hipster – TAKE FIVE — English Language Club

On May 8 we were to discuss the issue of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), but due to low attendance, our conversation shifted to something equally exciting. Fanni and I started a debate on Facebook after she’d posted an article about Neil Harbisson, “the world’s first cyborg artist”.

This weird-looking gentleman was born colorblind. At the beginning of the 2000s, he began a project with Adam Montandon, which later became the “Eyeborg” project. They developed a “head-mounted sensor that translates colour frequences into sound frequences”. (Wikipedia) Today, after a series of events, Neil has a camera implanted into his skull that enables him to hear colors, thus overcoming the problem of colorblindness.

“I’m dressed in C major” says Neil in his rather funny and refreshing 10-minute TED presentation. It is definitely worth watching.

Although we couldn’t recall what our debate was originally about, we managed to raise a short but interesting discussion by reading out a few quotes. There were funny ones, such as “Now if I have problems perceiving a color I don’t know who to go to – an opthamologist, a neurologist, or a computer programmer.” But he went further than that with somewhat radical thoughts, which became the basis of our discussion. “Technology is made by humans so if we modify our body with human creations we become more human.” This statement could entail a day-long debate.

storycubes_05082 — One of the teams is working hard to put together their story.

In the end we divided the group into two teams, put down words on slips of paper, then both teams had to roll the Story Cubes to tell their stories, using all the words. We had great fun again. Sick minds always save the night.

We have two meetings left until the summer break. Next time we’ll be discussing the issue of computers in education, that is, can computers replace teachers in the long run? If you like the topic or want to try out the tasty grilled chicken, join us next week, and don’t forget to spread the word.

We exactly know how you feel, my friend. As we announced earlier, the entire crew were going to disappear due to the forthcoming exam period. We have immaculately fulfilled this promise. We nonetheless forgot to inform you about the future. ‘Cause we do know the future.

On the last Thursday of June, the mighty organizers of the club will emerge from the depths of the red haze and regain their human shapes. Thereafter, you will be able to enjoy FOUR sessions in a row before Take Five goes on vacation. There will probably be some changes from the next season. Stay up-to-date!

Here’s a brief recap of the last two meetings:

May 9th: The Hipster Paradox

We talked about a proliferating subculture that has recently arisen from its ashes: the hipsters. Who are they? A community whose goal is to stay away from everything that is considered to be mainstream. They aim to avoid being under the influence of popular culture. However, they seem to overlook a teeny-tiny detail that immediately defies the whole concept: they desperately fight against everything that is popular, which ironically results in being under control of the society. This phenomenon has been wisely named the hipster paradox. We made an attempt to figure out its underlying social aspect.

We discussed the questions of fashion, and finally talked in groups of two about our clothing habits.

May 16th: The Myth of Multitasking

We listened to an 18-minute long NPR interview. “How long can you go without checking email, or glancing at your smartphone? Clifford Nass, a psychology professor at Stanford University, says today’s nonstop multitasking actually wastes more time than it saves—and he says there’s evidence it may be killing our concentration and creativity too.”

Many people claim that they are capable of multitasking, but is it really multitasking? We shared our experiences with each other, and concluded that real multitasking is quite rare. Our minds are basically adjusted to deal with one thing at a time.

We would gladly take your comments on both topics.

Tag: hipster

Cyber-debate