Steven Pinker "The Stuff of Thought."

Renowned linguist Steven Pinker speaks at Google's Mountain View, CA, headquarters about his book "The Stuff of Thought." This event took place on September 24, 2007, as part of the Authors@Google series. For more information about Steven Pinker, please visit http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/books/s...

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This references the story about how President Garfield died. After a botched assignation attempt where the bullet did not hit any organ nor major blood vessle- the President was treated to pathetic care and actually died of infection and starvation. The shooter objects to being charged with killing him- because in actuality the real causality was the doctors.

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Aubrey de Grey and his work at extending healthy life

Two talks by scientist Aubrey de Grey and his work at extending healthy life in humans to to a thousand years. My notes on his speeches, some of his slides and more information about Mr. de Grey.



Paul's notes Jan. 5 2008-

Key concept
1. metabolism ongoingly cases damage. Damage only eventually causes pathology. Pathology leads to death.

2. As humans we can try to prevent `damages' before they happen (prevention) and we can treat damages after we happen (medicinal intervention.)

3. Without the outrageous claims that a human can live to a thousand, de Gray's proposition that we should prevent pathologies that bring misery (and eventual death) is much less controversial.

4. In work on HIV, doctors first tried to help those afflicted cope. Then immediately they looked for cause (unsafe sex, transmission of contaminated blood, and re-use of contaminated needles- and began working to educate the populace to fight against the `pathology'.) Then as doctors witnessed how the HIV typically worked in breaking down the contaminated- they began working on ways to stop in advance the predictable pathologies, resulting with HIV sufferers living longer, healthier lives.

de Gray basically is doing the same thing withe issue of aging.

5. He gives a great car analogy, showing a jeep that has lasted well for fifty years because it was built like a tank. Then a VW bug that has lasted more than years because the owners liked it so much they kept it up, fixing whatever was wrong with it, and then he showed a vehicle in mint condition over 15o years old- also in excellent working order because the owners kept it up.

Its been said by others: People take better care of their cars (horses and dogs) then they do of themselves.


7. Slides





Definition of terms:

1. Pathology = pathology
"science of diseases," 1611, from Fr. pathologie, from Mod.L. pathologia, from Gk. pathologikos "treating of disease," from pathos "suffering" (see pathos) + -logia "study," from logos "word." Pathologist first recorded 1650. Pathological "pertaining to disease" formed in Eng. 1688;
a. the science or the study of the origin, nature, and course of diseases.
b. the conditions and processes of a disease.
c. any deviation from a healthy, normal, or efficient condition.

2. metabolism L
in physiology sense, 1878, from Fr. métabolisme, from Gk. metabole "change," from metaballein "to change," from meta- "over" + ballein "to throw." Metabolic is first attested 1845 in this sense, from Ger. metabolisch (1839). The word is attested from 1743 with the lit. sense of "involving change."
anabolic Look up anabolic at Dictionary.com
"pertaining to the process of building up (especially in metabolism)," 1876, from Gk. anabole "that which is thrown up, mound," from ana "up, upward" + ballein "to throw."


3. Gerontology gerontology
1903, coined in Eng. from Gk. geron (gen. gerontos) "old man," from PIE base *ger(e)- "to become ripe, grow old" (cf. Skt. jara "old age," Avestan zaurvan "old age," Ossetic zarond "old man"). the branch of science that deals with aging and the problems of aged persons.

4. geriatric
1909, formed in Eng. from Gk. geras "old age" (from PIE base *gere- "to grow old;" cf. Skt. jarati "makes frail, causes to age") + iatrikos "of a physician," from iatros, related to iasthai "heal, treat," of uncertain origin. Geriatrics was coined 1909 by Ignatz L. Nascher (1863-1944) in "New York Medical Journal" on the model of pediatrics. The correct formation would be gerontiatrics.
–adjective
a. of or pertaining to geriatrics, old age, or aged persons.
–noun
b. Slang. an old person.




Why you should listen to him:

A true maverick, Aubrey de Grey challenges the most basic assumption underlying the human condition -- that aging is inevitable. He argues instead that aging is a disease -- one that can be cured if it's approached as "an engineering problem." His plan calls for identifying all the components that cause human tissue to age, and designing remedies for each of them — forestalling disease and eventually pushing back death. He calls the approach Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS).

With his astonishingly long beard, wiry frame and penchant for bold and cutting proclamations, de Grey is a magnet for controversy. A computer scientist, self-taught biogerontologist and researcher, he has co-authored journal articles with some of the most respected scientists in the field.

