2013年8月30日 星期五

We need to talk about injustice

In our daily lives, there're too many injustice cases happening at every moment. Sometimes we put them into our consideration and try to make solutions out of them; however, very often we sort of ignore them, since they are not quite related to our own interests.  

Let's talk about injustice this weekends. :)

Reference: 
http://www.ted.com/talks/bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk_about_an_injustice.html

Questions:
1. Do you have anything related to injustice in your daily lives? How do you deal with it?

2. Bryan talked about the power of identity via the story with his grandmother. For somehow, our backgrounds and the education we received could shape our own identities. Please share some experiences of yours.

3. Bryan also mentioned that the opposite of poverty is justice and how we judge our society is not based on either technology or design, but how we treat the poor. Sometimes we just believe what we see, so we're inclined to omit that the human dignity should also be respected by law. Please share some of the examples which are relevant to this idea.

You're welcomed to bring some more questions here.
Free talk topic: How do you usually manage your entertaining activities in your daily lives?

2013年8月24日 星期六

Eating for a better future

"Every time you make a purchase decision, your option shape the future of the world." said by Tzu-I Chuang (莊祖宜), one of my favorite bloggers.

In past few decades, eating plays a whole new role in our culture. Instead of survive, it became the way to indulge your life, the way to demonstrate your tastes, and the way to show off.  Food programs mushroom year by year to introduce the gourmet food; foodies upload their photos to social media to allure your taste buds. In fact, our eating habits have alternated the environment profoundly and endangered many species. 

The strong demand of shark fin soup severely post threaten to the amount of sharks. Unlimited fishing broke the balance of ocean systems. In order to produce enough cheap meat, more and more antibiotics and growth hormone are applied. In the meantime, the food safety issues increase day by day.


Materials

(Although she presented in Chinese, it was a great speech. If you have time, do not miss it.)


Discussion
1. Would you like to pay more to buy organic food?
2. Tzu-I Chuang mentioned "if you cannot afford organic food, then you can eat less". Is it an option for you? Would you like to sacrifice your appetite for the environment?
3. When I go traveling, I arrange my schedule according to the food I must eat in that area. Are you a foodie or to you eating is just a way for surviving? 
4. Do you believe that your decision can make a difference? Why?


2013年8月16日 星期五

What not to wear when you shop

Oprah Winfrey, an billionaire woman,  recounts an allegedly racist experience she had in a Zurich boutique. While the sales clerk at the center of the controversy denies the Queen of Talk’s version of events.

pls see following link to get more information.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/oprah-account-racism-switzerland-true-shop-clerk-article-1.1424327


1. What's your opinion when you hear the news in the first time? And what do you think about this event after you read this news?

2.Do you think this event is a racist discrimination or not? Or language misunderstanding as the store owner thought?

3.Have you ever had the experience of misunderstanding during intercultural communication?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-dress-for-every-shopping-occasion-2013-08-14
4.Do you think cloth culture is a latent social rules?
What will you dress in specific situation? Pls share your dress code.

5. Which one do you think is more important? Appearances or inner sides?

2013年8月3日 星期六

Unspoken Rules

According to the definetion from wikipedia:
Unspoken rules are behavioral constraints imposed in organizations or societies that are not voiced or written down. They usually exist in unspoken and unwritten format because they form a part of the logical argument or course of action implied by tacit assumptions

These rules are not written down, but they usually constrain the behavoir of the organization in a stronger way. Here are some articles about unspoken rules in working place.

5 unspoken rules that could get you fired

Unspoken Rules for a Successful Career


1. Have you discover unspoken rules in your workplace? Please name some of them(at least 3), and try to explain the origin.

2. How those unspoken rules affect your work or career? 

3. How well would you accept the existence of these rules?

4. What would you do if you are reluctant to obey?

2013年8月1日 星期四

This is water.

Humanity often makes us complain and look at the dark side. This video obviously gives us a new thought about what life should be in reality. If we try to show more sympathy on the "socalled" annoying things around us, maybe the ugly reality wound't be that ugly.

Referencehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwEMOt2HTJc

1. Please describe your daily life. Has anything annoyed you recently?

2. What's your simple awarenesses? Have you tried to raise your awarenesses on things around you? For example, try to observe anything which had happened on you and enrich new viewpoints on them.

3. According to the clip, the real freedom is that you give yourself a chance to think and to pay attention to, so you would have different options. Do you think if this idea is reasonable and this idea could be workable in your daily lives.

4. Does this video have anything to with water(or the statement of "this is water")?