Homosexual activists understand the power of words.
Please visit my channel to watch a one-minute video clip in which popular atheist author Richard Dawkins admits that homosexual activists "hijacked the word 'gay'".
The word "homosexual" is more appropriate and accurate because it, unlike the word "gay", actually describes the behavior/attraction/relationship being discussed.
The word "gay" helps homosexual activists push their agenda.
The more I explore thoughts and thinkers, the more I realize that some of the greatest thoughts and thinkers in human history come from India. This is one of many examples. Truly insightful and inspirational.
This guy is a genius. I've been fumbling around with these questions in my mind for so long now, and he puts it so succinctly. How great is it that this man is spreading this message. South Asians find it very difficult to make cold decisions because it excludes other people and hurts them, very true.
hmm...very wise thinking...I had always wondered why people thought so highly of Alexander...I always thought of him as a war-monger and tyrant...I guess no one way is the right way...
This is the best talk on resolving or explaining the East West separation. This is the crisis of human doing bodies and human being energy that sustains life. What a great time to be alive.
As a process owner and trainer, watching this video, I was able to understand the language I need to engage my audience in India. Working in a mega corporatiomn for nearly 30 years whose workforce is a true melting pot of cultures and beliefs I have learned that there is always a reason for the way people act. This video is a true enlightening experience. Now I understand ( a little). Thank you.
Violence is not a sign of the search for truth, it is a sign that since your ideas weren't meritorious enough to withstand independant examination you have to use military means of persuasion.
Thus violence does not justify laying aside the search for truth no matter how much a well paid businessman is paid to tell you otherwise.
After living in countries like China and Japan, I definitely see why TED works so well in India. The complete freedom of speech allowed at TED without any political suppression or social apathy towards important issues always makes me fall in love a little more with India and some of the amazing people that live there.
@jc1762: True India truly is a great nation. However these principles, as talked about by Pattnaik, are also probably the reason why till date only 2 of the 32 foreign contractors for the New Delhi Commonwealth games ever received their payment. The rest are still trying to get their rightfully earned money back.
And do you even know what we are debating about? It's contextual thinking i.e "if I believe it's true it's true" vs empiricism i.e "If i observed it stringently enough, it's true" It's not about Eastern thinking vs Western thinking so don't drag the woes of the Americans into the debate.
In fact, America fought an illegal war because there were no WMDs in Iraq. As such, the war was a result of irrational emotionalism (like those we see in Indian culture) rather than cold hard empiricism. India is hardly a peaceful nation btw. How's your relationship with Pakistan? How's your crime rate? And calling Yoga a "technology"? Do you know what the word means?Oh, I forgot. Facts are unimportant to you. If you BELIEVE that "yoga" is a technology, continue deluding yourself then.
@insatiable09, Arjuna & Krishna: The Gita is an exposition in their myth rather than their spectacularness. Bali's sacrifice his chopping off his flesh is also the same. I am not disagreeing with you that their spectacular heroes but they were recognized for their mythological behaviour or Arjun/Krishna wouldn't be the heroes they were/are if not for the Gita which is the antithesis for spectacularness. It moves the center away from "I/ego" . As does vamana for bali
this is a great lecture on the culture and belief systems of the east/west and how it affects us. Very eye opening. Human beings should learn to take best of both worlds, rather than argue which is better.
hm.... some parts really do nail what I have been thinking for some time when living in asia... and the strange conversations and the funny misunderstandigs perhaps because of precisely these differences. ^_^
Great Work Devdutt...what we need is a rational thinking of west combine with great philosophical thinking of east.... this will create the best breed of men on this planet.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
ofcourse based on this talk we must think that the opinion of the speaker and his whole speach was HIS opinion and HIS subjective way of thinking correct?
@cursedlion actually Alexander's army mutinied against him before he could begin the campaign into to the Indian Subcontinent full of ununified tribes, they only unified against the Macedonian invaders after the defeat of Porus. He would have faced an Indian tribal army of over 3,000,000. Extraordinarily larger than the Persians. Whether or not Alexander would have defeated them is debatable. He was far from home with a supply train from Greece dwindling, not to mention rebels and raiders.
true, but he never actually made it into India, more like on the border of pakistan-India, or up to the Indus. :p. The bloodlust killing of innocent people was a bad sign, that his campaign was coming to an end. Because he had to turn back and not in invade India, he let out his anger by slaughtering tribes in Bactria and south of the Indus. Fact is he failed, many weeks later he's dead :p
That is why I find it offensive when a culture tacitly subscribes to the idea that it's alright for them to starve if they are nourished "spiritually", whatever that means.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
The so called "contextual" thinking of the Indians is just a defence mechanism to delude themselves into thinking that there's nothing to envy about the rich and elite. Again, why is Pattanaik speaking English instead of Hindi? I may believe in existentialism but I'm not about to surrender to the whimsical thinking of Indian culture where nobody's right or wrong. It's a reductio ad absurdum. Granted there are no inherent meaning in life, but surely we can all agree on a set of rules?
I beg your pardon, but the only person deluding themselves is you. You obviously missed the point about different people seeing things differently. Or perhaps you think everyone should thinks the same way you do? Hello fundamentalism.
Btw, he's speaking in english because TED is a conference held by the english speaking community.
@darkmatrix12 As I've said earlier, I'm an existentialist. Which means that I believe in the notion of "create your own meaning because there's no meaning in life". I happened to create the meaning that we should all standardize our meanings e.g murder is wrong unless necessitated, lying is wrong unless necessitated, needs are the engine driving our lives, whilst allowing the freedom to go up the mountain from different routes, so to speak. But everyone must go up that mountain.
Actually Indian culture has clear rules of right and wrong it's in the religious stories such as the "Mahabharat" and the "Vedas" not to mention the various Hindu religions such as the Swaminarayan that give clear rules on right and wrong, that teach morals.
