this whole talk recalls a thought experiment to mind; 'if you take a galleon, and slowly, but surely you replace, over time, every plank, board, nail and sail of the vessel, but you never changed the crew. Is the boat the same, or has it become a new ship?'
Thank You! It can be irritating when people focus on one iota of the talk, completely missing the idea and nature of experimentation and exploration. This is why TED is, to get us thinking about the unknown, to venture OUTSIDE our comfort zones (C vs.E being the comfort zone here). I know it is silly, but when I scroll through the comments I wish I could see debate on the talk as a Whole! What about the questions he raised, the amazing developments in our time, the mind numbing ideas presented??
It's not just a guess. It's a quite robust theory that has made predictions that were later been found to be amazingly accurate with real world measurements (see: CMBR). It's a very complex and "large" subject, not "everything came from nothing, lol". People study it for dozens of years, but you are right that currently, it's our best theory to explain the facts and observations. It might not be complete, but it's far from being a "guess".
I find it interesting that he left out any talk about changes in understanding of autism. Ten years ago we called it something different. Ten years before that we didn't have a word for it as we understand it today. The increasing incidence of autism, it appears, could simply be related to changes in understanding of the disorder (or is it evolution?).
True, however, he is referring to genetic engineering, not evolution in and of it's self. He also mentioned that the brain may have the ability to adapt much faster than normal given specific circumstances. In addition, he mentioned certain genes being passed in ways we could never have imagined due to our unique ability to choose specific, like minded mates. Never before in history have we been able to do this. Dog DNA is virtually identical, however, Toy poodles are different from Pitbulls.
@MarkArandjus yeah he said "either you're measuring it wrong or something's happening quickly" - so yes, it could be the increase in diagnosis rather than increase in numbers (or both), but his speech was focussing on the latter option I guess.
you said that it was unclear how one could consider a new organism a member of a "new species" but the scientific definition of "species" is quite clear on that matter. when the ted speaker says "species" he really means "genetic variation"
You're right. I shouldn't be so pedantic about scientific accuracy, especially when it's in a comments section of a video of a TED Talk that is pretty much everything BUT scientific accuracy, which is fine because it doesn't have to be.
I think he addressed your concern. While evolution occurs over multiple generations, the overall effect of seemingly inconsequential changes often appear suddenly or over a short period of time.
This talk was aimless and theoretical. People probably liked this for the same reasons they like Raymond Kurzweil... Juan proposes the idea that intelligent people will hand us immortality, we just have to wait till the research is finished. I would much rather hear about a new discovery in a specific field than wishy washy hopes and dreams about a tomorrow that isn't here yet.
As Wikipedia puts it, a scientific theory is “a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment." (Wikipedia is a Internet encyclopedia (An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge))
Despite our flawed design, I challenge any engineer to build a better machine. A machine that self repairs. Self lubricating joints. Pumps that last 80 years without replacing parts. A machine that is able to grow and multiply in number. An intelligent self defense mechanism that is capable of recognizing self from non self. A data processor capable of creating new ideas and concepts. Our brain is so complex yet brain cells are not that different than the neurons in our fingertips.
I can't believe that FEYNMAN is spelled wrong at 3:48! That seems a bit basic for someone to get wrong, unless they're talking about a feinman that I'm not aware of. Great talk though, really
its just a way to contextualize it differently, to paint a different overview that might change the way we think about the subject. at 1 point a plant was the most complex expression of us, the universe, and at an earlier point a rock was the highest form of complexity, not scientifically just metaphorically helped create us.
I agree with Michio Kaku when he said that we are at the peak of our evolution because there is no natural pressure that requires our body's to change. It's not as if only the smart and strong survive in our current society. I personally believe if any evolution is to take place, it will be a psycho-evolution where we use bio-techonology to enhance ourselves and that it will not occour naturally.
Can I ask you to please use punctuation. I'm not trying to attack you through your writing I just can't exactly tell where one point begins and another ends thanks =)
Actually there are numerous observations that have been made that help to cement the understanding of a scientific theory. A theory isn't tested, scientific theory looks find observational things to support the idea, which are further tested to prove validity.
This is a great speech and what he is saying is dead on the money. Most people are just to scared to embrace our human destiny. Its a scary thought to acknowledge that humans in their current form wont be on top forever.
