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Second Life Interview: London

February 19, 2013 //

Profile picture for the Events Group for London City in Second Life

I went out and about in the city of London to conduct a brief interview. My first thoughts were that it was hard to find someone willing to interview. I was turned down by multiple people before I found someone willing to answer my questions. After walking around London for about 10 mins. and asking numerous people, I was able to find someone willing to let me interview them. Since this was my first Interview, I didn’t want to overdo things, ask too many questions or ones that may be too personal or weird. So i picked and choose four questions that i thought would be good, and would be good start to get an understanding of their culture.

Although I was in London, the person I interviewed struggled a little bit with their English, but that just made me more interested to learn more about the person. Although our interview was short I think I got some good answers, and it was nice to see that they were willing to work with me. Below is my interaction with the person I interviewed. I changed their name to “Interviewee,” I also included a snap shot from our conversation.

Overall it was a good start to our final project, I now feel more comfortable interacting with people in Second Life. I also have a better understanding of how the whole interview process works and it should help for the future project.

[08:58] Jkruegs: Would you be interested in answering some questions for an interview

[09:00] Interviewee: maybe, tell me more

[09:01] Jkruegs: I am a student at the University of Kentucky in the United States and we have been given a task to try and learn more abou other people’s cultures around the world.

[09:02] Inventory item offered

[09:02] secondlife:///app/agent/2cf0afbc-c612-4af6-aacf-f984baf8a23e/completename: Rantaplan received your inventory offer.

[09:04] Interviewee: thats nice, my english is bad, but thats a good idea, i te

[09:04] Jkruegs: cool, that is perfectly okay, it wont take too long, i just have a few questions

[09:04] Interviewee: i read the note from you

[09:05] Jkruegs: cool

[09:05] Jkruegs: The questions i will be asking you relate to your culture and how you interact with people in your society.

[09:07] Interviewee: i work very hard to have a good time on our planet

[09:07] Jkruegs: Are you okay if i use some of your answers in my summary and report?

[09:07] Interviewee: itry

[09:08] Jkruegs: okay thank you.

[09:08] Jkruegs: My first question is : 1. When you meet a stranger how do you greet them? Do you hug them, kiss them or shake their hand?

[09:10] Interviewee: depence, most i say hello and then give hand

[09:10] Jkruegs: okay thank you, next question

[09:10] Interviewee: ok

[09:11] Jkruegs: 2. Does this differ by age gender or power roles?

[09:12] Interviewee: both no

[09:12] Jkruegs: okay

[09:13] Jkruegs: 1. How do you react when a stranger expresses a belief that you find odd or peculiar

[09:14] Interviewee: i have respect fore other thinking

[09:14] Jkruegs: okay, good answer

[09:14] Jkruegs: last question

[09:15] Jkruegs: 2. What do you do when a stranger states a belief that you find offensive or morally objectionable?

[09:16] Interviewee: i try to look more sides then think

[09:17] Jkruegs: Thank you so much for taking a few minutes and answering my questions. Do you mind if i take a quick snapshot to share with your answers?

[09:18] Interviewee: ok

[09:19] Jkruegs: Thank You for your time!

[09:19] Interviewee: you welcome

Tags English only, globalism, interview process, snapshot

Categories Field Notes, Signposts

Thoughts on Chapter 7

By 12jkru

February 10, 2013 //

Chapter seven had some interesting ideas, but I found like a few of the other chapters, a little distracted by the stories. I struggled following along with the different places he was talking about and how they really fit in with the chapter. I think Appiah makes some strong claims in this chapter however and the study guide questions hit upon a lot of the strong points made. When Appiah talks about cultural imperialism he is talking about the cultural aspects of a imperialized civilization. This is an idea that talks about how cultures are influenced to an extent by capitalism, and he used the United States and Europe as examples. We are influence by the things we see in the media and in general by things we like. He dismisses this idea because it is around us everywhere, it’s an overwhelming idea and principle, there is really no hiding from it in the end, it’s all around us, and everybody does it.

Appiah’s “golden rule,” in chapter seven is “I am human: nothing human is alien to me.” This idea, in order to be a true cosmopolitan in our world today you cannot be afraid of anything.

When Appiah says “cultural purity is an oxymoron,” he is basically saying, we can sit here and talk all we want about being a cosmopolitan and what it takes to be one, but really chances are that in our day in age we already are cosmopolitans. We may not know that we are true cosmopolitans, but in our society today it is a lot easier to be a cosmopolitan and therefore there is a high chance we already are one. Thanks to technology and travel we are exposed to so much more today than ever before, and we are much more likely to be a cosmopolitan.

Tags community, cosmopolitan canopy, cosmopolitanism, cultures, diversity, Golden Rule

Categories Cosmopolitanism

Chapter 5

By 12jkru

February 7, 2013 //

My thoughts on chapter 5

I thought that it was an interesting chapter that touched on a lot of our societal problems we face today. I think Appiah makes a lot of strong arguments about how we need to be more accepting in our society and how we can learn from other cultures. The key thought I found in this chapter, or design principle was found on page 67 of my ebook. This idea that Appiah says “we should learn about people in other places, take an interest in their civilizations, their arguments, their erros, their achievements, not because that will bring us to agreement, but because it will help us get used to one another…Understanding one another may be hard; it can certainly be interesting. But it doesn’t require that we come to agreement” (67). To me this quote speaks volumes about what it truly means to be a cosmopolitan. We must learn more about each other for not only our own interest, but to truly understand one another and to get along.

Reading question response

This is an interesting claim that I think is true to an extent. I believe that we are such a diverse world today that we have many different views on morals and values and it truly does make it difficult to come to simple and agreeable conclusions about certain values. Everywhere you go in the world someone views something different than how you were raised to look at it. I believe that this leads to more interesting conversations about each other’s values and cultures. I think we have more conversations because of it, most people today are cosmopolitans and are very curious about other cultures and their beliefs. We have a general sense of curiosity that leads us to wanting to know more, which is ultimately why we have conversations, even when we know we won’t agree on things. We have a constant need and desire to learn and know more about one another.

Categories Cosmopolitanism