Tuesday, April 6, 2010
TED Talk Tuesday: Adora Svitak on what adults can learn from kids
I'm in the process of reinventing my life and I see becoming as a little child being key to that goal. When was the last time you let your imagination roam unfettered and let your desires lead you, the way you did when you were a kid?
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Leah, this was one of the most delightful and inspirational talks I have heard in a while. Thanks for bringing TED to us each Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteAdora said "Maybe you've had grand plans before but stopped yourself because you said 'That's impossible'. For better or worse we kids aren't hampered as much when it comes to thinking of why not to do things. How many of you still believe in the possibilities?"
ReplyDeleteYou said "I see becoming as a little child being key to that goal."
This is all very interesting stuff. But I've heard it before. In the Bible. Jesus thought very highly of children. He rebukes the disciples when they try to prevent the children from coming to Jesus. He says that the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like children. And whoever doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.
How many times have I heard people discredit anything the Bible has to say because "it's impossible". Miracles are impossible. Rising from the dead is impossible, etc. In fact, even a rabbi at the time of Jesus struggled with these sort of things. His name was Nicodemus and he came to Jesus at night (probably because he was afraid of being ridiculed by other rabii's for going to talk to Jesus as it wasn't very popular). Jesus told him that to enter the Kingdom of God you had to be born again. And Nicodemus' adult rational minded response was "How can I enter back into my mother's womb and be born again?" Seemingly to him, being born again was impossible. Undeterred, Jesus continues to talk to him and Nicodemus later on says, "How are these things possible?" This is no different than what I hear today. "This is impossible, or that's impossible." On the other hand, Jesus loved children because they were not afraid of the impossible, just as Adora says.
Luke chapter 1 says that "nothing is impossible with God." and Jesus readily understood that it is children that are open to the impossible. Adults are hesitant to have faith in something but children live day to day on faith. Adults are hesitant to ponder the impossible and instead just shrug it off and ridicule those who do believe. Nicodemus is an example of someone who, although he knew he was opening himself to all sorts of peer ridicule, and was even afraid to the point he went by night so as not to be seen, did not give in so easily and instead chose to investigate the matter a little deeper.
So yes, be child like and believe that with God nothing is impossible!
Human culture abounds with stories of the seemingly impossible and supernatural. How do we know which ones we should believe?
ReplyDeleteKids are open to possibility, and when properly balanced with healthy skepticism, I'd say that's a good characteristic to have. But unchecked openness can make one easily manipulated or deceived; I mean look how easy it is to trick kids into believing in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy.
So, yes, be open to possibility. But make sure you do your fact checking as well.
If you put your mind to it you can believe anything.
ReplyDeleteMike, with regards to the fact checking concept, I'm a bit curious about what you think the facts say about the Gospels.
ReplyDeleteAre they reliable? Do they give an accurate portrayal of who the historical Jesus was? Two of them are titled after the names of his own disciples (Matthew and John). Were they really written by and based on the eye witness testimony of disciples of Jesus? The other two were written by people who intimately knew disciples (one Gospel is attributed to Luke who traveled for years with Paul and the other attributed to Mark who traveled with both Paul and Peter). Do the present day Gospels reflect the original content? When were they written? Have they been tampered with? Added to? Embellished? Are they based on stories made up by the disciples in an attempt to start a new religion? Or are they based on actual events as described by the authors? Are there any extra-biblical writings to add validation to the biblical accounts?
I am curious as to what you think the facts say about these questions.
Patrik, I'll admit I'm no expert on the Bible. Frankly the subject doesn't interest me enough to do that kind of extensive research on it; I haven't thoroughly researched the origins of the Koran or the Tao Te Ching for the same reasons—it seems like a colossal waste of my time. But from what I've heard of the origins of the Bible, and from the parts of the Bible I've actually read, I've concluded for myself that it's an obvious work of fiction (as obviously fiction to me as the Book of Mormon is to you).
ReplyDeleteIf you want to believe in the divine origin of the Bible and base your life off what's written in it, then knock yourself out.
