Executive summary
Today marks the start of group presentations, and we had several interesting presentations. The groups which presented were : Sporttech, TEchvention, Animate your world. My group presented as well and we presented on biowarfare. We came up with a skit too and i was pretty nervous at first. The good thing is that I had to wear this funny looking specs and i couldn't really see much from it so that pretty much gave me some form of confidence. Overall i thought that we did quite well for our skit and presentation.
Interesting observations and ideas
I find it interesting and fascinating that sports technology can be used to monitor a athlete during training and this information can then be used to aid the athlete in his or her training sessions. This is really something fascinating as personally I am a sports man and it would be really cool if there was something which can increase the efficiency of my training methods. This will really level the playing field out there and those who have a head start in the sports will no longer be able to dominate in their areas.
Key Takeaways:
Today we had this presentation on 3D technology. They talked about porn in 3D and most of the people in class were quite impressed by it. However to me that wasn't really something new because I heard about it quite sometime back. Looks like i might need to start hanging out with the right group of friends.
Remember the transition from black and white TV to color TV? It took the world by storm back then but now we have advanced beyond that to technologies such as plasma tv, LCD tv , HDTV and blu - ray. What the future holds is going to be much epic as we are about to undergo the transition to 3D TV. TV manufacturers predict that the next big thing is going to be 3D TV. Imagine being able to watch 3D at home on your TV.That is something which i will be looking forward to.
Issues for further discussions :
I feel that we could have talked more about the social aspects regarding to the various technology which we have discussed in class. For example, sporttech was talking about using technology to improve the performance of athletes. However the main issue is the ethical concerns which have arise as a result of this technologies. From the way I see it, technology is going to be dominated by the rich. There will be no way athletes form the poorer countries are able to compete with those from the richer ones. The playing field will be more and more uneven. The ubiquitous nature of technology in the sporting arena will defeat the purpose of sports, which is to bring and unite people together.
Ratings
I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. Today we had quite a number of interesting presentations and they were really quite interesting
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Week 11
Executive summary
Today we talked about the past, the present and the future of energy. We talked about how energy transformed from fossil fuels to the green technology that we are currently using right now. Right now we are looking at a scenario where everyone is focusing on new methods and framework to improve their energy efficiency. Prof also mentioned the following : The days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the green revolution
Interesting observations and ideas
Today there was this presentation about using kites to generate energy. It came as a shock to me that something as simple as a kite could actually be used to generate energy! This presentation is so interesting because it introduced to us a whole new concept of generation of energy from the wind by using kites instead of the conventional wind mails or the high tech wind turbines. However one short fall of this technology is the usage of huge amounts of air space. There is a short fall to any technology and I believe that it is only through proper investment of research and development that will minimize the shortfalls. I feel that this idea has great potential and it needs to be further developed in order for us to benefit fully from it.
Key Takeaways:
Today’s take away message is very simple. We have to constantly seek new ways to ensure that our energy is renewable and that our energy remains clean. The only way for energy to be renewable is that we adopt a cyclical model of energy consumption instead of a linear one. A cyclical model is one which is self sustainable and that we will not be using up the energy source. Examples would be by tapping into natural resources like the sunlight or the wind. Keeping the energy clean entails that we leave the minimal carbon footprint on the planet. Only through a combination of these two factors will we move towards the right direction of energy consumption
Issues for further discussion
I would like prof to talk about renewable energy from the moon! Currently there are on going efforts to install solar panels on to the surface of the moon to harness on the sunlight from the sun.
Personal ratings
I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. It was really an eye opening session for me!
Today we talked about the past, the present and the future of energy. We talked about how energy transformed from fossil fuels to the green technology that we are currently using right now. Right now we are looking at a scenario where everyone is focusing on new methods and framework to improve their energy efficiency. Prof also mentioned the following : The days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the green revolution
Interesting observations and ideas
Today there was this presentation about using kites to generate energy. It came as a shock to me that something as simple as a kite could actually be used to generate energy! This presentation is so interesting because it introduced to us a whole new concept of generation of energy from the wind by using kites instead of the conventional wind mails or the high tech wind turbines. However one short fall of this technology is the usage of huge amounts of air space. There is a short fall to any technology and I believe that it is only through proper investment of research and development that will minimize the shortfalls. I feel that this idea has great potential and it needs to be further developed in order for us to benefit fully from it.
Key Takeaways:
Today’s take away message is very simple. We have to constantly seek new ways to ensure that our energy is renewable and that our energy remains clean. The only way for energy to be renewable is that we adopt a cyclical model of energy consumption instead of a linear one. A cyclical model is one which is self sustainable and that we will not be using up the energy source. Examples would be by tapping into natural resources like the sunlight or the wind. Keeping the energy clean entails that we leave the minimal carbon footprint on the planet. Only through a combination of these two factors will we move towards the right direction of energy consumption
Issues for further discussion
I would like prof to talk about renewable energy from the moon! Currently there are on going efforts to install solar panels on to the surface of the moon to harness on the sunlight from the sun.
