Week 14 

11/14/16 - 11/20/16 

Bel Pesce - 5 ways to kill your dreams

1. believe in overnight success
What a great point! I never thought about that! It's not that the work required is minimum, it's the moment of breakthrough- when someone FINALLY gets validated for the work they have been doing all along, that only last a brief moment. It seems then, what we think of as overnight success is actually overnight Recognition. 
      "your overnight success story is always the result of everything you have done in you life"  

2. believe someone else will have answers for you
This an excellent reminder. It reminds me of another fascinating ted talk that discussed when to use experts and when not to- DEFINITELY worth watching! 

3. settle 
"but okay is never okay" - LOVED this- I can certainly relate to that centiment - I think when a person passively settles for something bland when they have an option for a much more exciting life, as a sign that they gave up on themselves. 

4. blame others 
Blaming others for my discomfort is useless - it wont get me what I want for 2 reasons: 1. only I can fix my own discomfort and 2 ) why would anyone even Want to fix my problems if I'm blaming them? Blaming others has only one outcome- a standstill.  

5. dont forget the big picture
this makes me think of John Lennon - "life is what happens when you're busy making plans"
it is just TOO easy to get wrapped inside my own head - and then the problems always seem so much bigger than they are. For me, the best fix to feeling overhwelmed is meditating and it's so ironic that even in meditation, there are times when I get so fixated on something that I begin to cause my own discomfort. and the answer is always the same - just sit and breathe. until it all makes sense. lol 

week 13 

11/7/16 - 11/13/16 

Eli Pariser - Beware online "filter bubbles" 

This talk is particularly relevant to the class lecture on Mass Communication. and yet more interestingly- it reminded me of the discussion of the social penetration theory and how internet inverted it from the inside out. Here, I see the internet, as the new medium through which information is distributed, has changed in a reciprocal pattern ( x/y into y/x)- not only the receivers of the communication- the public, but in interesting ways the senders as well: the WHO received infromation, WHAT information is shared and HOW it is delivered 

1. when TV was the main distributor of information
1. throght the multiple step editiong process as information goes through each gatekeeper, the final message is only fraction of the original - has to appeal to all opposing view points of the public 
2. all of target public gets the same message at the same time in the same format - everyone was was wathcing the same adds  

as the internet became more and more popular, it began evolving. one of most notable features - is the trackaing ability of the internet - the browsing history and those "cookies" - we learned to process all of that into meaningful information - whats more descriptive of your inner core than your google history? all that information is changed into data and that data is BIG business. Instead of paying for commercial airtime to advertize their producsts, companies are buying data about their customers and are now able to deliver personalized and individualized adds to each customer at any point in time. 

1. 
   
2. when INTERNET distributes information
1. company buys data - but now company Edits the TARGET public - 
2. EACH target gets own FULL message - everyone watches individualized commercials (brought to you  by google) 

through TV: One message, Multiple edits, whole public - as One receiver, gets message ALL together at One set time.

through the INTERNET: Many messages, One edit (per message), Many individual receivers, getting information Separately and at Many different times. 

week 12 

11/7/16 - 11/13/16

Evan Grant - Making sounds visible through cymatics

 
  "...Sound does have form and we have seen it can affect matter and cause form within matter..."

This is one of the coolest things I've ever found on the internet! I was instantly captivated and immediately after watching this, I went on a 30 minute youtube binge looking for more. No matter what medium the sound is coming through: water, sand, or 3D graphics - it is all equally hypnotizing! the Pink Floyd and Tool videos make me particularly happy because I love the bands, but that Sonata is the most awesome visual yet! ! In high school, me and my friends went to see a laser light show to the Dark Side of the Moon at a planetareum ; I remember it being so magical because it was something we've never seen before and now having seen this,  I recognided the patterns! I wonder if that's how laser light animations are done...

At first when he started speaking, I thought this was going to be just another talk on a art installation - and I really loved that he talked about many different types of uses and purposes for futher development. I definitely see how this can be used in many different therapy sessions - with the right sound and the right atmosphere, it can be incredibly relaxing! I bet this would be an Excellent tool for hypnotherapists! 

week 11 

10/31/16 - 11/6/16

Richard St. John - 8 Secrets of Success

This talk was short, sweet, and straight to the point. 

