Ted Talks

I like that we watch a lot of Ted talks videos in this class. I had been introduced to these in ANTH 2000 with a talk about education by Ken Robinson. That video actually crossed over into my writing class because it prompted me to choose education reform as my research topic for the semester.
I have been meaning to just go on the website and search around; I might find some additional interesting videos on my own.
Some things I have liked about/ taken away from the Talks we have watched so far in this class:

"[Rules] prevent disaster, but what they ensure in its place is mediocrity"
-Barry Schwartz

Michael Pollan: Plant's Eye View
I keep hearing about Michael Pollan's books such as The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. I am interested in the subject and have been meaning to read his books- one of those things you want to do but never make time for... I also just found out that he teaches at UC Berkley, which means he lives somewhere close to my area. I have a good friend who is attending Berkley for Environmental Studies, so I told him that Michael Pollan teaches at his school and that he should try to get a class with him. I would, if I was there.

This was kind of a fascinating subject to hear someone talk about- it sounds really crazy but he might actually have something there.

-plants might actually be manipulating us on a biological level, which would make agriculture not an invention but a co-evolutionary process.
-Descarte's theory that awareness separates subjects from objects has led us down a path to believing we have dominion over environment
-Human consciousness may not be the end of creation
-where we have our advanced brains and self-reflection, plants have biochemistry and have perfected it to an insane level

Michael Pollan puts himself out there by asking, "what if the corn is using us to take over the world?" Humorous, but (I think) believable.

He also states that he has another book out called the Botany of Desire, which is also now a documentary. Now I really  want to watch it; it is added to my mental list of things I have heard about in this class that I need to check out. Along with the Hunt for Red October and the Value of Hawai'i.