@cherylwens Your wrong about the defence mechanism about no reason to envy rich and elite. Indian society in the 21st Century has many Indian millionaires in a capitalisic society. Rich and poor gap may be big, but people are misinformed, there is a huge bulging middleclass arising. Peope in India envy the rich they want to be rich otherwise whats the point of building many large companies in India, even with their spiritual philosophies.
How many millionaires are there in India? How many people are living in the slums of Mumbai? I maintain that it's a defence mechanism against despair that spawned the idea that there are more paths to happiness than having money. I'm incensed by this because many such men who advocate this philosophy are charlatans who go round profiting from people's despondence, acting like some transcendent guru of life while failing to see the irony that they too have desires for money when they pass the hat
@cherylwens ..only since the British and then "free-market" came into India. Before that there was hardly a rich gap poor. The farmers had complete ownership over the land. Industrialization and agriculture malpractices like pesticides, GM have pushed these people to the cities.
arent there any slums in US......the so called ghettos...........forget abt the crime rate of india..do you think crime is at its lowest in US...atleast our children are safe in the schools.......dont look upon those so called gurus.........get literate......
@wannabefun Who were the ones who claimed that the victory of a particular race is spectacular and who were the ones that claimed that it wasn't spectacular for Alexander the Great?
@cherylwens Well, he didn't use the word spectacular, you're right.. But I referred to the fact that the guy said that something like winning a race is "living your life", according to the eastern beliefs. However, according to those eastern beliefs, if I assume what this guy says, these beliefs also don't understand why you'd want to conquer the world
Look around you, observe, think without bias. You see wars, financial crisis, environmental destruction, obsession for technology without regard for living beings, unsustainable living, mad rush for resources, consumerism, failed medicines/pharmacy, overblown healthcare. These are all the *result* of western linear thinking. Then think harder to see if none of these existed would you be alive and happy. Oh and there are eastern technologies too - yoga, ayurveda, vaastu, metallurgy, etc..
I'm not sure you're the best advertisement for thinking of any sort. There's a difference between linear and empirical. Anglo Saxon traditions (or Western as you call it) are largely pragmatic and empirical. Why is calling a spade a spade necessarily linear? Where does it even show the chronology of thought? Irrational eastern "thinking" of yours associate war with western thinking. Tell me, how did a fact-finding epistemology lead to violence?
Indian mathematics produced Algebra, Quadatic equations, circumference of the earth, heliocentricity of the solar system, decimal system, metallurgy..these are very precise empirical sciences. India had the first global university in Taxila. Nagarjuna is said to be one of highest logical thinkers that ever lived. But that did not become an obsession. So don't bring empirical crap before me. Like I said get educated.
@cherylwens what the hell mate war on iraq a fact finding epistemology........u got to be kidding me............guess what 9/11 was a fact finding epistemoplogy for the rest of the world then.........
I'm not sure about Mr Pattanaik, but I for one don't see a lot of "westerners" giving speeches about how much better western culture is than eastern culture, and yet he levels at westerners that we have a "we are right, you are wrong" mentality. But perhaps he's using fuzzy logic.
we dont say it in speeches, but well wage wars for the rights we consider true, and well destroy other cultures with our ideas of democracy, capitalism, Monotheism or Athiesm/secularism.
I don't deny that the west promotes democracy and capitalism. I was simply pointing to the irony of the man's own speech, stating, the west are like this... while acting in a way he accuses the west of acting in.
he at no point claims the western way of thinking is wrong or something, he just explains more about the eastern way of thinking, assuming people know enough about and understand the western way of thinking enough.
@jamesstephenbrown This "West > East" mentality is often expressed subtly, if at all, because this idea is so inculcated in Western thinking that most people aren't even aware of it. However, you can often see this mentality borne out in the way people from the Arab world or Asia (including aboriginals) are often depicted in fiction, even in modern times: as exotic, sensual, seductive, conniving, immoral, stupid, cowardly, hostile, weak, inferior. (cont'd)...
@datalal624 (cont'd)... These stereotypes have been built up and reinforced since at least the Middle Ages, when Islamic Arab countries first started to be perceived as a threat to Christian European dominance. Anyway, my point is that Westerners don't need to state aloud the belief that West > East because it is often assumed as a given. Despite the greater sense of appreciation of and respect for Eastern cultures these days, a lot of our old colonialist attitudes still remain.
@datalal624 "my point is that Westerners don't need to state aloud the belief that West"
So what you are saying is that westerners are arrogant and believe that everyone else is wrong even if they don't say it out loud while easterners can be openly critical of the western way of life and actually say that their eastern way of life is superior and at the same time hold that they are humble and open minded.
I don't know quite how you juggle such reverse logic in your mind.
@jamesstephenbrown Well, I don't recall saying that Westerners are all arrogant and invariably ethnocentrist and never willing to look at things from an Eastern perspective and never willing or able to correct their assumptions, and I didn't really speak at all on what Easterners say about Westerners or what Easterners believe about themselves---I'm not qualified to say one thing or another about that. I was talking about how colonialist myths are still influencing the way the West thinks today.
@jamesstephenbrown P.S. There ARE some Westerners who discuss Western arrogance. Martin Jacques' TED talk on "Understanding the Rise of China", for example.
@datalal624 "There ARE some Westerners who discuss Western arrogance"
I know, there are lots of them, I am often one of them. But I'll defend western culture when it has cliches about its arrogance and superiority leveled at it. Things like democracy and freedom of speech and scientific inquiry are not just western preferences they are vehicles for self-criticism and change.
@jamesstephenbrown Okay, when did I say democracy, freedom of speech and scientific inquiry are solely in the purview of the West, let alone bad things? I'm all for them! The more the better. It is the lingering colonialist, ethnocentrist, racist attitudes that linger on which I'm against---and I should concede that none of those things are solely carried by Western culture either. Those are pan-human cultural diseases.