1. passion - do it for Love not money
2. work  - nothing worthwhile easy 
3. good - get really good at one skill; there is no magic - practice practice practice
4. focus - focus on one thing
5. push - push through shyness and self doubt
6. serve - millionaires serve others something of value - that is how people really get rich
7. ideas - listen, observe, be curious, ask questions, problem solve, make connections
8. persist - #1 reason why people succeed 

persist thought CRAP - Criticism, Rejections, Assholes, Pressure :)

there are 2 rules that stood out to me the most: serving and persisting. Serving at a restruant is like a modern day rite of passage. and I think it's a really important one - a necessary humbling. 
Persisting without  a doubt is what leads to success- I couldnt agree more. In my opinion, there can be no success without persistance. Having looked over this list one more, I noticed  that Richard St. John used a couple of words that somewhat synonymous to persist: work, focus, push. So really , what this really is a 4 point strategy for success : 1. persist, 2. passion 3.serve and 4. ideas. 

week 10 

10/24/16 - 10/30/16

Faith Jegede - What I've learned from my autistic brothers

I'm so happy I found this video! Having worked with kids with autism for over two years, I couldn't agree more with every word she says. Faith Jegede perfectly articulated how I feel about autism and how truly wonderful, loving and so incredibly human it be. 
I finished an entire bachelors degree in psychology and thought I had some general ideas about human behavior. I wasn't even planning on working with kids with special needs, but I needed a job and the opportunity came so I took it. And then I pretty quickly realized that the basic degree in psychology, while fun, didn't really teach me any skills. I was not prepared.  I am so very grateful that the two companies I worked with while skills training were by the best luck, two of the top pioneering companies - not only in the state of Hawaii, but the entire field of autism in general (its steadily growing, but its not That big yet). Both companies ensured that each skills trainer got a minimum 40 hour training in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) prior to getting the first case assignment. ABA therapy is fundamentally simple conditioning: reinforcing the desired behavior and NOT reinforcing/ignoring undesired behavior. It's so straight forward and simple and effective, its GENIUS. I know it may not feel like the most proud title to wear, but humans are animals - and we can be trained.  We do it to ourselves all the time even - that's pretty much what habits are. So ABA therapy for autism is essentially a special kind of habit training where we are taught to break down each behavior (like brushing teeth) into many VERY SMALL steps ( 1. get brush, 2, get toothpaste. 3. open toothpaste cap. etc) and then essentially just chaining them together. So we would start with least restrictive prompting (specific for each kid) and show them what to do, help them do it, help them remember to do it, and then praise for each time they get closer to the goal of independence. Brilliantly straight forward, achievable goals. 
But the best most useful part of that training was not only what to do as a skills trainer, but HOW to do it. Most of the kids I worked with were nonverbal and even the ones that were technically verbal, conversations had to be Taught. One of the defining characteristics of autism is the deficits in social interactions- its not just that they cant do it, its that they dont WANT to, not in the same way other people do. If they can communicate, then the motivation to communicate is either to get something/someone or get away from something/someone- they're not just gonna come up start small chatting- that just isn't "built" into their nature. So in order to be an effective skills trainer, I thought more about my patients' Motives for behaviors instead of their Outcomes. The amazing thing about these kids that if you just sit there, and do nothing more than just observe, their attention will quickly turn to whatever they are into and they'll just forget that you're there- most people would be so very aware of being observed, especially from only a few feet away, but not these kids- they will start playing or doing whatever they want in their own special worlds. It became second nature for me to automatically follow their gaze - because where their eyes were going, the bodies would follow,  It was really incredible to watch someone be 100% completely their authentic self- without even the concept of consequences- what a truly humbling perspective. You see everything- the natural fear, sadness, surprise, frustration, excitement, joy but in the most purest forms. These kids don't get jealous (because jealousy requires concept of comparison between oneself and another, which is one of the HARDEST to teach) - it may look like it , but what's really happening is that they see something that they want, probably try to reach and grab it, and if unsuccessful, then express frustration, For better or for worse, it really IS that simple. and it absolutely fascinates me. I really wish I could even for a moment be able to see things the way they do and especially to feel as distinctly and vividly as they do! 