Actually, on the DSM scale the numbers on the Autism scale decreased because health care insurance doesn't want to "treat" Autism even if the numbers have increased that only means that we recognize that "something" is going on. As a parent of an aspie, I I have often said that the human being is changing to its surroundings. In my sons case, he never forgets anything that he sees, is told, or does.
A scientific theory differs from the normal 'theory'. Miami University, 'An introduction to science': "A theory in science is not a guess, speculation, or suggestion, which is the popular definition of the word "theory." A scientific theory is a unifying and self-consistent explanation of fundamental natural processes or phenomena that is totally constructed of corroborated hypotheses." In other words, a scientific theory is the highest achievable form of explanation.
It has to do with kids growing up. The majority of parents believe because their parents believed and two generations ago many TV programs, books and websites(or the info on them) would be band back then. Only recently have children been able to grow up with easy access to the atheist theories and have the ability to learn an explanation other than the religion of their parents. Over time as people have had greater access to higher education atheism and agnosticism have risen.
The autism increases can be partially attributed to the changes in autism classification. Since 2000 the guidelines for diagnosing someone as autistic have become more general and inclusive.
Thank you! I mean, in retrospect, it is easy to design a theory or at least incorporate certain elements in the design of a theory that fit repeated observations. Not only would it be easy to do that but I would go as far to say that it is very likely if not inevitable or at least more likely than not that the majority of theories we design or come up with will without a doubt fit repeated observations. It seems to me like scientists and science enthusiasts have trouble thinking outside the box.
A theory is more than that. It is an explanation ' based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment.'. It is the closest to a fact that one can truly get to in science and is home to gravity, germ theory, and heliocentrism.
"the overall effect of seemingly inconsequential changes often appear suddenly or over a short period of time." That is exactly what cannot happen in evolution. Seemingly inconsequential changes cannot appear suddenly or over a short period of time. Evolution is a process that takes successive generational changes in the entire population. Successive changes which could be undone with more successive changes. Only over a long time (many generations) can a clear directional change be observed.
Hey, 200,000 years of being human is enough time to be classified as a new species once we begin controlling our own evolution, the evolution of others, and the evolution of our world.
I was under the impression that the increasing incidence rates were explainable entirely, or mostly, by the simple fact that we've gotten much better at detecting these things. For instance the definition of autism has expanded in the last decade. You have high-function autism, or aspergers syndrome become a widely known condition. Autism itself has been an umbrella or spectrum disorder. So no, I don't think 'we have no idea why this is happening'. We're doing it.
after we pass a galactic center...all bets are off...we think we know but we have no idea i would love to be a new a better species...this is not ridiculous this is what we are suppose to be striving towards ourselves regardless of the "time" we use to measure it
I don't believe that writing electrical patterns on your brain will reproduce the same memories consistently since our brains are constantly changing with everything we learn, making new connections and destroying old ones.
evolution is always at work, but speciation usually depends on some kind of boundary (other than in polyploidization, which is unlikely in complex organisms). the human world is far too interconnected for literal speciation within a generation or two. the speaker is referring to "species" in a colloquial manner... what he really intends to say is "genetic variation between us and our immediate children may be high".
Actually it is not a fatal flaw, it's a great strength. It's the never-saying-anything-with-absolute-certainty that allows science to make new discoveries. If you want to see the product of that, then look at everything around you. More than the definition means it EXPLAINS a phenomena. Eg. the theory of evolution is the explanation of evolution, not the definition. The theory of evolution is far more interesting and useful than the definition. That's how it works.
That's not even selection bias, that's culture. Evolution takes much longer than 1 or 2 generations, especially when we're talking about humans that have very lax selection pressures, almost everyone has kids and our gene pool is being constantly mixed.
There are those who believe in evolution and those who don't. The theory of evolution says that there must be variations within the same specie in order to happen. So, people are different in their way of thinking and many things else.
The problem I think you actually mean to ask is where is the line differentiating a species from its predecessor. The virus's mutation would be very small. But when a bunch of small mutations add up they allow for a new species to come about. There is no set point where you can say "Okay here is when they became a new species" You wouldn't be able to pinpoint the EXACT moment when a new species occur. Please watch this, it will explain your question. watch?v=DVKLUS_THUA
How does this only have 123,000 views??? This is interesting stuff right here!