But the scientific community doesn't know what to make of him. In July 2005, the MIT Technology Review challenged scientists to disprove de Grey's claims, offering a $20,000 prize (half the prize money was put up by de Grey's Methuselah Foundation) to any molecular biologist who could demonstrate that "SENS is so wrong that it is unworthy of learned debate." The challenge remains open; the judging panel includes TEDsters Craig Venter and Nathan Myhrvold. It seems that "SENS exists in a middle ground of yet-to-be-tested ideas that some people may find intriguing but which others are free to doubt," MIT's judges wrote. And while they "don't compel the assent of many knowledgeable scientists," they're also "not demonstrably wrong."

"Aubrey de Grey is a man of ideas, and he has set himself toward the goal of transforming the basis of what it means to be human."

MIT Technology Review

efeating aging: Aubrey de Grey's handbook – July 9, 2007

British biogerontologist, computer scientist and twice TED speaker Aubrey de Grey has just finished a book, "Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime", where he details his controversial claim that "we could defeat aging".

Degreyendingagingcover Cheat sheet: Aubrey went on stage at TEDGLOBAL05 (video) and then at TED06 saying (I'm oversimplifying) that aging, like a disease, can be cured; that it is essentially a set of accumulating molecular and cellular transformations in our bodies, caused by metabolism, that eventually lead to pathology and kill us. Therefore, it could be approached "as an engineering problem": identify all the components of the variety of processes that cause tissues to age, and design remedies for each of them. He calls the approach "Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence" (SENS).

The book, co-written with his assistant Michael Rae, will be released September 4 by St Martin's Press. We e-mailed with Aubrey last week.

Aubrey, are you feeling older than last year?

Not really -- and that's despite the fact that my schedule has become even more punishing. I think the fulfilment I derive from spearheading the push to save so many lives somehow gives me the vitality to cope.

How has your research progressed since your TEDGLOBAL05 and TED06 speeches?

The Methuselah Foundation has gone from strength to strength. The biggest development, among other donations, was the pledge of $3.5m from TEDster and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, which resulted from a dialogue that began at TED. Most of his pledge ($3m of it) is a 1:2 challenge, so our current goal is to obtain $6m from elsewhere to match that pledge in full.

OK, that's about the funding. But how's the research going?

It's been going really well too. We are currently sponsoring research by three teams (in Phoenix, Houston and Cambridge UK) on two of the most important SENS strands -- LysoSENS, the identification and exploitation of microbial enzymes to break down molecules that we cannot naturally degrade, and MitoSENS, the incorporation of modified copies of the mitochondrial DNA into the chromosomal DNA so that mitochondrial mutations will have no effect. Both these projects are going really well, results coming out of the LysoSENS project have already been presented at two meetings and a paper has been submitted for publication in a prominent journal.

What should readers expect to learn from the book?

They will learn all about the detailed science of SENS. The book is written (largely by my splendid research assistant Michael Rae) very much for a non-scientist audience, but without dumbing down the science at all.

Return to the Source - Philosophy and the Matrix

The Matrix is one of my favorite movies- took an immense amount oif noted on this- start with:

1. It is concerned with the superficiality of society

2. Similar to two Plato's allegory of the Cage - Descartes story of the evil deceivers.

4. Important quote: You are here because you know something, and what you know you cant explain, but you feel it.

5. Revelation comes in two ways a. God tells you b. a person figures it out on thier own.

5. The movie is a series of thought experiments

6. relationship with Phillip Dick (author0

7. is a tale in pyber punk- in which tends to have people turning into machines and machines turning into people ( Neo becomes one with the machine, the seemingly real woman who is the oracle is just a machine)




OUTSIDE NOTES

1. # This documentary is featured on disc 8 (The Roots of the Matrix)in The Ultimate Matrix DVD Collection, released in 2004.

2. Return to the Source: Philosophy & The Matrix - 61:04
To gain a real understanding of the Matrix Series, especially parts 2 and 3, one really must have at least some understanding of the philosophical and religious aspects of the story. Without this basic grounding, the last 2 films become a mish-mash of mumbo jumbo. This documentary goes a fair way towards explaining some of the philosophy behind the films. Here we have a wealth of philosophers and teachers that lend their thoughts and expertise to the viewer so that they may get a better understanding of what's behind the films.

