Watched another batch of videos. Time to tell you about them too, my little readers. In black – highly recommended.
1. https://www.ted.com/talks/charles_robertson_africa_s_next_boom
Africa's economy is growing, the standard of living too, soon apple trees will be blooming there.
2.https://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_on_institutions_versus_collaboration
The old way of doing things – hierarchical organizations, like the Encyclopedia Britannica. The new way – self-organizing communities, like Wikipedia.
4.https://www.ted.com/talks/eve_ensler
The author of the sensational The Vagina Monologues poetically and emotionally talks about how she discovered she has a body, and somehow she has to live with it. It's quite hard to take in, but relevant to all those like me, who just can't get used to the fact that they go to the toilet, have sex, get sick, eat and drink, and that the body is not something separate, but an entity inextricably linked to your mind and consciousness, whether you want it to be or not. There's no need to be ashamed of it, you need to live with it in peace and harmony.
5. https://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_iliff_one_more_reason_to_get_a_good_night_s_sleep
Yet another reason why you need to sleep well and plenty. A scientist's theory that the brain cleanses its cells of waste products during sleep (all other organs do this differently). No sleep – ALL THE WASTE AND TOXINS STAY IN YOUR NOGGIN!
6.https://www.ted.com/talks/kenneth_cukier_big_data_is_better_data
"Big data", meaning the mass automated collection of all sorts of statistics, can not only be dangerous for privacy, but also very useful for moving humanity forward. Self-learning algorithms will help us with that.
7.https://www.ted.com/talks/larry_brilliant_wants_to_stop_pandemics
Pandemics of dangerous diseases can be prevented and stopped if we create systems for early warning and elimination. Even the internet is a huge help. Imagine that in one particular place the number of Facebook posts and tweets along the lines of "I'm not feeling well" started to sharply increase – it's food for thought. Such a system is already working and has proven itself excellently – as a follow-up to the previous video.
8.https://www.ted.com/talks/maria_bezaitis_the_surprising_need_for_strangeness
Why people need to step out of their comfort zone and talk to strangers.
9.https://www.ted.com/talks/paolo_cardini_forget_multitasking_try_monotasking
In modern life there are so many tempting stimuli and various distractions. Why not forget about multitasking and try to concentrate on the current task?
These are again echoes of the mindfulness concept, a word that has practically no adequate translation into Russian, a concept that originated in Buddhism and was adopted by modern psychology. The shortest possible translation is - awareness of the present moment with its acceptance".
But to understand something, a translation is not enough, you need reading, thinking, and doing.
10. https://www.ted.com/talks/ann_cooper_talks_school_lunches
What's wrong with school lunches? A lady very fiercely talks about what kind of shit they feed kids in American schools, and how she gets up at 4 AM to cook natural food.
11. https://www.ted.com/talks/erik_brynjolfsson_the_key_to_growth_race_em_with_em_the_machines
Just as weavers were replaced by looms, and Chinese assembly workers by robots, office workers will be replaced by powerful specialized software. Are businessmen and the government ready for this, are people ready?
12. https://www.ted.com/talks/hendrik_poinar_bring_back_the_woolly_mammoth
A mammoth can be resurrected, because we have the DNA, and an elephant can give birth to it! But should we?
13.https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_seligman_on_the_state_of_psychology
Psychology has advanced a lot since Freud's times. Many people suffering from anxiety, depression, and other disorders can be helped by bringing them up to the average level. But the author believes that we must do more – make people who "just live normally" happy.
14. https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_villeneuve_how_i_made_an_impossible_film
A dude in Canada shot a sci-fi movie with badass special effects for just 2.5 million. He explains how.
15. https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_green_why_we_should_build_wooden_skyscrapers
An architect explains that wood is the best material, and we can and should build even skyscrapers out of it.
16.https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_lewis_don_t_take_consciousness_for_granted
Don't take the gift of your self-awareness for granted. A guy got into an accident, was in a coma for a few weeks, and then couldn't perform even the simplest actions.
In 15 years he got all his intellect back with the help of exercises, they put a nerve stimulator in his leg so it would move, and he generally tells a ton of interesting stuff. Hooray for brain plasticity!