I would say that the speaker who probably stuck with me the most was Joseph Erb. I hadn’t really thought much about how languages have to be adapted to computer technology just to survive. It’s also interesting to think about how many other languages out there still haven’t been converted to computer technology.
It was also interesting to think about the ways you would have to adjust a keyboard to fit certain languages. We think of most languages being based off the Latin alphabet, but what about languages that don’t use an alphabet or have some entirely different system of writing. It was also interesting to see him adapt Native American art into the modern world. I especially appreciated the pottery piece that he made with the smartphone. It looked like an artifact you might have found from a thousand years ago.
I think, I also like Lisa Palmer. I find the idea of sustainability really important and the different ways that it can be accomplished is interesting. I also think going to visit third world countries is really interesting as well. I think after writing my first paper I found that we really need to come up with better solutions for protecting the environment and saving resources as things like water are starting to disappear which is something that will lead to future conflict.
As far as my country goes there’s a lot of interesting stuff to talk about. I should mention I originally made a 20 slide power point because I thought we were each supposed to make 20 slides. Anyways, a lot of what I talked about in my group project is a much more slimmed down version of what is happening in Hungary. I think it’s really interesting and a little scary when you see something like the Stop George Soros Act. For those not in the know, George Soros is a pretty popular meme among neo-nazis and the alt-right, and is the boogey man for pretty much every conspiracy theory on the planet. I was originally going to show this meme to demonstrate what I’m talking about:
There are way worse memes, especially since he’s a jew who survived the holocaust so this is a pretty tame one. The fact that George Soros has actually made it into Hungarian law is somewhat scary to think of alt-right conspiracy theories and memes are becoming the actual legislation of countries.
It’s also showing that this trend against migrants and the rise of the far right is not just isolated to one country, but it’s happening all over the world. And God help us if the prophecy of the climate migrants ever comes to pass and what exactly that will bring.
I think that studying Hungary is actually extremely important in understanding what is happening in our world right now. Another important think I briefly brought up in my presentation was the tax exemption for women who have 4 or more children. This almost sounds like an idea that hearkens back to the Nazis and their obsession with breeding purebred Germans. It’s a law that goes hand in hand with the anti-migration law because it further states that native Hungarians are the only true Hungarians and that Hungary should increase its shrinking population by having more babies and not by letting immigrants in.
It’s all this that sort of points to understanding the rise of the right in the world right now and the demonizing of immigrants and revival of nationalism and belief that only natives are truly deserving of citizenship or even of being considered human. We can see it the way that world leaders who openly espouse racism are actually electable in this day and age. Even modern countries in Europe are seeing a reverse in the gains that were made decades ago.
Globalization 3510W 