Contributing here are:
Iakovos Vasiliou: Associate Professor of Philosophy, City University of New York, Graduate Center, Brooklyn College. (more notes from him here)


Ken Wilber, Writer and Philosopher. Mark Rowlands: Professor of Philosophy, University of Hartfordshire. John Searle: Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley. Christopher Graw: Associate Professor of Philosophy, Florida International University, Philosophy Editor of thematrix.com. T.J. Mawson: Philosopher, Oxford University. David Chalmers: Professor of Philosophy, Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies, University of Arizona. Colin McGinn: Author and Professor of Philosophy, Rutgers University. Dr. Cornel West: Author and Professor of Religion and African American Studies, Princeton University. Donna Bowman: Associate Professor of Religious Studies, The Honours College, University of Central Arkansas. Michael McKenna: Associate professor of Philosophy, Ithaca College. William Irwin: Professor of Philosophy, Kings College, Editor of "The Matrix and Philosophy". Richard Hanley: Professor of Philosophy, University of Delaware. Julia Driver: Professor of Philosophy, Dartmouth College. Rudy Rucker: Author. John Shirley: Author and Screenwriter. Bruce Sterling: Writer. Dr. Rachel Wagner: Hundere Teaching Fellow of Religion and Culture, Oregon State University. Christopher Vogler: Author. Frances Flannery-Dailey, Ph.D.: Author and Associate Professor of Religion, Hendrix College. Andy Clark: Philosopher and Cognitive Scientist, University of Edinburgh. Peter Chung: Director, Aeon Flux. Peter B. Lloyd: Software Consultant, Philosopher and Writer, Author of "Exegesis of The Matrix". John Partridge: Associate Professor of Philosophy, Wheaton College. Daniel Dennett: Author and Professor of Philosophy, Tufts University. Hubert Dreyfus: Author and Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley.

Seth Godin: Sliced bread and other marketing delights (Ted Talk)

My notes

1/3

1. ideas that spread win
2. ideas used to spread well via the tv industrail complex- not anymore (I dont even watch telivison- so I miss out on all those products that primarilly are marketed there.

3. we have too many choices _ mentioned in another talk as a reason for our unhappiness- and to little time- so changing from our status qou to a new way/product isn't an easy thing to cause.

4. The word remarkable- something that people remark about (such as the ted confrence itself- word of mouth spreads)OTHER WORDS --
remark (v.)
1633, "to mark out, distinguish" modeled on Fr. remarquer "to mark, note, heed," from M.Fr. re-, intensive prefix, + marquer "to mark," probably from a Gmc. source, cf. O.H.G. marchon "to delimit" (see mark). Original sense preserved in remarkable (1604); meaning "make a comment" is first attested c.1694, from notion of "make a verbal observation" or "call attention to specific points." The noun is from 1654.

rave (v.) Look up rave at Dictionary.com
c.1374, "to show signs of madness or delirium," from O.Fr. raver, variant of resver "to dream, wander, rave," of unknown origin (see reverie). The identical (in form) verb meaning "to wander, stray, rove" first appeared c.1300 in Scottish and northern dialect, and is probably from an unrelated Scand. word (cf. Icelandic rafa). Sense of "talk enthusiastically about" first recorded 1704. Noun meaning "rowdy party" is from 1960, though rave-up was British slang for "wild party" from 1940; specific modern sense of "mass party with loud, fast electronic music and often psychedelic drugs" is from 1989. Raver, from this sense, is first recorded 1991. Raving is attested from 1475; sense of "remarkable" is from 1841.

hot
O.E. hat "hot, opposite of cold," also "fervent, fierce," from P.Gmc. *haitoz (cf. O.Fris. het, O.N. heitr, Du. heet, Ger. heiß "hot," Goth. heito "heat of a fever"), from PIE base *qai- (cf. Lith. kaistu "to grow hot"), the same root as that of heat. Taste sense of "pungent, acrid, biting" is from 1548. Sense of "exciting, remarkable, very good" is 1895; that of "stolen" is first recorded 1925 (originally with overtones of "easily identified and difficult to dispose of"); that of "radioactive" is from 1942. Hot air "unsubstantiated statements, boastful talk" is from 1900. Hot potato in figurative sense is from 1846. Hot-blooded "passionate" (1598) is a relic of medieval physiology theory. The association of hot with sexuality dates back to 1500. Hot rod first recorded 1945 in Amer.Eng.; hot water "trouble" is from 1537. The hot and cold in hide-and-seek or guessing games are from hunting (1648), with notion of tracking a scent. Hot spot "night club" first recorded 1931. Hotshot "important person" is from 1933; it earlier meant "fast train" (1925).

signal (adj.)
"remarkable, striking, notable" 1641, from Fr. signalé, pp. of signaler "to distinguish" (see signal (n.)).

solid (adj.)
1391, from O.Fr. solide "firm, dense, compact," from L. solidus "firm, whole, entire" (related to salvus "safe"), from PIE base *sol- "whole" (cf. Gk. holos "whole," L. salus "health;" see safe (adj.)). Slang sense of "wonderful, remarkable" first attested 1920 among jazz musicians. The noun is recorded from 1495. Solid South in U.S. political history is attested from 1858. Solidify is from 1799 (trans.), 1837 (intrans.). Solid state as a term in physics is recorded from 1953; meaning "employing transistors (as opposed to vacuum tubes)" is from 1959.

lulu
"remarkable person or thing," 1886 (first attested in a baseball article from New Orleans, U.S.), perhaps from earlier looly "beautiful girl," of unknown origin.



