Recent Comments

Talk: Wade Davis on the worldwide web of belief and ritual – September 8, 2008

Religion is the opium of the people...
Man must do better and built a fair and lasting society%u2026

Talk: Johnny Lee demos Wii Remote hacks – September 8, 2008

Highly practical talk. Great work.

Theme: Is There a God? – September 8, 2008

where are the talks on marx or hegal

Talk: Jonathan Drori on what we think we know – September 7, 2008

Like several other commentors, I had no trouble answering the questions (except the first - I answered "the trunk"). Then again, I don't think the kind of people who find TED talks entertaining are the segment of society Mr Drori is concerned about.

Talk: Craig Venter is on the verge of creating synthetic life – September 7, 2008

1st Question from commentator: Why not use nature's organisms that you are modifying to produce methane? ..instead of adding steps of genetically modifying them?

Answer: I can't patent naturally occurring organism.

Talk: Jonathan Drori on what we think we know – September 7, 2008

Irony: He talks about CO2 being released at 5:05, but he shows a nuclear cooling tower, which evaporates water.

In his words, "We might as well get it right."

Talk: Paul Rothemund details DNA folding – September 7, 2008

Listen quickly. No time to really hear and think about what was said. Overwhelming...But very thought provoking

Talk: John Maeda on the simple life – September 7, 2008

Very interesting presentation.

Talk: Seth Godin on sliced bread – September 7, 2008

That's basically what Seth's book says, and I love it!
The Purple Cow is all that, being remarkable, doing things only if they really matter, only if there are groups that will pay attention to.

Talk: Einstein the Parrot talks and squawks – September 7, 2008

What a fun video!

Talk: Nellie McKay sings "The Dog Song" – September 7, 2008

Gentlems . . . . Y'know, somee of us more wise and mature geezers, even tho we have long since shut off the TV and radio and escaped exposure to the industrial environment or to gunfire and explosives or babies (backstage) or bad choices of companion or wotever, CANNOT make out the words of Nellies songs%u2014or even some of the talks and such. The lack of transcripts is existential torture! While nature has seen fit to shield us from the increasing nescient din so that we can THINK often enough to integrate our knowledge we could use a little help when the accruing wisdom suggests a look above the surface of the sea of silence.

Talk: A.J. Jacobs' year of living biblically – September 7, 2008

A.J. Jacob's talk would be better titled, "My Year of Living Legalistically." He is correct that no one can do that perfectly. A year of living truly Biblically would have been a much broader experience - one that started with a personal relationship with the God of the universe. To be truly biblical, the focus would have been on getting to know God - listening to Him in prayer, talking to Him, learning about Him from the Bible. Now THAT is an experience worth talking about! It's available to everyone of us.

Talk: Billy Graham on technology, faith and suffering – September 7, 2008

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16

Talk: Peter Diamandis on our next giant leap – September 7, 2008

The figures used in the talk are amusing but out of date in the extreme. Space X has already killed people through cheapness. Greedy capitalists will not drive space exploration as can clearly be shown by the recent development deal the Chinese signed in the Congo. That was just for roads, schools, hospitals, and train lines. China will make vast sums of money from the deal and yet no capitalist or consortium of capitalists had the vision or will to do it.

There is some degree of fabrication when it comes to the number of launches currently taking place and the Jules Verne / Arianne combination is human launch rated.

The future belongs to China and the EU with Russia perhaps as kingmaker. The US is collapsing under the weight of capitalist greed and will not be involved in space beyond illegal nukes in orbit and the Bush folly. Industrial mining of asteroids and a moonbase harvesting He3 are realistic and potentially profitable short term goals.


@SC when you say
It was once said space that "space travel is
You make no sense. Then you make two sweeping statements about the danger and the utility of space without any validity. Please don't confuse your opinion with fact, it's tedious.

Talk: Jill Bolte Taylor's powerful stroke of insight – September 7, 2008

brilliant. it's good to have an insight about what's going on in our brain while meditating...
for a moment i thought she's talking about her first acid trip !!!!

Talk: Peter Hirshberg on TV and the web – September 7, 2008

this tour was amazingly compiled and well delivered!

Talk: Steven Levitt analyzes crack economics – September 7, 2008

With respect to him utilizing a quote w/ the term "nigger" in it... take it in the context it's meant. He was simply attempting to quote another person. If the ...er word was used instead of ...ah word it probably has more to do with the fact that it was a "rich white boy" interpreting it than anything else.

In response to Christopher O'Brien:
I don't think he said, "you can't smoke pot or cocaine." He said, "you can't smoke powdered cocaine."

Talk: Rives on 4 a.m. – September 7, 2008

I think with many great thinkers come many great procrastinators. Sometimes people are thinking too far from what they should be doing to get it done. 4am is a time of great acomplishment for my procrastinating self. It is an hour where I realize I have left myself no choice but to finish now, there is no backing out of an all nighter at 4am. By the time 60 minutes of productivity has passed, panic sets in and the 5am hour is no good, and before you know it you are getting ready, facing the music, that all though you have stayed up all night to accomplish something, you have only spent 1 hour completely dedicated. 4am is THE moment of no return.

Talk: Robert Full on engineering and evolution – September 7, 2008

@D.A. Schiewer

I had a look at talkorigins; good site, lots of info. I guess you could go to answersingenesis or somewhere to get the alternative view.

This is the crux of the matter really. Two lots of 'experts' looking at the data and coming up with differing views. All the ordinary Joe can do is study both sides and come to his own conclusions. A hundred years ago God was flavour of the month, now it's evolution; whether classic or punctuated equilibrium I'm not sure.

I am aware of Archaeopteryx, Lucy, and the rest. I just come to different conclusions. I do agree with you on the fossils; their formation is very unlikely. This however encourages me to the notion that because there are so many then there may have been a worldwide catastrophic flood.

I take your point that I may be misquoting Darwin, not deliberately I assure you. My contention would be that Jesus is very much alive today. He would look a bit foolish to be an athiest however, as he is reliably quoted as claiming to be god.

Evolution was very much my thing; religion never got a look in. However when my wife became a christian I set out to prove to her that the bible was wrong. In order to do this I had to study the historical and scientific basis of the book. This is what it took for me to give any credence to christianity, but my life hasn't been the same since.

If you've looked dispassionately at both viewpoints and come down on the evolution side then fair enough, but my guess is that most folks haven't.

Talk: Amy Tan on creativity – September 7, 2008

Fascinating presentation about creativity and the several factors that lead and generate it.