@datalal624 "when did I say democracy, freedom of speech and scientific inquiry are solely in the purview of the West"
You didn't and neither did I. Please don't confuse the issue by misinterpreting me in order win an easy point I never suggested that any of those values were solely western, I simply pointed out that they are central values within western culture (not exclusively) that are vehicles for self criticism and not an indicator of superiority or arrogance (the cliches I referred to).
@datalal624 Hi Datalal, I'm not sure what century you're living in but in the fiction I see and read, ethnic minorities are almost invariably depicted as more noble, honourable, brave, insightful and more moral than westerners while westerners are depicted as culturally ignorant, superficial, materialistic, arrogant and hostile. I would be interested if you could site any popular film made in the last 10 years that does the opposite.
@jamesstephenbrown Alright, granted there aren't many examples of such Orientalist, degrading schlock on TV and in movies right now, but there are some examples made in the recent past. "The Name of the Rose", "Not Without My Daughter", and even such innocent, enjoyable flicks as the Indiana Jones films all employ some of the stereotypes I mentioned. And yes, there are many, many films that are as you suggest---but that does not mean that the old stereotypes I mentioned are completely gone.
Thank you for your numerous concessions to my point. I haven't seen "The Name of the Rose" or "Not without my Daughter" but I will be sure to continue my practice of not watching movies with awful titles. lol
"I don't recall saying that Westerners are all arrogant..."
I don't recall saying you did... I was talking about the general position of the speaker in the video (from what I can remember) I was also exaggerating a little for effect.
I don't know if I completily comply. In many ways, cyclic thinking are getting rooted in more and more western people. Especially since we see again and again that things doesn't just go the one way we want it to go, in other words up or forward, but falls back and down again. That we've reached some limit. But if one doesn't even try, doesn't that mean we get stuck? Surely that's not all India is about? I don't think it's wise to leave everything to chance.
I like this talk and I think it's important to remember the central point: Objective vs. SUBJECTIVE.
The problem is when people mistake the subjective for objective. The greater problem is when such people try to force their erroneous view of objective reality onto others. Christians and Muslims spring to mind ;-)
I guess the problem is there is no objective, seeing as your senses and your brain are all, in efffect subjective.
There is some, meaninglessness in the understanding that everything you know and believe, are simply passed onto you, born in a different culture youd have very different beliefs, and your world would look completly different.
In the end, we are all wrong I think, the only thing we can do is prepare so well have a good cover story when we get found out.
So how do you explain the atheist who regardless of where he or she is born in the world finds his or her way to the same conclusion? Real understanding and knowledge is not passed onto a person, it is won by critical thinking, evaluation of evidence and the ability to reason. The difference between real knowledge and pretended knowledge is the same as the difference between a spaceship and a magic broom.
Mr.Pattanaik, I read your articles on mythology in First City magazine and on your website and find them eye-opening and brilliant. But I wish you didn't have to feel the need during this talk to dilute what you had to say just because there was a Western audience present at the ted talks.
Maybe I'm just seeing things, but I certainly don't agree with the implication of cultural relativism in what he's saying. Religion is inferior to science in telling us about the world, because it tells the world what it is, rather than asking it.
However, he does touches on something that has bothered me for a long time - the standardization of the world. When I go to India, or Greece or wherever, I want to go there, not just a copy of any other country. Flexibility and practicality FTW.
Come on, we may be the largest consumer based but we know how to recycle and we know how not to waste. Please dont push us to buy more and do not teach us to buy more.
plase devdutt you stop as a belief manager or Deva krshna narayana!! now you come down and stop him.
Take an example : I have been taught to respect food, not to destroy it unnecessarily. when food is avaiblable easily, I do not waste food.Whereas in the name of comedy(which is reflection of life) I see almost in every american movie that people throw food on each other.
Hey GOD (aare keshava madhava narayana!!) please stop him.
he is completely Mcdonalized .
Hey Deva krishna narayana control him the way you controlled shishupal.
After giving him 100 chances to rectify himself.
This guy is dangerous , he is upto destroy the fine fabric of real life philosphical attitude of indian middle class. He is trying weave an ugly thread of consumerism in our society and he is telling all the managers how to weave that ugly thread into the lives in india.
also, this dialogue between Alexander and the gymnosophist reminds me of the incident between (again) Alexander and the Athenian sophist Diogenes. Alexander stood with all his escort in front of Diogenes who was an old man living in a barrel and told him: "Tell me whatever you want and I'll give it to you" and the answer was: "move to the side please because you are hiding the sun from me"
then Alexander said: "If I wasn't Alexander, I'd want to be Diogenes"
Actually, In Greece today it is commonly felt that capitalism projected many of it's values on our civilization.
In capitalism, you offer to the community by pursuing personal success. In Greece, these two were very different and honor came from self sacrificing for the common good.
also, today wealth is an axiom, while by the Greeks it was a mean to achieve freedom and virtue.
I am going to watch this again; the beginning irritated me cause I'm atheist, but i skipped to the end and found that he has something interesting to say. The standing ovation was well deserved.
Human is one of many animal on this universe. What differentiate human from rest of the animals is it's logical capabilities.
Religion and myth are product of the human logical capability. As Devdutt said "Religions are human creations and is backed by myth, religions are not natural phenomenon".
No two human brains can think same and hence not to have same behavior. Myth behind religions came to existence is to keep two human on same platform for to have same behavior for sake of better life.
His exact words were "both the paradigms are human constructions; they're cultural creations, not natural phenomena." And by paradigms, he was referring to the themes of Western and Eastern mythology, respectively, not religion.
TED thank you again to support such important, crucial , vital, presentation of thinking.
that is one of the most important videos for me 2009.
Some vieos show interesting nuances of mechanic, organic phenomena, this one present a higher grade of perception, the real tool for making a way for discovery.
Brilliant. I wish I had the ability to chase after my dreams like him.
Malangsufi 1 month ago 2
This has been flagged as spam show
Homosexual activists understand the power of words.