5. Japanese word olaku- the desire of someone obsessed

6. sell to people who are obsessed
Video notes:
hy you should listen to him:

"Seth Godin may be the ultimate entrepreneur for the Information Age," Mary Kuntz wrote in Business Week nearly a decade ago. "Instead of widgets or car parts, he specializes in ideas -- usually, but not always, his own." In fact, he's as focused on spreading ideas as he is on the ideas themselves.

After working as a software brand manager in the mid-1980s, Godin started Yoyodyne, one of the first Internet-based direct-marketing firms, with the notion that companies needed to rethink how they reached customers. His efforts caught the attention of Yahoo!, which bought the company in 1998 and kept Godin on as a vice president of permission marketing. Godin has produced several critically acclaimed and attention-grabbing books, including Permission Marketing, All Marketers Are Liars, and Purple Cow (which was distributed in a milk carton). In 2005, Godin founded Squidoo.com, a Web site where users can share links and information about an idea or topic important to them.

"[Godin] is a demigod on the Web, a best-selling author, highly sought-after lecturer, successful entrepreneur, respected pundit and high-profile blogger. He is uniquely respected for his understanding of the Internet."

Forbes.com

Email to a friend »
Blog Posts on TED

*
Intriguing launch from Seth Godin – October 10, 2005

Squidoo logoMarketing guru Seth Godin , whose 'Purple Cow' talk was a hit at TED2003, has launched an ingenious new site called Squidoo. It plans to accumulate content from anyone willing to play where each page (he calls it a lens) is a self-contained piece of expertise on a single topic. Seth believes this will help make searches much more productive and allow an army of individual mini-experts and bloggers to promote their wisdom to the world. About.com meets wikipedia. The free e-book accompanying the launch is a great, fast read with real insights, I think, on the future of search. Whether or not Squidoo gets to critical mass, the concept is cool.

04 - Montaigne on Self-Esteem - Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness

My view

An interesting antidote filled short presentation

The part when he questions his proctor at oxford didn't work, for me. I see how he strives to say the working class is often more wise than the intellectual class. I wondered why he didn't during that section mention Montaigne's essay on education.

I loved the brief tour of his house- the sayings etched on the cross beams of his study.



Video descriprion:

This six part series on philosophy is presented by popular British philosopher Alain de Botton, featuring six thinkers who have influenced ... all » history, and their ideas about the pursuit of the happy life.

Episode 4: Montaigne on Self-Esteem looks at the problem of self-esteem from the perspective of Michel de Montaigne (16th Century), the French philosopher who singled out three main reasons for feeling bad about oneself - sexual inadequecy, failure to live up to social norms, and intellectual inferiority - and then offered practical solutions for overcoming them. «

Oct 26, 2007 What a load of popularist tosh.
Botton should go back to school: because I can fart at dinner, I become a good human being?

Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?
TED Conferences
20 min 1 sec - Jul 5, 2006

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than ... all » undermining it. With ample anecdotes and witty asides, Robinson points out the many ways our schools fail to recognize -- much less cultivate -- the talents of many brilliant people. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. The universality of his message is evidenced by its rampant popularity online. A typical review: "If you have not yet seen Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk, please stop whatever you're doing and watch it now.

Daniel Dennett : Kinds of Minds - 06 Our Minds and Other Minds

My notes:

Visually: 22 minutes -a series of about ten slides over and over with the authors voice over.

He compress how we think we think with how we actually think, and using that observations shows that our thinking of animal thinking is most likely flawed also.

Gets into pain and disassociation.

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Gets into dogs vrs. cats -

interesting idea, and I dont know if he actually says or inplies- that our conciousness comes as we learn language.



Video notes:


KINDS OF MINDS CHAPTER 6: OUR MINDS AND OTHER MINDS

Daniel Dennett - Kinds of Minds: Towards an Understanding of Consciousness

Read ... all » by the author.

Daniel Dennett is Fletcher Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University.

Professor Dennett waxes philosophical about the origins of life, sensory perception, and consciousness.

KEYWORDS: consciousness, biology, perception, evolution, animal behavior, genetics, biology