Abayas cause people are stupid and care more about the Kardashians than the future of human evolution.
I know right. I think this is one of the best ted talks I've ever seen
I'm sorry, but I really liked this TED Talks - he's funny and frank, and doesn't overload this presentation with too much information. LOVE IT!
One of the best talks on here. Very intriguing. It makes me want to do a lot more research on this, not to mention get my own genome sequenced!
this whole talk recalls a thought experiment to mind;
'if you take a galleon, and slowly, but surely you replace, over time, every plank, board, nail and sail of the vessel, but you never changed the crew. Is the boat the same, or has it become a new ship?'
Thank You! It can be irritating when people focus on one iota of the talk, completely missing the idea and nature of experimentation and exploration. This is why TED is, to get us thinking about the unknown, to venture OUTSIDE our comfort zones (C vs.E being the comfort zone here). I know it is silly, but when I scroll through the comments I wish I could see debate on the talk as a Whole! What about the questions he raised, the amazing developments in our time, the mind numbing ideas presented??
Best TEDtalk in a long time.
Finally T is getting enough attention. Screw E & D.
Settled. I appreciate it that you didn't start calling names or got rude. You never know when you respond to a youtube comment...
Good to see this topic here! One of the better vids on Ted.
This is gonna be EPIC!! :O
Awesome talk TED!
One of the better videos I've seen on this channel.
This is why i love ted talks
This was the most interesting TED talk (or any) I've heard in the last year!!
very good episode , i can listen to you all day long , do you have more ?
It's not just a guess. It's a quite robust theory that has made predictions that were later been found to be amazingly accurate with real world measurements (see: CMBR). It's a very complex and "large" subject, not "everything came from nothing, lol". People study it for dozens of years, but you are right that currently, it's our best theory to explain the facts and observations. It might not be complete, but it's far from being a "guess".
Holy smoke, mind=blown. I love TED talks.
wow he covered some really exciting topics.. my mind is blown.
this talk gave me the goosebumps, great talk
I find it interesting that he left out any talk about changes in understanding of autism. Ten years ago we called it something different. Ten years before that we didn't have a word for it as we understand it today. The increasing incidence of autism, it appears, could simply be related to changes in understanding of the disorder (or is it evolution?).
True, however, he is referring to genetic engineering, not evolution in and of it's self. He also mentioned that the brain may have the ability to adapt much faster than normal given specific circumstances. In addition, he mentioned certain genes being passed in ways we could never have imagined due to our unique ability to choose specific, like minded mates. Never before in history have we been able to do this. Dog DNA is virtually identical, however, Toy poodles are different from Pitbulls.
This talk blows my mind!
@MarkArandjus yeah he said "either you're measuring it wrong or something's happening quickly" - so yes, it could be the increase in diagnosis rather than increase in numbers (or both), but his speech was focussing on the latter option I guess.
...I don't know what to say...I...damn, this is amazing...simply amazing...
Now this is an impressive talk
you said that it was unclear how one could consider a new organism a member of a "new species" but the scientific definition of "species" is quite clear on that matter. when the ted speaker says "species" he really means "genetic variation"
You're right. I shouldn't be so pedantic about scientific accuracy, especially when it's in a comments section of a video of a TED Talk that is pretty much everything BUT scientific accuracy, which is fine because it doesn't have to be.
14:40 LOL epic wolf whistle!
One of the best science fiction speeches on TED that may or may not pan out to be true, but hey, it's fun to day dream sometimes.
That was quite the riveting talk!
I think he addressed your concern. While evolution occurs over multiple generations, the overall effect of seemingly inconsequential changes often appear suddenly or over a short period of time.
one of the best speeches on ted
Completely agreed. I've seen so many, but this is my favorite by far. That's a big statement for me.
This talk was aimless and theoretical. People probably liked this for the same reasons they like Raymond Kurzweil... Juan proposes the idea that intelligent people will hand us immortality, we just have to wait till the research is finished. I would much rather hear about a new discovery in a specific field than wishy washy hopes and dreams about a tomorrow that isn't here yet.