week 9 

10/17/16 - 10/23/16 

Dean Ornish - Your genes are not your fate

How uplifting!! :)

 I'd just like to clarify that we cannot generate new neurons.  Instead, the brain increases size by building new connections. Essentially, all learning and all memories are structural physiological changes in the brain. Those brain exercises really DO work ;) 

Things that INCREASE Brain Mass: chocolate, tea, blueberries, alcohol (moderate), stress management, cannabinoids 

Things that DECREASE Brain Mass: Saturated Fat, Sugar, Nicotine, opiates, cocaine, alcohol (excess), and chronic stress. 

As a future RN, I'd just like to make a quick public announcement that STRESS is more than just an inconvenience. Chronic stress affects every single body system adversely. Anytime our brain sends stress signals, the body releases cortisol.  Increased levels of cortisol have been clearly linked to development and/or worsening of Heart Disease, Diabetes, many types of cancers, clinical depression and and pretty much most other pathologies. The scariest of all is cancer: if someone has multiple risk factors (most of us do: as the statistics currently are that 1 in 3 people is likely to get cancer in their lifetime) being in a constant state of stress Significantly increases the risk of getting cancer. Basically, if your body is walking a tightrope between health and cancer, chronic stress Will push it over the edge...Luckily, there are many resources widely available and easily accessible- gotta love Google! :) 

I recently watched THE MOST perfect documentary series to complement this talk: Predict My Future - the science of us. 

Here's the IMDB summary: Predict My Future reveals the answers to one of life's most fundamental questions; What Makes Us Who We Are? 43 years ago a New Zealand Medical School embarked on a remarkable project - the ultimate Nature/Nurture test. They decided to follow every one of the 1,037 babies born in the city of Dunedin between April 1972 and March 1973 for their entire lives. And they have. Those children have become the 1,000 most studied people in the world. For almost four decades every aspect of their health and development has been monitored - their genes, their growth, their physical well-being, their psychology, their emotional ups and downs, criminal convictions, successes, failures - the lot. The result is the Dunedin Longitudinal Study - the broadest and the most in-depth study of human beings in the world. The project has become the richest and most productive archive of human development - anywhere. It is truly unique - the study has retained an unprecedented 96% of its starting participants. It is re-writing the book on what makes us all human. 'Predict My Future' details the study's findings, and explores what they have to say about all our lives. This series has a global audience and is being screened across Europe, and in Australasia - with additional territories in negotiation.

week 8 

10/10/16-10/16/16

Julian Treasure - How to speak so that people will want to listen

Here's some Golden  life advice! 

7 Deadly Sins of Talking:

1. gossip
2. judging
3. negativity
4. complaining - viral misery
5. excuses
6. lying (embroidery - exaggerating - lies)
7. dogmatism - confusion between facts and opinions

4 Foundations to Powerful Speech

HAIL = "greet or claim enthusiastically"

1. Honesty
2. Authenticity - standing in your own truth
3. Integrity
4. Love

NOT JUST WHAT YOU SAY BUT HOW YOU SAY IT

Physiology of speaking: 

• REGISTER - speak from deeper parts of the chest - people associate depth with power
• TIMBER - the way your voice feels ;  we naturally  prefer smooth, rich, warm voices
• PROSIDY - metalanguage: monotone/repetitiveness/etc
• PACE - slow down, emphasize 
• PITCH  
• VOLUME

I really like how he ended the talk with a question about what would the world be like if we created and received sound consciously. it makes me wonder: what kinds of changes could we make as a society to reach this goal? 

week 7
10/3/16 - 10/9/16

Suzanne Lee - Grow your own clothes

I have to admit, when I first saw the tittle of the talk, I was hesitant and skeptical. However, after watching it, I definitely have to reconsider. I think it's such an interesting idea and definitely a great starting platform- I would be eager to see how they work out the water resistance issue! There's a few similar ideas that I've recently came across: making leather out of mushrooms and pineapples. I'm excited about this new direction in the textile industry especially in terms of efficiency: I really like that by making clothes this way, you only use exactly what you need and thus, it is a much less wasteful process. 