Please visit my channel to watch a one-minute video clip in which popular atheist author Richard Dawkins admits that homosexual activists "hijacked the word 'gay'".
The word "homosexual" is more appropriate and accurate because it, unlike the word "gay", actually describes the behavior/attraction/relationship being discussed.
The word "gay" helps homosexual activists push their agenda.
lightandbeautiful 1 month ago
The more I explore thoughts and thinkers, the more I realize that some of the greatest thoughts and thinkers in human history come from India. This is one of many examples. Truly insightful and inspirational.
ehsanakbari 1 month ago
This guy is a genius. I've been fumbling around with these questions in my mind for so long now, and he puts it so succinctly. How great is it that this man is spreading this message. South Asians find it very difficult to make cold decisions because it excludes other people and hurts them, very true.
crudhousefull 2 months ago in playlist More videos from TEDtalksDirector
Very nice interpretation
narendrasonawane 2 months ago
very nice ... thanks for the talk ...
juliannevillecorrea 2 months ago
"India's Commonwealth Games bills still not paid" read the story on BBC.CO.UK and you'll know what this guy's talking about.
jessesebastiansamuel 2 months ago
he should work on his head shack
mabt929929 2 months ago
hmm...very wise thinking...I had always wondered why people thought so highly of Alexander...I always thought of him as a war-monger and tyrant...I guess no one way is the right way...
atheist382 2 months ago
wonderfull
thejaybansal 3 months ago
THRICE
alexolofsson 7 months ago 5
This has been flagged as spam show
Powerful speech.... I think to catch all of the speech... you have to experience life and then you will understand the essence of what he says....
Inspirationnal speech
Greg2109 7 months ago
This is the best talk on resolving or explaining the East West separation. This is the crisis of human doing bodies and human being energy that sustains life. What a great time to be alive.
jackgoldman1 9 months ago
what a legend!
what an inspiring talk!
cheeseymenolikey 10 months ago 4
He is simply amazing!
balutuba 10 months ago
As a process owner and trainer, watching this video, I was able to understand the language I need to engage my audience in India. Working in a mega corporatiomn for nearly 30 years whose workforce is a true melting pot of cultures and beliefs I have learned that there is always a reason for the way people act. This video is a true enlightening experience. Now I understand ( a little). Thank you.
karex99 11 months ago 2
Religions are not worth spreading... more like they should be curbed with education.
infinitehumanstupid 1 year ago
I didn't get what any of this was about
chadnisha 1 year ago
Very intriguing presentation and brilliantly portrayed..,.
jrjegon 1 year ago
By looking at some of the comments below, I see the importance of this subject in todays life. :)
vinayanvalappil 1 year ago
Wow.......
abaravkar1 1 year ago
woah at first i was super distracted my his s's but then i started listening and..just.... woah
lkschlosser 1 year ago
very well said
abhi5a 1 year ago
very nice Mr. Pattanaik :)
LusoCMD 1 year ago 3
god is god, not the customer ;)
sriramgirish 1 year ago
This was a very interesting talk. Glad I found it
Andy3650 1 year ago
how closed-minded do you have to be to "dislike" this video?
tdog51501 1 year ago 7
@tdog51501 just be a christian or muslim.. that's reason enough to dislike anything Indian/Hindu.
Ooga001 1 year ago
@tdog51501
agreed...some people just don't get it... their probably the fundamentalists he was referring to
abhi5a 1 year ago
Great speech
balajiprasadg 1 year ago
Violence is not a sign of the search for truth, it is a sign that since your ideas weren't meritorious enough to withstand independant examination you have to use military means of persuasion.
Thus violence does not justify laying aside the search for truth no matter how much a well paid businessman is paid to tell you otherwise.
danieldemol 1 year ago
India serves as an example of trying to be inclusionary of multiple religions, cultures and views while being democratic. An impressive country.
Webconomist 1 year ago 23
@Webconomist Your comment truly sums up India's greatness. My heart fluttered when reading it. Thank you.
Ooga001 1 year ago
@Webconomist: come stay with us in India then.
jessesebastiansamuel 2 months ago in playlist TED: Ideas about Ideas
culture and truth are always at war with each other.
suicidewright 1 year ago
An intelligent man no doubt.
Ooga001 1 year ago
Fantastic talk By Mr.Pantnaik. He had shown the difference so well and he has so much of depth of knowledge..Amazing :)
vishali09 1 year ago
Find how many times he says " Understand" and win a trip to Grece!
mathai3 1 year ago
@mathai3
Of all the things you could have said, thats the best you can come up with?
Tie your own shoe laces and win a day trip out of your straitjacket!
Andy3650 1 year ago
After living in countries like China and Japan, I definitely see why TED works so well in India. The complete freedom of speech allowed at TED without any political suppression or social apathy towards important issues always makes me fall in love a little more with India and some of the amazing people that live there.
jc1762 1 year ago 79
@jc1762: True India truly is a great nation. However these principles, as talked about by Pattnaik, are also probably the reason why till date only 2 of the 32 foreign contractors for the New Delhi Commonwealth games ever received their payment. The rest are still trying to get their rightfully earned money back.
jessesebastiansamuel 2 months ago in playlist TED: Ideas about Ideas
Wtf
aa12mukesh 1 year ago
maybe now i can see betterrr why i could never decided heheh n i would say friends DEPENDS instead of just one EXACT WORD! . love it
kuwupu 1 year ago
Great talk. Great concluding remarks at 17:12
KemptonLam 1 year ago
And do you even know what we are debating about? It's contextual thinking i.e "if I believe it's true it's true" vs empiricism i.e "If i observed it stringently enough, it's true" It's not about Eastern thinking vs Western thinking so don't drag the woes of the Americans into the debate.
cherylwens 1 year ago
In fact, America fought an illegal war because there were no WMDs in Iraq. As such, the war was a result of irrational emotionalism (like those we see in Indian culture) rather than cold hard empiricism. India is hardly a peaceful nation btw. How's your relationship with Pakistan? How's your crime rate? And calling Yoga a "technology"? Do you know what the word means?Oh, I forgot. Facts are unimportant to you. If you BELIEVE that "yoga" is a technology, continue deluding yourself then.
cherylwens 1 year ago
Comment removed
mjmayuresh 2 years ago
Interesting stuff.