I find it interesting that you make the suggestion that people do their fact checking on issues and yet you are not willing to do it yourself because the subject doesn't interest you. Given the potential ramifications of the subject, it would seem that it would invoke huge amounts of interest.
ReplyDeleteI feel that I've learned enough about Christianity that I can comfortably dismiss it.
ReplyDeleteWhat about you? Given the potential ramifications of Hinduism (you don't want to be reincarnated as a dung beetle, do you?!) doesn't it bother you that you haven't spent weeks researching its minute details and the full history of its origins so you can be ABSOLUTELY sure whether or not it's based in truth? What about Islam? Or Judaism? Or any other religion that makes claims of consequences in the afterlife?
If you understand why you feel comfortable dismissing those religions' claims, you'll understand why I feel comfortable dismissing Christianity's.
So, essentially what you are saying is that a: you have learned enough about Christianity, which is based on what you have heard and the parts of the Bible you have read, to dismiss it, and b: that you aren't willing to invest the time to do a little fact checking for yourself but that you expect anyone who has a different view than your own to check their facts, and c: that you assume that everyone else approaches their view about Christianity, or religion in general, in the same fashion as yourself?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat part of "learned enough" do you think excludes fact checking? I grew up in Christianity, I kind of know what it's about.
ReplyDeleteSome stories are absurd enough that eyewitness accounts simply won't cut it. Even if I knew for a fact that the testimonies in the New Testament weren't tampered with in any way from their original authors, I would still think it was a load of crap (the same way I think the testimonies of the 12 witnesses—including Joseph Smith—at the beginning of the Book of Mormon are a load of crap).
I don't really care what you believe about God and religion, Patrik. But don't try to accuse me of not doing enough research on Christianity because I didn't come to the same conclusions you have.
As a curiosity, why ARE you comfortable dismissing those other religions' claims? (Since you seem to be saying your approach to them is different from mine.)
Mike, I apologize if my comments in this thread have offended you. If you do not care about my opinions on religion then why did you respond to my initial post on the video in the first place? It was you that initiated this debate after my initial post about Jesus and the children with the statement “be open to possibility. But make sure you do your fact checking as well.” So I became curious about the extent of your own fact checking on the subject (the subject being Jesus) and that is why I asked you some historical questions about the Bible, none for which you have provided an answer. And since you are not interested in my opinion on religion I’ll spare you any further comment.
ReplyDeleteAdora said "Maybe you've had grand plans before but stopped yourself because you said 'That's impossible'. For better or worse we kids aren't hampered as much when it comes to thinking of why not to do things. How many of you still believe in the possibilities?"
ReplyDeleteYou said "I see becoming as a little child being key to that goal."
This is all very interesting stuff. But I've heard it before. In the Bible. Jesus thought very highly of children. He rebukes the disciples when they try to prevent the children from coming to Jesus. He says that the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like children. And whoever doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.
How many times have I heard people discredit anything the Bible has to say because "it's impossible". Miracles are impossible. Rising from the dead is impossible, etc. In fact, even a rabbi at the time of Jesus struggled with these sort of things. His name was Nicodemus and he came to Jesus at night (probably because he was afraid of being ridiculed by other rabii's for going to talk to Jesus as it wasn't very popular). Jesus told him that to enter the Kingdom of God you had to be born again. And Nicodemus' adult rational minded response was "How can I enter back into my mother's womb and be born again?" Seemingly to him, being born again was impossible. Undeterred, Jesus continues to talk to him and Nicodemus later on says, "How are these things possible?" This is no different than what I hear today. "This is impossible, or that's impossible." On the other hand, Jesus loved children because they were not afraid of the impossible, just as Adora says.
Luke chapter 1 says that "nothing is impossible with God." and Jesus readily understood that it is children that are open to the impossible. Adults are hesitant to have faith in something but children live day to day on faith. Adults are hesitant to ponder the impossible and instead just shrug it off and ridicule those who do believe. Nicodemus is an example of someone who, although he knew he was opening himself to all sorts of peer ridicule, and was even afraid to the point he went by night so as not to be seen, did not give in so easily and instead chose to investigate the matter a little deeper.
So yes, be child like and believe that with God nothing is impossible!