Nonetheless, despite the fact that  my mind changed after watching this talk, and I am more open to trying this, for now, until there is more of a waterproof version, I will opt out for more cotton clothes in the mean time. 

week 6 
9/26/16 - 10/2/16

Achenya Idachaba - How I turned a deadly plant into a thriving business. 

What an awesome win-win! Achenya Idachaba's idea is genius not only because it is clearly effective, but also because beautifully simple it was: instead of finding ways to only efficiently get rid of the water hyacinth infestations,  she searched for ways to make the same weeds that had the were previously very bothersome, into something beneficial! I think it's so awesome how much can change when we simply look at our challenges/dilemmas from a different angle! The environment being taken care of by clearing out weeds while simultaneously benefiting contributing to the community is hte best possible resolution to the problem!

I thought it was interesting how different communities had drastically different meaning associated with the water hyacinth dependent on how these infestations affected those communities. While I accept that as an expected phenomenon of language development: associating words with subjectively witnessed experiences; I thought it was especially clever that Achenya was able to notice the potential of benefiting from assessing factors that determine meanings associated with the same plant across different communities.

week 5 
9/19/16 - 9/25/16

Tim Urban - Inside the mind of a master procrastinator

This is hands down my favorite Ted talk up to date! It is also the most relevant - I have known this instant gratification monkey for a very long time - honestly, as long as I can remember. While I like to think that over the past few years I have taken some strides in learning to control my impulses and yield to the rational thinking part of my brain, this is still as relevant as ever. Like that evil monkey in Family Guy that keeps bothering Chris, my monkey shows up periodically to offer endless trivia and more often than not on Sunday nights..lol :) Despite the fact that  by now I've developed some stamina through life lessons on importance of discipline, I still tend to procrastinate more often than not. And it really is about time to get it together - if not for anything else, at least for a better sleep cycle. >.< 

The best part of this talk is how incredibly relatable it is! Tim Urban has reached Einstein level of relativity here - adult life requires that we learn to let the rational brain drive our actions for the purpose delayed gratification instead of allowing the instant gratification monkey to distract us and consequently keep us from making progress. And ironically, the instant gratification monkey ultimately ends up delaying our big-picture/ rationally understood, wanted, and planned gratification! Who doesn't know the oh-too-familiar sense of shame and guilt and everything else that comes along with knowing you are the ultimate source of your own problems.?! haha =D

It's essentially a rite of passage that Jean Piaget studied conceptualized as a four stage series of cognitive development. As he proposed, from ages 7 to 11 we enter the Concrete Operations period of the development of our  ability to think and understand. the Concrete operations period is significant and distinct turning point of our development when we begin to understand the nature of cause and effect relationships and how it relates and then ultimately runs our lives. I don't think it's even possible to fully quiet the instant gratification monkey - its a inseparable part of our nature, the Freudian "Id". Nonetheless, as we progress through natural order or cognitive development, we begin to develop our own unique strategies for quieting that mischievous little monkey.  So here's hoping that Next semester, I Will finally do my work as it becomes assigned instead of relying on the "been there/done that" ways! :)

week 4 
 9/12/16 - 9/18/16

Robert Full: The secrets of nature's grossest creatures, channeled into robots. 

This is SO ingenious! I don't like cockroaches and I generally feel very apprehensive about robots, but after watching this video I noticed this strange appreciation of both. Robert Full took the worst part of cockroaches- their INdestructibility and was not only able to redeem those qualities to somewhat tolerable levels. he actually turned them around to something we might want to have. He's like a modern day magician/alchemist!
While each of the behaviors referenced in the video were uncomfortable to watch in cockroach form, they were amazing when robots were doing them.

I liked this talk so much, that I searched for his other works.  The expectations were high and the following videos, they did not disappoint!  :)

week 3 

9/5/16 - 9/11/16

Gever Tulley : 5 dangerous things you should let your children do. 