Yerzriknot 2 years ago
Awesome! Rated 5/5
hereaminow 2 years ago
@insatiable09, Arjuna & Krishna: The Gita is an exposition in their myth rather than their spectacularness. Bali's sacrifice his chopping off his flesh is also the same. I am not disagreeing with you that their spectacular heroes but they were recognized for their mythological behaviour or Arjun/Krishna wouldn't be the heroes they were/are if not for the Gita which is the antithesis for spectacularness. It moves the center away from "I/ego" . As does vamana for bali
slayer4foes 2 years ago
what the hell? we also had spectacular heroes: what about our arjuna and karna. what about Bali?
insatiable09 2 years ago
this is amazing.
SDMagicMan 2 years ago
this is a great lecture on the culture and belief systems of the east/west and how it affects us. Very eye opening. Human beings should learn to take best of both worlds, rather than argue which is better.
BowofRama10 2 years ago
Thatss really gud understanding with eye of entirly diff myths and combined to single subjective....
Thats gud work to knw abt the cultural discriminatives
adithyathaduri 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
And Santa Claus is coming to town.
RobertZepeski 2 years ago
hm.... some parts really do nail what I have been thinking for some time when living in asia... and the strange conversations and the funny misunderstandigs perhaps because of precisely these differences. ^_^
thomasausderwelt 2 years ago
I wish India were a living embodiment of a culture living sustainably with its natural environment.
dryan22 2 years ago 4
Great Work Devdutt...what we need is a rational thinking of west combine with great philosophical thinking of east.... this will create the best breed of men on this planet.
sohamdhwani 2 years ago
a wise man for certain.
Zendishwasher1 2 years ago
Google should shut down comments for videos permanently.
darkstar8789 2 years ago
@darkstar8789 Or they should make people read what they've written a couple times before posting.
snrugh 2 years ago
or you just dont read them, some people (myself included) draw great fun from meaningless debates.
mdsatan 2 years ago
lol if somebody still has a doubt about the reality of what he is saying, just look at a few comments on this page.......
marianiiina 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
ofcourse based on this talk we must think that the opinion of the speaker and his whole speach was HIS opinion and HIS subjective way of thinking correct?
ps: what he didnt say was who won on the hindus
ps2: perhaps it suit his speach so much
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
cursedlion 2 years ago
@cursedlion actually Alexander's army mutinied against him before he could begin the campaign into to the Indian Subcontinent full of ununified tribes, they only unified against the Macedonian invaders after the defeat of Porus. He would have faced an Indian tribal army of over 3,000,000. Extraordinarily larger than the Persians. Whether or not Alexander would have defeated them is debatable. He was far from home with a supply train from Greece dwindling, not to mention rebels and raiders.
BowofRama10 2 years ago
the fact doesnt change that he won so :p a hypothesis is lesser than historical facts
cursedlion 2 years ago
true, but he never actually made it into India, more like on the border of pakistan-India, or up to the Indus. :p. The bloodlust killing of innocent people was a bad sign, that his campaign was coming to an end. Because he had to turn back and not in invade India, he let out his anger by slaughtering tribes in Bactria and south of the Indus. Fact is he failed, many weeks later he's dead :p
BowofRama10 2 years ago
dude, please, I've read the whole damn biography on Alexander, he's my favorite conquerer and antiquity figure
BowofRama10 2 years ago
when he left Pella,Greece Alexander was still normal, by India he was a psychopath mass murderer
BowofRama10 2 years ago
Why should he speak to the sensitivities of the west and not the other way round? Think about it.
cherylwens 2 years ago
Comment removed
arinlares 2 years ago
That is why I find it offensive when a culture tacitly subscribes to the idea that it's alright for them to starve if they are nourished "spiritually", whatever that means.
cherylwens 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
The so called "contextual" thinking of the Indians is just a defence mechanism to delude themselves into thinking that there's nothing to envy about the rich and elite. Again, why is Pattanaik speaking English instead of Hindi? I may believe in existentialism but I'm not about to surrender to the whimsical thinking of Indian culture where nobody's right or wrong. It's a reductio ad absurdum. Granted there are no inherent meaning in life, but surely we can all agree on a set of rules?
cherylwens 2 years ago
I beg your pardon, but the only person deluding themselves is you. You obviously missed the point about different people seeing things differently. Or perhaps you think everyone should thinks the same way you do? Hello fundamentalism.
Btw, he's speaking in english because TED is a conference held by the english speaking community.
darkmatrix12 2 years ago
@darkmatrix12 As I've said earlier, I'm an existentialist. Which means that I believe in the notion of "create your own meaning because there's no meaning in life". I happened to create the meaning that we should all standardize our meanings e.g murder is wrong unless necessitated, lying is wrong unless necessitated, needs are the engine driving our lives, whilst allowing the freedom to go up the mountain from different routes, so to speak. But everyone must go up that mountain.
cherylwens 2 years ago
@cherylwens do you mean to say that you justify 9/11 because some one felt it was necessary to do so ........i could only pity your ideology
coolguy84 1 year ago
The topic at hand is empiricism of the west vs irrationality of the Indians.
cherylwens 1 year ago
Actually Indian culture has clear rules of right and wrong it's in the religious stories such as the "Mahabharat" and the "Vedas" not to mention the various Hindu religions such as the Swaminarayan that give clear rules on right and wrong, that teach morals.
