19 March 2009

Where does consciousness originate? All over our brain

New Scientist is running a fascinating article on new brain research happening at INSERM that appears to show that consciousness arises from activity distributed across the brain -- rather than any single locus or "seat."

Gaillard's team flashed words in front of volunteers for just 29 milliseconds. The words were either threatening (kill, anger) or emotionally neutral (cousin, see).

The words were preceded and followed by visual "masks", which block the words from being consciously processed, or the masks following the words weren't used, meaning the words could be consciously processed. The volunteers had to press a button to indicate the nature of the word, allowing the researchers to confirm whether the volunteer was conscious of it or not.

Read the full article.

And watch Dan Dennett's fun, intriguing 2003 TEDTalk on consciousness.

Posted by TED Staff | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

16 March 2009

Cute, sexy, sweet and funny: an evolutionary riddle. Dan Dennett on TED.com

Why are babies cute? Why is cake sweet? Philosopher Dan Dennett has answers you wouldn't expect, as he shares evolution's counterintuitive reasoning on cute, sweet and sexy things (plus a new theory from Matthew Hurley on why jokes are funny). (Recorded at TED U 2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 07:45.)

Watch Dan Dennett's talk from TED U 2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 400+ TEDTalks -- including more talks about evolution's genius.

Get TED delivered:
Subscribe to the TEDTalks video podcast via RSS >>
Subscribe to the iTunes video podcast
Subscribe to the iTunes audio podcast
Get updates via Twitter >>
Join our Facebook fan page >>

Subscribe to the TED Blog >>

Posted by Emily McManus | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

02 January 2009

TEDTalks holiday comment roundup

During this holiday break, the conversation on TED.com has been as lively as ever. We talked about our resolutions:

Cynthia Ryan writes: my resolution for 2009 is to (continue to) challenge my assumptions. Dan Dennett helps me do this, if only on his intellectual coattails. More than that, he has a way of imparting complex information about the workings of the human brain that I can really get my mind (ha!) wrapped around.

We talked about fractal broccoli, inspired by Jennifer 8. Lee's hunt for General Tso and his chicken:

Edward Carter writes: In Japan, I found Mandelbrot broccoli that looks like the coolest fractal I have seen botanically. It tasted pretty good too. Does anybody grow it in the US?

Adam Geber replies: Edward, you can absolutely find "Mandelbrot broccoli" in the United States! Usually, it's referred to as either Romanesco broccoli or cauliflower, and occasionally called "broccoflower". It's a beautiful and delicious plant, and totally rewarding to grow, but if you'd like to purchase it, try your local farmers' market or a larger store. Good luck!

And young violinist Sirena Huang checks in on the discussion around her TEDTalk, where she keeps her fans updated:

She writes: ... It's been a pretty busy season but I've had lots of fun. One of the highlights for me was the From the Top recording at the beautiful Northfield Mount Hermon School in MA, which was SO much fun because I got to meet lots and lots of incredible people and made some friends there too! The show airs on January 17th on the WQXR radio station. (And I will post the online info as it becomes available!)
Also, this summer I performed at the Aspen Music Festival Competition, and here is a clip that I hope you all will enjoy (here's the link http://www.kajx.org/listen_archive.php?prog=fest and you can just look for the festival notes for JULY 23rd. A clip should pop up =)
Thanks everyone and all the best for the new year!!!!!

Follow these conversations and many more on TED.com.

Posted by Emily McManus | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

23 October 2008

Remember Dan Dennett's ant? Even more zombie animals

A glorious slideshow from Discover discusses 8 zombie animals and the parasites that control their minds and/or bodies. Snails, spiders, crabs and people -- we all are at risk of zombification from tiny forces that know how to make us do things.

Philosopher Dan Dennett suggests that -- just as these parasites force their host to act in ways that benefit the parasite -- so do certain ideas find a home inside our brains and make us act in ways that don't directly benefit us. To hear more about this phenomenon, watch Dan Dennett's TEDTalk about zombie ants and the dangerous power of memes.

Or just watch some zombies do yoga.

Image: Steve Yanoviak/University of Arkansas at Little Rock. From Discover.

Posted by Emily McManus | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

13 October 2008

Which direction is this woman spinning?

Can you reverse her direction of rotation?

Cognitive Daily at ScienceBlogs took a reader poll and found that two-thirds saw the silhouetted woman rotating clockwise. About the same number were able to reverse her direction.

Those who initially saw the woman rotating counter-clockwise found it easier to reverse her direction -- much as the Necker cube's orientation can be reversed at will. How did you fare? (Check out more illusions in TEDTalks by Al Seckel and Dan Dennett.)

Posted by Matthew Trost | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

21 September 2008

How easily we are fooled: The rotating grid illusion

Filmmaker and animator David O'Reilly (who came up with the concept for iHologram) has noticed an interesting property in this animated GIF:

He writes:

While working in 3D last year, I discovered this optical illusion: A large grid seen rotating at a certain speed will appear to group itself into smaller grids, spinning independently.

See O'Reilly's website for more examples (and his theory on why this happens).

