http://www.ted.com/talks...ousness_for_granted.html

This was such a cool talk. I wish he could have gone into greater detail on his coma experience.

The exoskeletal device on his leg blows my mind. It is so cool that the ideas we have been hearing about revolutionizing the world are now coming to light. This is why I'm in the engineering field.

There's always something new people can come up with... I simply cannot imagine having no consciousness at all. I mean when we are in deep sleep, we are sort of unconscious, but we still would have to be conscious to feel it as "unconsciousness". When we become conscious from the unconscious, we don't have a memory from it. Therefore, how can one be without consciousness, if one still would need consciousness to be conscious of the unconscious state? If one would be unconscious for long time, one still would be conscious when one wakes up from the unconscious. So I would say one would have to define "consciousness" before one would go saying that don't take it for granted.

Very cool talk. I'd like to know more about what kind of cognitive exercises he was doing. That IQ chart is pretty impressive.

I think what he is getting at is not taking for granted our waking consciousness. Life as we perceive it is our consciousness or at least part of it. He is a prime example of someone given a second chance. They had to rebuild so much of him to keep him alive. He has spent his time productively (at least in his eyes) exploring what he believes is consciousness in a scientific manner.

Most of us explore our consciousness by having "near-death" experiences on psyches if you could call them that. I would in some instances... He had a legitimate near-death experience, and is using it to explore the waking life people take for granted.

That's very cool. I might have to check out his book.

Wow! He complains about lack of long term or ongoing care and titles this "Don't take consciousness for granted." Then he proceeds to detail an amazing recovery that was catalyzed by a level of extreme access and priveledge to cutting edge medical and dental procedures.

If a similar accident happened to the great majority of us (at least in America) today, including the insured, we would not get a level of care that even approaches what this gentleman experienced.

I know I'm cynical, but realistically, how about retitling this, "Don't take Priveledge, Money or Access to Medical and Dental Procedures for Granted."

Absolutely amazing, loved it. Best TED talk I've seen.

Exactly. So we shouldn't take our consciousness for granted. We all don't get second chances.



That could definitely apply to him, but seeing as how most Ted Talks discuss ways to improve yourself, your lifestyle, or the community and world in general, I don't think he was speaking to benefit himself(unless he got paid). He is bringing to light the level of care that is given versus the level of care that is available. Sure we may not be able to afford cochlear implants for every deaf American or sensory implants for all the lames, but the fact that his IQ was just above what some call mentally challenged when he was discharged is a little appalling. Who knows? If we weren't spending 7 times more on our military budget than China, maybe we could afford it.

It's cool to be cynical. I'm working on being less of a cynic. He may have selfish reasons for doing all this, such as money or selling his book. Maybe he just wants to be pitied, or maybe he is filling some void left by his dead wife. We all have selfish motives for the shit we do; that makes being a cynic "realistic." Just because motives are selfish doesn't mean the outcomes of the decisions made are limited to only benefiting the decision maker.