February 17, 2015 Convocation Lecture Reflection

Before I give out my thoughts about that convocation thing that a surprising number of people did not like for some reason, I would like to get one thing out of the way by personally admitting I was not feeling too hot and extremely tired, so while I was there physically, I was nodding off a bit. However, I did find time to read an article about one Kwame Anthony Appiah and relatively got the gist of what he was talking about at convocation. Some people seem to be under the impression that Appiah was encouraging the assimilation of eastern nation into western cultures, but I do not think he was doing that in the least bit.

 There is a book by Appiah called The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen that he so obviously references because it covers the same topic and he goes over similar content in that book. Appiah is simply making an analysis of the problems in some honor systems in particular cultures, while not neglecting the fact there also problems with those systems in the west. I am sure that if there is one quote from McLuhan people who were not favor of Appiah's lecture will reference, it is "In the name of 'progress,' our official culture is striving to force the new media to do the work of the old," which can be interpreted as western cultures using its technological advancements to gain the upper hand over other less fortunate countries and potentially attempt to impose themselves on them.