Iran unveils Surena 2 - a human-shaped robot

I think it has more to do with the fact that global science ans research is published and shared globally in the English language. Just like global trade and diplomacy is also commmunicated in various non-english speaking states utilizing the English language. Our language is well established in a majority of the world now, and is in most instances easier to utilize then attempting to translate between two distinct foreign languages with varied structure, like Mandarin and Hindi for example.

After all Asimo is also printed in English characters and not in the traditional Japanese ones. Whats the politics there?

reply to post by LeaderOfProgress

Has no one wondered why the robots name is written in our alphabet instead of their language?

Hey that's a good point!
I Googled the notion and found this:

Post-election protests continued in Tehran for the fifth day on Wednesday. In many photos, riot police wear uniforms with the English word police on them. Ambulances, too, bear the word ambulance in English. Why not use Persian words instead of their English equivalents?
Because everyone knows English. Like many capital cities, Tehran has its emergency personnel wear markings that are internationally recognizable. Street signs, too, are translated into English, and police cars are generally inscribed in both English and Persian. That makes the city more tourist-friendly without sacrificing clarity for locals. After all, the Persian word for police is the same: polise. (Persian, or Farsi, is an Indo-European language that uses an Arabic script, but people will often use Latin lettering, also known as Penglish or Fingilish, especially when typing or texting.) It's also the same word in French (police), German (polizei), Italian (polizia), Czech (policie), and many other languages. Iranian students are required to take English classes in high school. So using the English word for police actually maximizes the number of people who will understand it.

www.slate.com...

Seems English is widely used over there, and I believe much of it is an attempt of representing willing unity on Iran's part to be part of the Global community?
As far as deceitfulness...who knows.
Peace

[edit on 3-7-2010 by speculativeoptimist]

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Don't you think they use English letters so the Western media doesn't change it and claim Iran wants to "wipe Israel off the map"?

reply to post by LeaderOfProgress

Has no one wondered why the robots name is written in our alphabet instead of their language? If the US built a similar robot they would not use another countries language to name it. This seems like an attempt at very directional propaganda to less villify Iran and it's regime's image that is held by english speaking nations. Gotta love global politics.

Don't know about being written in English, but 'Suren' means "the heroic one, Avestan sūra (strong, exalted).

en.wikipedia.org...

Surena may refer to either a noble family of Parthia also known as the House of Suren, or to a renowned 1st century BCE General Surena who was a member of that family.

From Ammianus Marcellinus (24.2.4) and other historiographers of late antiquity, it appears that 'Surena' was also a title of office. "The highest dignity in the kingdom, next to the Crown, was that of Surena, or 'Field-Marshal', and this position was hereditary in a particular family." 'Surena' is the Greek and Latin form of Sûrên or Sūrēn. 'Surena' remains to be a popular name in Iran. It is also the name of a street in Tehran. As 'Suren', the name remains common in Armenia. 'Suren' means "the heroic one, Avestan sūra (strong, exalted)."

reply to post by LittleSecret

Don't you think they use English letters so the Western media doesn't change it and claim Iran wants to "wipe Israel off the map"?

Could be, I'm not sure, but I would guess the subjective translation decisions between countries at such odds, may be manipulated or misconstrued for certain gains, or as you suggest, to keep one's arse covered.

Respect


[edit on 3-7-2010 by speculativeoptimist]

I'd love to see the Iranian robot in action. It looks well put together. They are definitely going after the Japanese/Honda aesthetic.

Asimo's name comes from science fiction author Isaac Asimov's name. He of course is the author of "I, Robot," along with about 500 other books (I believe he's the world's most prolific author ever, or certainly close to it).

Originally posted by DYepes
After all Asimo is also printed in English characters and not in the traditional Japanese ones. Whats the politics there?

The Japanese do almost everything in both Japanese script and western text now (often in English translation, too). Half the signage in Japan, if not most of it, uses both character sets.