video: are we born to run?This week my video was "Are We Born To Run?" by Christopher McDougall. This video is based upon the history of running and how we as humans evolved as a "hunting pack animal" which can be linked back to the tribal days. McDougall gives some very cool stories about how running has evolved and about how we began to focus more on how we run and how fast we run as our brains advanced versus just running for the love of running. He relates this to the creation of "running shoes" and talks specifically about getting rid of running shoes and being more like the Tarahumara tribe.
This video is very eye opening. As humans we see running as a basic action that we learn as toddlers and then just evolve from there, but it is really that simple? McDougall insists that running extremely long distances barefoot is the key to health and happiness. He says that we need to get rid of the marketing and packing and the idea of "urban marathons". He says that Brand-name "running shoes" with gel cushions and super support is what causes injuries when running. He says running should be a source of joy and happiness and not injury and pain. McDougall's talks about the Tarahumara, a tribe that is know for their ability to run extreme distances in bad conditions without sweatng or getting injured. He calls them superathletes and says they would win all races and running competitions even though they are 500 years behind in their technology. One of the reasons I enjoyed this video is because the subject of running applies to me with sports. It was interesting to to hear McDougall's philosophy and findings on the injuries he believes happen because of expensive running shoes. Running is a very important aspect of the game of baseball, a sport that I love so to hear that the shoes I wear when playing baseball could potentially cause me injuries was interesting. The video kept my attention because McDougall had a lot of really cool and interesting stories to go along with all of the information he provided. I understand what McDougall is trying to say with getting back to running for the love of the sport and that noone has foot injuries in tribes who run with their bare feet. Can you imagine all baseball players being on the field running around with no baseball cleats or shoes on. It seems like a funny concept but what if we were all more effective runners that way and didn't have many injuries. I know I personally run a lot faster with no shoes on and I am much happier doing it so maybe there is something to McDougall's theory. This subject is one I would definitely want to do more research on because the subject is very interesting and relates to me as a athlete. McDougall did a very good job of presenting the information in an exciting way and it kept my attention as a result. I would watch another one of his videos.
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video: can we create new senses for humans What is the difference between reality and what we think reality is? In his video the speaker talks about the limits we have when it comes to visualizing reality with our senses. He emphasizes the ability for our brains to evolve so that we can see more of the reality that is going on around us. He gives us an example of an experimental drug that can speed up the evolution of the human brain, however also explains why we shouldn't use it and gives alternatives to help enhance our senses.
Our ability to see reality is very limited by the perception of the world our brains allow us to have. Our brains control our senses and how we use them. In the video Eagleman shows us in pictures what the reality of our world is made up of and compares it to what we see. He then explains how our brains have the capacity to see this reality but that we can only access 5% of our brains. Eagleman gives proof that as we evolve as humans we will began to have the ability to access more of our brains capacity therefore giving us more and more senses and the ability to visualize what reality really is. He then explains that it will take millions of years for our brains to evolve enough for this to happen at 100% capacity. Eagleman goes into detail about an experimental drug that could cause the brain to evolve a lot faster then it would on its own. He then explains how this drug is very unstable and probably wont even work correctly so we should just leave the brain be and let it evolve on it's own, however he talks about non-invasive alternatives such as sensory substitution to help enhance the senses. Eagleman says that sensory substitution feeds information to the brain through unusual sensory channels and then the brain figures out what to do with that information. An example is a "vest" that uses vibrations to talk to your brain. Eagleman tested this vest on deaf people and has seen success. This is just one of many examples presented in the video that shows ways of helping to create new and enhanced senses for humans. I like the way that Eagleman gives solutions to every problem that he comes up with and the way he describes some things that might be hard to understand in a more simplistic way and makes the video is easy to follow. I agree with many of Eagleman's points with regard to this video. I strongly agree with his point about not using drugs to speed up the time of evolution on the brain. I just feel like the brain is a vital organ and too fragile to be tampered with using drugs. Why use an enhancement drug when it is not needed. I found his opinions on and use of sensory substitution interesting and innovative. I don't think people realize just how important sensory input can be. Eagleman had a very well thought out and educated opinion on this subject and was very good at informing me on the topic and all the details needed to understand the subject well. Overall, I learned a lot about the subject and the way our senses and our brains perceive reality. This was an interesting topic and I wouldn't mind learning more about it in the future. It gave me a good reference of knowledge on the subject and I felt like the information given was enough to help me decide if I wanted to go even deeper into this field of study. video: how equal do we want to be? you'd be surprised How equal do we want to be? In this TED talk video Dan Ariely tells us that the way we think of equality is wrong and unreasonable. He shows us statistics that support his opinion on how our ideas differentiate from reality.
Ariely puts a lot of emphasis on the idea of equality when it comes to wealth. He believes we need to define what we mean by equality. Equality does not mean that everyone will have the same wealth but it means that we should all have equal opportunity to acquire any wealth that we require. It wouldn't be logical for equality of wealth to be given that's why the structure of earning as much wealth as your heart desires and everybody having a equal chance is a more probable choice to the massive political debate about equality. As I said, Ariely's main subject in this talk is about equality in wealth but he also talks about equality in other areas. He makes points about equality for men and women, different religions, different ethnicities and quality of schools for children of each class. These things show the variety of equality wanted by the people. The real question is what does the government think needs to happen. Equality is looked at by society in the wrong way. Everybody wants instant change and there is no way for the government to provide that but equality will start to come gradually from the government in gradual changes. Ariely has a solid view of the very well known subject of equality. He gives plausible advice to contrast the majority of the worlds view of equality. He does a good job of looking at the opposing side of the argument and disecting what was wrong and right about it. The talk was very informative and I really enjoyed the subject. Hi, my name is Corey Cannon. I'm in 9th grade and I go to West Orange High School, located in Winter Garden Florida.
My teacher has assigned us a project where we are required to post blogs on TED talk videos that interest us. The goal of this project is to find out what really matters to us so we can then find a profession that interests us. Sometimes what we think we want to do when we get older may not end up being the best option for us. As a high school student, I can't say exactly what is the most important thing to me or what I will be doing as a professional when I grow up . I can tell you that what is most important to me right now is my family, playing baseball, being a good friend and doing well in school. This is a good project to help us start figuring out what we want to do with our lives. I am really excited for this project and expect it to be a good way to find things that I'm most interested in and that are important to me. |