Many of you have experiences with multiple cultures. You may have lived in different countries, been a member of different communities, etc. This diversity is a great strength in thinking about the topics of this course. Please write at least 100 words describing a way that a culture you have experience with thinks about some topic of this course that is different from how it is discussed in a reading for this class or in other course content.

When responding to your classmates’ posts, please write at least 1-2 sentences that engage with the cultural differences they identify (for example, connecting it to a culture with which you are familiar).

For both posters and responders: please be sensitive to cultural differences throughout.

Reading from class: Computational Sustainability (Links to an external site.). https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/17/tech-climate-change-luddites-data https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000245623

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2019/09/22/no-one-seemed-to-notice-greta-thunbergs-critique-of-the-green-new-deal/#70ad475338da

here

Reply:

Student 1: In my Latin American household, I noticed we always had a drawer or two of bundled up tech/chargers, etc. When talking about the electrical or technical waste I quickly related to how I felt as if I was part of the problem. Also, it is pretty interesting because my parents love to get the newest technology, but rarely ever recycle their own, and love to hold onto it. I love learning about electronics, I just wish that I knew more about the more beneficial ways to help the planet. It’s also positive that my father works in an IT-related field, so he teaches me a lot.

Student 2: I grew up in a family that migrated from China to America in the 1990’s/early 2000’s. Growing up, my parents had some interesting philosophies on energy management. For instance, my brother and I were taught early on never to waste resources – we only left the gas on when cooking and for the minimal time possible, the house was full of power strips to stop unnecessary electric transmissions, showers were quick and done on a weekly basis, etc. My father was very strict on this, and the primary reason he conserved energy was to reduce utility costs to the bare minimum. I find this to be very interesting personally and it’s one of the reasons I decided to study business at UCI – finding how business and economics strategies affect the daily lives of people in various ways that are not financial in nature.

Student 3: Growing up in Hawaii, it always seemed like we were behind the rest of the world In terms of getting the newest tech in the world simply because it took longer for us to get everything. Because of this, it seemed like we were different from the rest of the US in the sense that a lot of us weren’t as eager or in a rush to get the newest iPhone or game station because there always a long wait for it or it was sold out so quickly. For my family and me, we didn’t get Iphones until a year or two after some of the newer models came out. In comparison to the rest of the US especially in a place like California where there are areas like Silicon Valley, I’m sure their experiences are much different than mine and many people probably beta tested every new potential update that came out.

Student 4: I believe that oftentimes Chinese culture views quality of life as equal to standard of living even though they are not actually the same. This is because Chinese people value money a lot and are striving for more and more wealth and materialistic things. For example, my mom’s side of the family believes that their quality of life will improve the more money they make. From my perspective, they have so much money that making any more is really pointless. Instead, they should learn to value their time more and use it to enjoy life. Another example would be how oftentimes Chinese families want their children to become doctors because they believe they will have a higher quality of life as a result of making so much money being a doctor. However, they do not consider what their children are passionate and want to do as a career. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, I cannot really blame my Chinese family for thinking this way because they were brought up in worse conditions than I and were very poor. Naturally, money was the most important thing to them and understandably determined their quality of life.