Emily Russo

Professor Zicherman
UWRT 1101
10 November 2014
Ted Talk
In Wade Daviss Ted Talk, he thoroughly discussed how the ethno sphere is being
destroyed by power. What he means, is that the ethno sphere, our web of all cultures, is being
quickly diminished by people who believe that the world should be equal in all forms. These
forms are the following: education, religion, clothing, traditions, and language. I agree with
Wade Daviss point that in our modern day society we are experiencing an ethnocide, or a
genocide of culture, that is destroying the languages that are known around the world today.
These languages are a part of these peoples cultures and the world needs to realize that we
cannot be equal, due to the wide variety of ethnicities and cultures that our planet is a home to.
Language is the way that we communicate with one another, but Davis had a different definition
of language. He defined it as ecosystem of spiritual possibilities and flash of the human
spirit. As you can see, he didnt define language as how we communicate, and didnt include
the aspect that language uses words.
Davis brings up the point that there are over 6,000 languages that are being spoken across
the world. But, he reminds us that people are being forced to conform, and over half of those
languages are not being taught to babies. The point that Wade Davis is trying to make is that
eventually, the elders of these societies will die and their language will no longer exist. Davis is
encouraging the world to recognize that this is a dangerous time for small cultures in the world,
and that we need to take a stance and make a change in our ways. I agree that society should
acknowledge that the different cultures are beautiful and magnificent and that we should

continue to learn about them. We cant continue to live in a bubble where we think English is the
best language and everything that we do should be conformed to the rest of the world. I used to
be close minded and I thought that everyone should speak the same language. It would make
trade, travel, and education easier. But that is a terrible view of our diverse and unique world.
Our modern day society needs to accept that the world is different, and thats how it
should be. We should continue to advance education of cultures around the world. By doing this,
we will teach values to others that we should respect the cultures that we find to be odd, because
they find our ways of life odd as well. We should spread the knowledge of the ethno sphere so
that it is preserved and kept alive for centuries to come. Cultures shouldnt be a thing in the
past, culture should be a part of the present and the future. A unique world is what has made
up our world since the beginning of time. Why would we try to fix something that is not causing
a problem?