BowofRama10 2 years ago
@cherylwens Your wrong about the defence mechanism about no reason to envy rich and elite. Indian society in the 21st Century has many Indian millionaires in a capitalisic society. Rich and poor gap may be big, but people are misinformed, there is a huge bulging middleclass arising. Peope in India envy the rich they want to be rich otherwise whats the point of building many large companies in India, even with their spiritual philosophies.
BowofRama10 2 years ago
How many millionaires are there in India? How many people are living in the slums of Mumbai? I maintain that it's a defence mechanism against despair that spawned the idea that there are more paths to happiness than having money. I'm incensed by this because many such men who advocate this philosophy are charlatans who go round profiting from people's despondence, acting like some transcendent guru of life while failing to see the irony that they too have desires for money when they pass the hat
cherylwens 2 years ago
@cherylwens ..only since the British and then "free-market" came into India. Before that there was hardly a rich gap poor. The farmers had complete ownership over the land. Industrialization and agriculture malpractices like pesticides, GM have pushed these people to the cities.
acidcrashguy 1 year ago
arent there any slums in US......the so called ghettos...........forget abt the crime rate of india..do you think crime is at its lowest in US...atleast our children are safe in the schools.......dont look upon those so called gurus.........get literate......
coolguy84 1 year ago
But if the victory of a race is spectacular, why wouldn't conquering the world, like alexander did, be?
wannabefun 2 years ago
@wannabefun Who were the ones who claimed that the victory of a particular race is spectacular and who were the ones that claimed that it wasn't spectacular for Alexander the Great?
cherylwens 2 years ago
@cherylwens Well, he didn't use the word spectacular, you're right.. But I referred to the fact that the guy said that something like winning a race is "living your life", according to the eastern beliefs. However, according to those eastern beliefs, if I assume what this guy says, these beliefs also don't understand why you'd want to conquer the world
wannabefun 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Eh, why is he speaking English instead of Hindi? Why is he speaking at an event organized by an American academic organization?
cherylwens 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Eastern philosophy = self-loathing collectivism, metaphysical hogwash.
Western Philosophy = cold empiricism, idealistic delusions
I'm of Chinese ethnicity but to be frank, I very much prefer the latter's veracity over the former's self-indulgence.
cherylwens 2 years ago
@cherylwens you clearly need education.
acidcrashguy 1 year ago
Educate me then. Or is this the best you can come up with?
cherylwens 1 year ago
Look around you, observe, think without bias. You see wars, financial crisis, environmental destruction, obsession for technology without regard for living beings, unsustainable living, mad rush for resources, consumerism, failed medicines/pharmacy, overblown healthcare. These are all the *result* of western linear thinking. Then think harder to see if none of these existed would you be alive and happy. Oh and there are eastern technologies too - yoga, ayurveda, vaastu, metallurgy, etc..
acidcrashguy 1 year ago
I'm not sure you're the best advertisement for thinking of any sort. There's a difference between linear and empirical. Anglo Saxon traditions (or Western as you call it) are largely pragmatic and empirical. Why is calling a spade a spade necessarily linear? Where does it even show the chronology of thought? Irrational eastern "thinking" of yours associate war with western thinking. Tell me, how did a fact-finding epistemology lead to violence?
cherylwens 1 year ago
Indian mathematics produced Algebra, Quadatic equations, circumference of the earth, heliocentricity of the solar system, decimal system, metallurgy..these are very precise empirical sciences. India had the first global university in Taxila. Nagarjuna is said to be one of highest logical thinkers that ever lived. But that did not become an obsession. So don't bring empirical crap before me. Like I said get educated.
acidcrashguy 1 year ago 6
@cherylwens what the hell mate war on iraq a fact finding epistemology........u got to be kidding me............guess what 9/11 was a fact finding epistemoplogy for the rest of the world then.........
coolguy84 1 year ago
Eastern philosophy = progress of the individual for the evolution of species.
Wester philosophy = progress of society to overcome forces of evolution.
evolution almost always leads to extinction.
jimgauth 2 years ago
i like this. Very insightful
chathuriu 2 years ago
you may be interested in the website link on my subscribe page. There you may browse my book online at Amazon
jimgauth 2 years ago
I'm not sure about Mr Pattanaik, but I for one don't see a lot of "westerners" giving speeches about how much better western culture is than eastern culture, and yet he levels at westerners that we have a "we are right, you are wrong" mentality. But perhaps he's using fuzzy logic.
jamesstephenbrown 2 years ago
we dont say it in speeches, but well wage wars for the rights we consider true, and well destroy other cultures with our ideas of democracy, capitalism, Monotheism or Athiesm/secularism.
The west speaks trough its actions
mdsatan 2 years ago
I don't deny that the west promotes democracy and capitalism. I was simply pointing to the irony of the man's own speech, stating, the west are like this... while acting in a way he accuses the west of acting in.
jamesstephenbrown 2 years ago
he at no point claims the western way of thinking is wrong or something, he just explains more about the eastern way of thinking, assuming people know enough about and understand the western way of thinking enough.
mdsatan 2 years ago
Again. I didn't say this. His comments were internally ironic.
jamesstephenbrown 2 years ago
@jamesstephenbrown This "West > East" mentality is often expressed subtly, if at all, because this idea is so inculcated in Western thinking that most people aren't even aware of it. However, you can often see this mentality borne out in the way people from the Arab world or Asia (including aboriginals) are often depicted in fiction, even in modern times: as exotic, sensual, seductive, conniving, immoral, stupid, cowardly, hostile, weak, inferior. (cont'd)...
datalal624 1 year ago
@datalal624 (cont'd)... These stereotypes have been built up and reinforced since at least the Middle Ages, when Islamic Arab countries first started to be perceived as a threat to Christian European dominance. Anyway, my point is that Westerners don't need to state aloud the belief that West > East because it is often assumed as a given. Despite the greater sense of appreciation of and respect for Eastern cultures these days, a lot of our old colonialist attitudes still remain.
datalal624 1 year ago
@datalal624 "my point is that Westerners don't need to state aloud the belief that West"
So what you are saying is that westerners are arrogant and believe that everyone else is wrong even if they don't say it out loud while easterners can be openly critical of the western way of life and actually say that their eastern way of life is superior and at the same time hold that they are humble and open minded.