The title suggested to me that this was going to be a bad talk. I'm very happy to say I was wrong.
Thoughtful and forward thinking.
Oh it's jaun. Automatic thumbs up. I know this will be good.
Ted needs more material like this..
not dancing or people high on acids talking about art
This video is so important.
As Wikipedia puts it, a scientific theory is “a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment." (Wikipedia is a Internet encyclopedia (An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge))
Excellent Talk.
Despite our flawed design, I challenge any engineer to build a better machine. A machine that self repairs. Self lubricating joints. Pumps that last 80 years without replacing parts. A machine that is able to grow and multiply in number. An intelligent self defense mechanism that is capable of recognizing self from non self. A data processor capable of creating new ideas and concepts. Our brain is so complex yet brain cells are not that different than the neurons in our fingertips.
I really enjoyed this, very interesting.
this was simply brilliant
I can't believe that FEYNMAN is spelled wrong at 3:48! That seems a bit basic for someone to get wrong, unless they're talking about a feinman that I'm not aware of. Great talk though, really
Fantastic lecture!
Amazing talk. Thanks TED!
Absolutely fascinating !!
hmm.. don't really know where are you going with this..
but thanks for the comment!
have a nice day!
This is absolutely amazing
its just a way to contextualize it differently, to paint a different overview that might change the way we think about the subject. at 1 point a plant was the most complex expression of us, the universe, and at an earlier point a rock was the highest form of complexity, not scientifically just metaphorically helped create us.
I agree with Michio Kaku when he said that we are at the peak of our evolution because there is no natural pressure that requires our body's to change.
It's not as if only the smart and strong survive in our current society. I personally believe if any evolution is to take place, it will be a psycho-evolution where we use bio-techonology to enhance ourselves and that it will not occour naturally.
It is a theory, just like the big bang theory; in other words, they are the best EXPLANATIONS we have at this given moment.
If these are the kinds of med students we have these days, I weep for humanity.
Amazing talk.
Great talk
Can I ask you to please use punctuation. I'm not trying to attack you through your writing I just can't exactly tell where one point begins and another ends thanks =)
Actually there are numerous observations that have been made that help to cement the understanding of a scientific theory. A theory isn't tested, scientific theory looks find observational things to support the idea, which are further tested to prove validity.
This is a great speech and what he is saying is dead on the money.
Most people are just to scared to embrace our human destiny.
Its a scary thought to acknowledge that humans in their current form wont be on top forever.
Evolution is a fact. The theory of evolution explains the fact of evolution. In science, theory is a higher level of understanding than fact.
Actually, on the DSM scale the numbers on the Autism scale decreased because health care insurance doesn't want to "treat" Autism even if the numbers have increased that only means that we recognize that "something" is going on. As a parent of an aspie, I I have often said that the human being is changing to its surroundings. In my sons case, he never forgets anything that he sees, is told, or does.
A scientific theory differs from the normal 'theory'. Miami University, 'An introduction to science': "A theory in science is not a guess, speculation, or suggestion, which is the popular definition of the word "theory." A scientific theory is a unifying and self-consistent explanation of fundamental natural processes or phenomena that is totally constructed of corroborated hypotheses." In other words, a scientific theory is the highest achievable form of explanation.
He misspelled (Richard) Feynman. :(
It has to do with kids growing up. The majority of parents believe because their parents believed and two generations ago many TV programs, books and websites(or the info on them) would be band back then. Only recently have children been able to grow up with easy access to the atheist theories and have the ability to learn an explanation other than the religion of their parents. Over time as people have had greater access to higher education atheism and agnosticism have risen.
The autism increases can be partially attributed to the changes in autism classification. Since 2000 the guidelines for diagnosing someone as autistic have become more general and inclusive.
Why? can you please explain?
that's a great question. look up "speciation" on wikipedia. real life examples cited!
WOW .... Mind blowing!
Underrated
Thank you! I mean, in retrospect, it is easy to design a theory or at least incorporate certain elements in the design of a theory that fit repeated observations. Not only would it be easy to do that but I would go as far to say that it is very likely if not inevitable or at least more likely than not that the majority of theories we design or come up with will without a doubt fit repeated observations. It seems to me like scientists and science enthusiasts have trouble thinking outside the box.