For more optical illusions, watch Al Seckel's TEDTalk on how easily we are fooled; or Dan Dennett's talk on our gullible minds. As Dennett says, we need to understand how easily we are fooled, in order to understand the nature of consciousness itself.

Posted by Emily McManus | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

28 May 2008

The World Science Festival starts tomorrow

Tomorrow, Thursday, May 29, begins the World Science Festival: a four-day celebration of scientific exploration and discovery in New York City created by TEDster Brian Greene. Members of the TED team will be liveblogging the event right here on the TED Blog, keeping you updated on the latest from many TEDTalks favorites who will be presenting there. A few events we plan to cover:

Illuminating Genius: Unlocking Creativity: Is creativity innate or learned? Does the innovative brain have distinct structural or chemical features? Can we enhance our creativity? Vilayanur Ramachandran will contribute to this session, along with Nancy Andreasen and David Eagleman.

Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives: Brian Cox will moderate a panel of physicists including Michio Kaku and Max Tegmark as they discuss the possibility of parallel worlds. The panel is to follow a screening of Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives, a film about Hugh Everett, father of the "many-worlds interpretation" of quantum physics and the film's director, Mark Everett.

Science of Morality: Patricia Churchland, Antonio Damasio and Marc Houser join philosopher Dan Dennett in a discussion of the science of right and wrong: Why do we cooperate? Is altruism innate? How does morality arise from interactions among biological and social systems?

Looking for the Laws of Life: The forms that life could take seem endless -- at least in theory. Some scientists are on the verge of creating it in a lab. But are there universal laws of life, much like the fundamental laws of physics? This event features a vibrant discussion with leading astrobiologists Paul Davies, Steven Benner and Maggie Turnbull.

Faith & Science: Many scientists have found a way to accommodate both scientific inquiry and religious teaching in their belief systems. Other scientists are bringing science to bear on religion and spiritual belief. Actress Julia Sweeney contributes to this intimate look at what scientists have to say about their spirituality.

For more information about event schedules and to purchase tickets, visit the World Science Festival's website.

Posted by TED Staff | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

01 May 2008

Vote for your favorite public intellectuals

Not to be outdone by the Time 100, the journals Foreign Policy and Prospect have together released a list of the Top 100 public intellectuals -- with voting. Many TEDTalks favorites appear on the list, and you can help choose the eventual top 20 by voting for your very own top 5. From Foreign Policy's site:

Although the men and women on this list are some of the world’s most sophisticated thinkers, the criteria to make the list could not be more simple. Candidates must be living and still active in public life. They must have shown distinction in their particular field as well as an ability to influence wider debate, often far beyond the borders of their own country.

TEDTalks speakers on this top 100 list include George Ayittey, Steven Pinker, Neil Gershenfeld, Malcolm Gladwell, Craig Venter, Al Gore, Richard Dawkins, Vilayanur Ramachandran, Larry Lessig, Steven Levitt, E.O. Wilson, Dan Dennett and Bjorn Lomborg -- and look for upcoming TEDTalks from others on this list, including Paul Collier, who spoke at TED2008 about "the bottom billion."

See the full list of 100 >>

Posted by TED Staff | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

03 March 2008

A new meme unfolds

Photo: David Geller/whatcounts

Memeticist Susan Blackmore uses the hotel-bathroom toilet-paper fold as an example of a useless meme -- a meme that has spread throughout the world, even though there is no human reason for it to exist. The persistence of this meme easily disproves the comfortable notion that we humans only spread ideas that are useful or interesting -- it shows that, once a meme takes on life, it spreads itself.

Inspired by Blackmore's research, origamist and TEDster Bruno Bowden created a combinatorial meme -- linking Blackmore's ideas with the sophisticated folding techniques discussed by origami master Robert J. Lang onstage at TED. See photo at left.

+ To learn more about dangerous memes, listen to
Dan Dennett's awesome 2002 TEDTalk >>

+ To learn more about toilet-paper origami, check out this devoted student of the art >>

+ To see what happened when Ze Frank was attacked by this meme on Day 4 of TED@Aspen, visit our Flickr set >>

Posted by TED Staff | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

03 July 2007

Dan Dennett on dangerous memes, on TED.com

Here's one of those talks that can change your view of the world forever. Starting with the deceptively simple story of an ant, Dan Dennett unleashes a dazzling sequence of ideas, making a powerful case for the existence of "memes" -- a term coined by Richard Dawkins for mental concepts that are literally alive and capable of spreading from brain to brain.
On the way, look out for:
• a powerful one-sentence secret of happiness
• a compelling insight into terrorists' motivation
• a chilling view of Islam
And just when you think you know where the talk's heading, it dramatically shifts direction and questions some of western culture's fundamental assumptions.
This. Is. Unmissable. (Recorded February 2002 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 15:39) Read more about Dan Dennett on TED.com.

NEW: Read the transcript >>

Watch this talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

Posted by TED Staff | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

20 April 2007

Dan Dennett on TED.com

Philosopher Dan Dennett makes a compelling argument that not only don't we understand our own consciousness, but that half the time our brains are actively fooling us.

Posted by TED Staff | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)