I don't know quite how you juggle such reverse logic in your mind.
jamesstephenbrown 1 year ago
@jamesstephenbrown Well, I don't recall saying that Westerners are all arrogant and invariably ethnocentrist and never willing to look at things from an Eastern perspective and never willing or able to correct their assumptions, and I didn't really speak at all on what Easterners say about Westerners or what Easterners believe about themselves---I'm not qualified to say one thing or another about that. I was talking about how colonialist myths are still influencing the way the West thinks today.
datalal624 1 year ago
@jamesstephenbrown P.S. There ARE some Westerners who discuss Western arrogance. Martin Jacques' TED talk on "Understanding the Rise of China", for example.
datalal624 1 year ago
@datalal624 "There ARE some Westerners who discuss Western arrogance"
I know, there are lots of them, I am often one of them. But I'll defend western culture when it has cliches about its arrogance and superiority leveled at it. Things like democracy and freedom of speech and scientific inquiry are not just western preferences they are vehicles for self-criticism and change.
jamesstephenbrown 1 year ago
@jamesstephenbrown Okay, when did I say democracy, freedom of speech and scientific inquiry are solely in the purview of the West, let alone bad things? I'm all for them! The more the better. It is the lingering colonialist, ethnocentrist, racist attitudes that linger on which I'm against---and I should concede that none of those things are solely carried by Western culture either. Those are pan-human cultural diseases.
datalal624 1 year ago
@datalal624 "when did I say democracy, freedom of speech and scientific inquiry are solely in the purview of the West"
You didn't and neither did I. Please don't confuse the issue by misinterpreting me in order win an easy point I never suggested that any of those values were solely western, I simply pointed out that they are central values within western culture (not exclusively) that are vehicles for self criticism and not an indicator of superiority or arrogance (the cliches I referred to).
jamesstephenbrown 1 year ago
@jamesstephenbrown Okay, so I agree with you. End of discussion.
datalal624 1 year ago
@datalal624 Cheers
jamesstephenbrown 1 year ago
@datalal624 Hi Datalal, I'm not sure what century you're living in but in the fiction I see and read, ethnic minorities are almost invariably depicted as more noble, honourable, brave, insightful and more moral than westerners while westerners are depicted as culturally ignorant, superficial, materialistic, arrogant and hostile. I would be interested if you could site any popular film made in the last 10 years that does the opposite.
jamesstephenbrown 1 year ago
@jamesstephenbrown Alright, granted there aren't many examples of such Orientalist, degrading schlock on TV and in movies right now, but there are some examples made in the recent past. "The Name of the Rose", "Not Without My Daughter", and even such innocent, enjoyable flicks as the Indiana Jones films all employ some of the stereotypes I mentioned. And yes, there are many, many films that are as you suggest---but that does not mean that the old stereotypes I mentioned are completely gone.
datalal624 1 year ago
@datalal624 "Alright, granted"
Thank you for your numerous concessions to my point. I haven't seen "The Name of the Rose" or "Not without my Daughter" but I will be sure to continue my practice of not watching movies with awful titles. lol
"I don't recall saying that Westerners are all arrogant..."
I don't recall saying you did... I was talking about the general position of the speaker in the video (from what I can remember) I was also exaggerating a little for effect.
jamesstephenbrown 1 year ago
the poor poor hindu mythos- with friends like this...
gnikhilg 2 years ago
I don't know if I completily comply. In many ways, cyclic thinking are getting rooted in more and more western people. Especially since we see again and again that things doesn't just go the one way we want it to go, in other words up or forward, but falls back and down again. That we've reached some limit. But if one doesn't even try, doesn't that mean we get stuck? Surely that's not all India is about? I don't think it's wise to leave everything to chance.
kreaturen 2 years ago
mind = blown
cookiejun 2 years ago
The only objectivity comes from subjective constructs. Life is existential.
cherylwens 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
crap.....
TPtude 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Thank you come again
xxhasudin 2 years ago
I like this talk and I think it's important to remember the central point: Objective vs. SUBJECTIVE.
The problem is when people mistake the subjective for objective. The greater problem is when such people try to force their erroneous view of objective reality onto others. Christians and Muslims spring to mind ;-)
JohnColt 2 years ago
I guess the problem is there is no objective, seeing as your senses and your brain are all, in efffect subjective.
There is some, meaninglessness in the understanding that everything you know and believe, are simply passed onto you, born in a different culture youd have very different beliefs, and your world would look completly different.
In the end, we are all wrong I think, the only thing we can do is prepare so well have a good cover story when we get found out.
mdsatan 2 years ago
So how do you explain the atheist who regardless of where he or she is born in the world finds his or her way to the same conclusion? Real understanding and knowledge is not passed onto a person, it is won by critical thinking, evaluation of evidence and the ability to reason. The difference between real knowledge and pretended knowledge is the same as the difference between a spaceship and a magic broom.
omegavalerius 2 years ago
Mr.Pattanaik, I read your articles on mythology in First City magazine and on your website and find them eye-opening and brilliant. But I wish you didn't have to feel the need during this talk to dilute what you had to say just because there was a Western audience present at the ted talks.
rohanhnair 2 years ago
Useless emotion for nothingness.. You need to be not to become professional to reach infinity.. No way man.. )
searchspring 2 years ago
That was a most excellent talk.
poppingjay76 2 years ago 4
o ted has thousands of these talks that they don't bother filming and sharing
ronkini123 2 years ago
Maybe I'm just seeing things, but I certainly don't agree with the implication of cultural relativism in what he's saying. Religion is inferior to science in telling us about the world, because it tells the world what it is, rather than asking it.
