The Ted Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story” is an incredibly inspiring conversation about how culture is perceived around the world. So many times, especially as Americans we get caught up in everything that we are doing and only see a small portion of what goes on outside this country. The advancement of technology can help to increase globalization and to raise awareness of more than one story from countries other than the U.S. People in general have the tendency to form an opinion about whole cultural groups or even continents when they only have one view of what is really going on there. This talk made me think about my experience living in Ecuador when I was in college. Before and after I spent time in Ecuador, whenever I tell people about my experience they always tell me how brave I was for going there and how they heard that all countries in South America are dirty and full of poor people. While I did see many poor people during my stay in Ecuador I also had the chance to engage my host family in meaningful conversations about their government and how the Ecuadorian people are trying to undo the racism against their indigenous populations. I also saw extremely wealthy and successful businesses and infrastructure built, beautiful national parks and heritage world language sites. All of these things are never mentioned when I see South American countries in the news. All we see is crime, political malfunction and natural disaster. This Ted talk made me think about always continuing to not only share my own story but to actively look for different perspectives in all things so that I can better understand the people that I interact with.
Adichie, C. N. (2009). The Danger of a Single Story :TED Talks. Retrieved May 05, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
To watch the Ted Talk click HERE.
Adichie, C. N. (2009). The Danger of a Single Story :TED Talks. Retrieved May 05, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
To watch the Ted Talk click HERE.