Perhaps from being an only child, and/or working as a skills trainer for children with disabilities, I have realized that one of the best things parents can, and in my humble opinion have to, do for their children is to teach them how to be as independent as possible. Teaching independence promotes developing functional abilities which enable children to effectively affect their environment, as well as, the priceless lessons from developing common sense intuition of the ways of the world, the street smarts - that cant be articulated through classrooms. While there is absolutely no denying that education is essential in becoming a self sufficient adult, i believe restricting children to mainly formal education, and even worse, further restricting the rules to appease threats of lawsuits and pressure to standardize is providing future generations nothing more than an Incomplete education.

This talk really resonated with me. I loved that he advocated letting children access things such as pocket knives, fires, appliances, and cars at an earlier age than what is now socially acceptable. I think educational guidelines should not be so strict and restrictive- allowing children more freedom that while potentially involving more safety risks, actually enables them to develop a sense of their environment and their place within it sooner, will actually give children better, more extensive life training through primary experience as opposed secondary demonstrations in meticulously regulated classrooms.

week 2 

8/29/16 - 9/4/16

Sanjay Pradhan: How open data is changing international aid

There were so many things that I found interesting in this talk. While there's no denying the state of imbalance and disproportion throughout the world, and we always know it's had to get people to donate their money to someone else, possibly halfway across the world, that they have never met. However, I didn't anticipate having challenges with appropriating the donated wealth to those in need. As Sanjay Pradhan pointed out, in order to have effective development, we need to establish a collaboration between the governing agencies and the constinuents affected. The ideal dynamic would have an honest, transparent, accessible, and effective government that is in conjuction with and accountable to an actively participating citizenry. What I really liked about his approach is that he decided to start bridging the gap by giving the poor and disenfanchized populations ways to express themselves and their concerns.
I also appreciate that this video portrayed the globalization of data in a favorable light. It's a great idea to use the already available resources in such a proactive way. and How inspiring that there are governments that are actually beginning to pay more attention to their people and implement measures to improve current conditions!! Here we're sitting "on top of the world" as far as living conditions in the first world goes, and no other time than now has it been so blatantly obvious that our government does not want to take our voices seriously- and then to find out that in developing countries, the governments are being more accountable to their public; like Ghana for example, How awesome that they revealed oil sector contracts to the public! What do you the the odds would be of something like that happening here??
And then the effectiveness of this project- fantastic. Especially evident in the example of Tanzania - the fact that the mapping was done over wireless data and a college project makes it a feasibly reproducible task - We could have the entire world mapped out by communities and resources to the smallest details in such a short amount of time- and having accessible connection points at the remote places, so that the people can honestly evaluate the extend of the aid they received, would present a "visual graphic of the collective voices of the poor."
Lastly, but certainly not least: a few words on the speaker. His voice in particular was one of most prominent of his features- he has such as soft tone- yet the message is delivered with captivating power. Furthermore, he has such a genuinely warm, engaging, and deeply human disposition - his passion and his purpose almost radiate through him and it's pretty spectacular- not something that comes around often.

week 1 

8/22/16 - 8/28/16

Dennis Hong: Making a Car for Blind Drivers

Wow! Just...Wow!
It is absolutely amazing how through technology we are able to overcome nature's limitations and give people new freedoms that were once unimaginable!
This project is significant is so many different ways. Besides affecting people on an individual level, this has possibilities to influence major societal changes. The idea of a self operating car is not a new one. Using fully self operating computer cars has the potential to reduce human error in driving. That would be a major change- no drunk driving, no speeding, no accidents! However, as awesome as that would be, I think its equally important and interesting to consider what the implications of such safe driving would be on the infrastructure of the society- such as how many jobs would be affected ? No car accidents means no drivers:taxi/bus/etc, no need for insurance, no need for patrolling agencies...
What I also find interesting about this specific project is the aim to allow the driver to actually drive- in an active sense, where your actions and reactions are reflected in the movements of the car as opposed to self operating vehicle where everyone is essentially a passenger- absolutely incredible how he approached this goal. These non visual interfaces could be implemented in a multitude of different ways besides the driving of a car. I loved that he ended his talk with a new vision of a classroom for the blind where each student can actually see what's written on the board and/or presented by way of these non visual interfaces. How cool!!!