However, he does touches on something that has bothered me for a long time - the standardization of the world. When I go to India, or Greece or wherever, I want to go there, not just a copy of any other country. Flexibility and practicality FTW.
Scurmicurv 2 years ago 2
nothing last forever...even death.
WOW
wasantube 2 years ago
That was such a good video. One of my TED favourites.
whatnameisavailablee 2 years ago
Come on, we may be the largest consumer based but we know how to recycle and we know how not to waste. Please dont push us to buy more and do not teach us to buy more.
plase devdutt you stop as a belief manager or Deva krshna narayana!! now you come down and stop him.
Chhayavad 2 years ago
Take an example : I have been taught to respect food, not to destroy it unnecessarily. when food is avaiblable easily, I do not waste food.Whereas in the name of comedy(which is reflection of life) I see almost in every american movie that people throw food on each other.
Chhayavad 2 years ago
Hey GOD (aare keshava madhava narayana!!) please stop him.
he is completely Mcdonalized .
Hey Deva krishna narayana control him the way you controlled shishupal.
After giving him 100 chances to rectify himself.
This guy is dangerous , he is upto destroy the fine fabric of real life philosphical attitude of indian middle class. He is trying weave an ugly thread of consumerism in our society and he is telling all the managers how to weave that ugly thread into the lives in india.
Chhayavad 2 years ago
its great!!
hidariban111 2 years ago
also, this dialogue between Alexander and the gymnosophist reminds me of the incident between (again) Alexander and the Athenian sophist Diogenes. Alexander stood with all his escort in front of Diogenes who was an old man living in a barrel and told him: "Tell me whatever you want and I'll give it to you" and the answer was: "move to the side please because you are hiding the sun from me"
then Alexander said: "If I wasn't Alexander, I'd want to be Diogenes"
ARISPREVEZA 2 years ago
Actually, In Greece today it is commonly felt that capitalism projected many of it's values on our civilization.
In capitalism, you offer to the community by pursuing personal success. In Greece, these two were very different and honor came from self sacrificing for the common good.
also, today wealth is an axiom, while by the Greeks it was a mean to achieve freedom and virtue.
ARISPREVEZA 2 years ago
Funny little man:)
Stiffmeisteer 2 years ago
How does Japan fit into this model? A culture of reincarnation but classically linear society of strict rules.
A culture of the "Infinity model" but a society like the "one model".
Tsanuri 2 years ago
Parfait. Mercis infiniment
bahoss 2 years ago
Dang that was good. Standing ovation.
csselement 2 years ago
i liked this one alot
thinice2k 2 years ago 3
This was a fantastic talk! I really enjoyed it. So insightful.
He covered a lot of ground and didn't even need to get into "religion" or psychology to do it. He's just a good storyteller, really. Bravo!
ShadowShorts 2 years ago 4
good stuff.
rainjet 2 years ago
I am going to watch this again; the beginning irritated me cause I'm atheist, but i skipped to the end and found that he has something interesting to say. The standing ovation was well deserved.
Mrmoc7 2 years ago 2
Please watch the whole video to understand his point.
iyiyiy12345 2 years ago 3
It also wouldn't exist.
kenrenaldi 2 years ago
The world would be a better place without religion and myth.
PunkCheerleaderBetch 2 years ago 2
sorry, but absent religion and myth, your understanding of the world would have to be, either, omniscient, or unimaginably detached and dull.
PVanderston 2 years ago
Not at all. What complete and utter hogwash! Science has its own incredible beauty that outdoes religion any day.
PunkCheerleaderBetch 2 years ago 5
they are fundamental to our humanity whether you like it or not.
pboisei 2 years ago
Cannot say I really agree with that statement...
PunkCheerleaderBetch 2 years ago
Human is one of many animal on this universe. What differentiate human from rest of the animals is it's logical capabilities.
Religion and myth are product of the human logical capability. As Devdutt said "Religions are human creations and is backed by myth, religions are not natural phenomenon".
No two human brains can think same and hence not to have same behavior. Myth behind religions came to existence is to keep two human on same platform for to have same behavior for sake of better life.
swastikstar2000 2 years ago 5
His exact words were "both the paradigms are human constructions; they're cultural creations, not natural phenomena." And by paradigms, he was referring to the themes of Western and Eastern mythology, respectively, not religion.
ShadowShorts 2 years ago
Well we can tell which of the two subjective reality paradigms you fall under! I personally am the exact opposite!
vortical911 2 years ago
n such case are we evoluting at all?
Where is the end of the road?
Where will we arrive? Is there really a end point?
What is death?
Who knows for sure.
Whe do not know.
Nobody knows.
All that systems of believe are like ....
whatever you whant.
Enjoy your believe.
thomasey2 2 years ago
What is incoherent thought at all in this mobilephone days.
What is next?
What are we evoluting in not trying to understand each other?
I
thomasey2 2 years ago
TED thank you again to support such important, crucial , vital, presentation of thinking.
that is one of the most important videos for me 2009.
Some vieos show interesting nuances of mechanic, organic phenomena, this one present a higher grade of perception, the real tool for making a way for discovery.
Thank you all
thomasey2 2 years ago 2
Thank you so much for this nice view of what is happening from your perspective on the cultural experience of human thougth manifestation.
thomasey2 2 years ago
Chief belief officer?
Haha!
Mrmoc7 2 years ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
It's sad to see TED supporting vague, incoherent thought and religious babble.
secularisrael 2 years ago
Is not about religion, is about the way we behave in different parts of the world.
dragociencia 2 years ago 9
Comment removed
PVanderston 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
It's sad to see an inspiring TED talk by a brilliant humanist fly so cleanly over someone's head.
PVanderston 2 years ago
I completely agree this is not a topic TED should entertain on this level!
PunkCheerleaderBetch 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Thank you, come again :)
hashysh 2 years ago
Great talk!
azndude3600 2 years ago 2
5 minutes in, and already favorited.
planetdarwin 2 years ago 4
wow!
jenjerx 2 years ago