15:47 I'm going with we aren't (or weren't) measuring it right.
species always evolve it never stopped. as long as kids are different then there parents evolution is working
Loved this
A theory is more than that. It is an explanation ' based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment.'. It is the closest to a fact that one can truly get to in science and is home to gravity, germ theory, and heliocentrism.
"the overall effect of seemingly inconsequential changes often appear suddenly or over a short period of time."
That is exactly what cannot happen in evolution. Seemingly inconsequential changes cannot appear suddenly or over a short period of time. Evolution is a process that takes successive generational changes in the entire population. Successive changes which could be undone with more successive changes. Only over a long time (many generations) can a clear directional change be observed.
"Or it's chemicals"...Ok, I liked this talk but the end killed it for me.
The fact is the variation of life we see on earth.
The theory (explanation) is the change overtime (evolution).
12:10 War ? or just TSA ??
Hey, 200,000 years of being human is enough time to be classified as a new species once we begin controlling our own evolution, the evolution of others, and the evolution of our world.
I think I can agree on that. Seems like a reasonable place to end the quarrel. :P
The future looks bright we will evolve, and shape are world around us.
The problem is that the coffin is so full of nails that its becoming rather hard to find a spot for new ones.
I was under the impression that the increasing incidence rates were explainable entirely, or mostly, by the simple fact that we've gotten much better at detecting these things. For instance the definition of autism has expanded in the last decade. You have high-function autism, or aspergers syndrome become a widely known condition. Autism itself has been an umbrella or spectrum disorder. So no, I don't think 'we have no idea why this is happening'. We're doing it.
The fact is:There are a lot of species on earth.
The theory that explains that is: Life changes over time (evolves).
Now we just need to analyze everyone's genomes and figure out which traits/activities are more correlated with which genes.
@16:09 perfect participle of evolvo is "evolutus"
yo any one from year 9 mfhs scrolling through the comments section im struggling FR
Salutations
perhaps this upcoming power is the tool we need to solving these 'problems'
wow I love this!
good talk
Loved it.
More amazing than this talk: civility in the youtube comments section!
after we pass a galactic center...all bets are off...we think we know
but we have no idea
i would love to be a new a better species...this is not ridiculous
this is what we are suppose to be striving towards ourselves regardless of the "time"
we use to measure it
I don't believe that writing electrical patterns on your brain will reproduce the same memories consistently since our brains are constantly changing with everything we learn, making new connections and destroying old ones.
evolution is always at work, but speciation usually depends on some kind of boundary (other than in polyploidization, which is unlikely in complex organisms). the human world is far too interconnected for literal speciation within a generation or two. the speaker is referring to "species" in a colloquial manner... what he really intends to say is "genetic variation between us and our immediate children may be high".
good talk. I don't think it's going to go that fast, but offcourse we'll evolve...
Actually it is not a fatal flaw, it's a great strength. It's the never-saying-anything-with-absolute-certainty that allows science to make new discoveries. If you want to see the product of that, then look at everything around you.
More than the definition means it EXPLAINS a phenomena. Eg. the theory of evolution is the explanation of evolution, not the definition. The theory of evolution is far more interesting and useful than the definition. That's how it works.
That's not even selection bias, that's culture. Evolution takes much longer than 1 or 2 generations, especially when we're talking about humans that have very lax selection pressures, almost everyone has kids and our gene pool is being constantly mixed.
There are those who believe in evolution and those who don't. The theory of evolution says that there must be variations within the same specie in order to happen. So, people are different in their way of thinking and many things else.
Outstanding talk, I find myself learning much faster at the age of 33 than I did at 16. I have eaten a whole lot of psychoactive substances though?
AllenPalin
Like a boss!
No intro for you!
The problem I think you actually mean to ask is where is the line differentiating a species from its predecessor. The virus's mutation would be very small. But when a bunch of small mutations add up they allow for a new species to come about. There is no set point where you can say "Okay here is when they became a new species" You wouldn't be able to pinpoint the EXACT moment when a new species occur. Please watch this, it will explain your question.
watch?v=DVKLUS_THUA
Have you ever thought that size does not matter. We only think that universe is large, but it also could be very very small.