he was younger and now he is a bestselling author, motivational speaker, and former Paralympic ski racer. He is absolutely hilarious and has opened my eyes to the discrimination amputees go through as well as how horrible and unnecessary discrimination of any sort is in the world. Here are a few videos to show you what I’m talking about:
Presentation: Aimee Mullins' talk was heartfelt, artistic, and relatable to all types of people. She used emotion to connect to the audience and pull them in. She also used a little bit of humor to connect to the people as well. She sophisticatedly and smoothly presented her ideas and feelings and made the audience and people watching feel as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)