Tribalism Voice Thread

Below is the link to my tribalism voice thread.

https://voicethread.com/share/12654833

Song of Solomon Halfway Reflection

        In my reading of Somg of Solomon, I’ve run into difficulty understanding information given with no context. This information is meant to raise questions but I find myself confused a lot, thinking that I might have missed details in earlier readings that would help me understand. For example, on page 149 it states “she had not shed a tear since Circe had brought her cherry jam for breakfast”. This statement bring up many questions. The reader has no idea who Circe is and why cherry jam made Pilate cry. When the author brings in a completely foreign idea like this one, it’s hard for me to realize that I’m supposed to be confused.

        My main method of addressing this challenge is changing my mentality while reading. I had to learn to except that I didn’t know anything and that the author was leaving me confused on purpose. The help myself further, I made a list of questions to look back on once they are answered in later sections. This helps me gauge what I know and don’t know throughout the book.

My Family History

       My full name is Henry Joseph Shrier. My first name has little significance, as my parents just liked the way it sounded. Although, my middle name, Joseph, was taken after my grandpa Joe. While I’m not entirely sure, I believe the name Joseph may have been given to my grandfather for religious purposes, being that we are a Christian family. As for my last name, Shrier became the family name only two generations ago. My grandfather was adopted after his father left at a young age. He was adopted by Forest Shrier. His biological father had the last name Hartwick. However, nothing is known about the past lives and origins of both the Hartwicks and the Shriers.

       On the other hand, we have a lot of information concerning the other parts of my family. My great great grandparents on my mother’s maternal side, the Lampanis, were from Montefiascone, Italy, just north of Rome. They owned large vineyards and invented a grape press for making wine. They made their way to New York in the 1905. My great great grandparents on my father's maternal side, the Ciaramataros, came from Sicily in 1910. Both families ended up in Michigan, where my parents were born. They came with little understanding of English, struggling to navigate American life. Both families, being from Italy, were Roman Catholic. This has carried through to the present, as my family continues to recognize Catholic religious holidays and beliefs.

       As for stories connected to the roots of my family’s identity, there are a couple. We are not entirely sure about the validity of the story, but my grandmother claims we have a distant connection to Pope Pius. Whether of not it’s true, it shows the strong religious connections of my family tree. Also, relating back to the Lampanis’ vineyards and wine production, there is a story that claims a bishop sent a scout ahead of him to survey the villages along the route for the best wines. The scout was told to write 'Est' on the door of the inns he visited when he was particularly impressed with the quality of the wine. At the Lampanis’ Montefiascone inn, the scout was reportedly so overwhelmed with the local wine that he wrote Est! Est!! Est!!! on the door. While it’s a simple story, it serves as an example of the Italian heritage of my family.

Campus Speech Codes

College campuses have been implementing speech codes which restrict “offensive” speech that they claim interferes with a learning environment. Studying a wide range of campuses, its determined that around 62% of universities implement these codes (Click Here).

With such a large number of schools enacting these speech restrictions, contraversy over the rights of the school to limit student speech has risen. Those who support the speech codes claim that it isn’t a direct limitation of free speech, as it only restricts where the speech can take place because “Free speech zones” still allow students to freely express their views (Click Here). More conservative critics claim that these codes describe the types of speech that can be limited too loosely, and that anything deemed offensive by another student can be restricted.

Do you think there should be speech codes on college campuses? If so, how would you regulate speech and what standards would it have to meet to be restricted?

The Two Sides of Artificial Intelligence

        New artificial intelligence softwares have been created to identify signs of depression by simply examining Facebook accounts using a complex data collection algorithm (Click Here). This technology could be greatly beneficial towards the diagnosis and understanding of the scale of mental illness.

        While A.I. tech such as this are revolutionizing the modern world for the better, this is only one side of the capabilities of this new tech. Machines created for military use are becoming more prevalent as well. “Deadly combat robots”  are raising questions on the ethical boundaries of A.I. application (Click Here). The Future of Computing Academy is suggesting that the A.I. research community explain the negative affects along with the positive affects of newly released technology (Click Here). They argue that the the fact that, “a self-flying drone could capture video at a football game — or kill on the battlefield” should be disclosed to the public so they understand the implications of putting controversial A.I. to use.

        What do you think the future holds for artificial intelligence? Where do you draw the boundaries of its controversial applications? 

Fortnite’s Extreme Popularity

Online video game Fortnite Battle Royal has seen unprecedented success since its release in July of 2017. With over 100 million users, it has created a cultural movement never seen before in the video game industry.

It’s free to play, easily downloadable, and cross compatible among all major video game consoles. This along with its simplistic “last man standing” gameplay has allowed Fortnite to reach the levels of extreme popularity it sees today. So popular in fact that people have begun making a living as professional Fortnite gamers, raking in serious views on live-streaming app “twitch” and loads of money along with it (Click Here). Parents have even taken to hiring professional Fortnite tutors to teach their children how to improve and level up in the game (Click Here). Although it may seem all fun in games, this massive attention is raising concerns from speculative adults and even reputable health agencies claiming  “gaming disorder” is a legitimate disease stemming from addiction (Click Here).

Do you think Fortnite is receiving an unhealthy amount of attention? Do you think it’s cultural affect could be seen in a positive light? Do you consider it to be more of a short lived trend or do you believe Fortnite will last long into the future?