Personal ratings
I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. It was really an eye opening session for me!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Week 10 Emerging technologies
Executive summary
Today prof started with the quote “When we are able to grow the resources which we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability” – Gurinder. This session focuses on biotech corps and its numerous benefits such as feeding ore people using less land and leaving behind lesser carbon footprint. This is in tandem with the concept of a shift away from a linear modal of food production to one that is cyclical.
Interesting observations and ideas
The most interesting observation about today was Siemens Ecar. What is so interesting about the Ecar is that it functions solely on electricity and not on petrol or diesel. To me, the total electrification of the car will make enable us to make headway in two of our most important ventures in today’s time, namely gains on energy conservation and the expansion of the electrical and electronics industry.
Our car-based society is one which is highly inefficient. Due to the high emphasis on sole ownership of cars, cars are utilized less than 4% of their useful lifetime! This means that precious resources such as landscape is being wasted when the car is parked. Cars also consume large amounts of energy and it accounts for up to 40% of Americas total energy output! They are one of the major cause of air pollution and environmental degradation.
With these Ecars, the electrical and electronics industry will also have a massive upheaval. There will be increased jobs and greater RnD into the electrical and electronics sector. This will lead to greater conservation of natural resources as electrical energy do not depend on natural resources. Air pollution and the extent of environmental degradation will also be massively reduced!
Key Takeaways:
In one of the readings : Reading 4, the author talked about augmented reality. Augmentd reality is currently still underdeveloped and its full potential are still not able to be conceived at this point of time due to the lack of research and investment in it. However the reality is that the potential of augmented reality is one of Hollywood proportions. With just a small computer that one can carry on his or her body, the computer is able to recognize the environment that the user is in, analyse the data and finally transmit the most meaningful and useful data to the user.
This gives the user a more wholesome experience of the environment. Why do I say so. Remember when you were young, you were so curious about the environment and sometimes your parents were not able to provide you with a satisfactory answer to your inquisitive question about the environment. With this devise, one would be able to learn more and know more about the environment and things around them. This technology is applicable to people of any age group, be it teenager, adults or the elderly people. With this, education knows no boundaries as it can happen anytime and anywhere and we can finally say that learning never stops.
Ratings
I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. Today we had quite a number of interesting presentations and they were really quit interesting
Today prof started with the quote “When we are able to grow the resources which we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability” – Gurinder. This session focuses on biotech corps and its numerous benefits such as feeding ore people using less land and leaving behind lesser carbon footprint. This is in tandem with the concept of a shift away from a linear modal of food production to one that is cyclical.
Interesting observations and ideas
The most interesting observation about today was Siemens Ecar. What is so interesting about the Ecar is that it functions solely on electricity and not on petrol or diesel. To me, the total electrification of the car will make enable us to make headway in two of our most important ventures in today’s time, namely gains on energy conservation and the expansion of the electrical and electronics industry.
Our car-based society is one which is highly inefficient. Due to the high emphasis on sole ownership of cars, cars are utilized less than 4% of their useful lifetime! This means that precious resources such as landscape is being wasted when the car is parked. Cars also consume large amounts of energy and it accounts for up to 40% of Americas total energy output! They are one of the major cause of air pollution and environmental degradation.
With these Ecars, the electrical and electronics industry will also have a massive upheaval. There will be increased jobs and greater RnD into the electrical and electronics sector. This will lead to greater conservation of natural resources as electrical energy do not depend on natural resources. Air pollution and the extent of environmental degradation will also be massively reduced!
Key Takeaways:
In one of the readings : Reading 4, the author talked about augmented reality. Augmentd reality is currently still underdeveloped and its full potential are still not able to be conceived at this point of time due to the lack of research and investment in it. However the reality is that the potential of augmented reality is one of Hollywood proportions. With just a small computer that one can carry on his or her body, the computer is able to recognize the environment that the user is in, analyse the data and finally transmit the most meaningful and useful data to the user.
This gives the user a more wholesome experience of the environment. Why do I say so. Remember when you were young, you were so curious about the environment and sometimes your parents were not able to provide you with a satisfactory answer to your inquisitive question about the environment. With this devise, one would be able to learn more and know more about the environment and things around them. This technology is applicable to people of any age group, be it teenager, adults or the elderly people. With this, education knows no boundaries as it can happen anytime and anywhere and we can finally say that learning never stops.
Ratings
I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. Today we had quite a number of interesting presentations and they were really quit interesting
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Session 8 : Past present and future of energy and world change
Executive summary
Today we talked about the past, the present and the future of energy. We talked about how energy transformed from fossil fuels to the green technology that we are currently using right now. Right now we are looking at a scenario where everyone is focusing on new methods and framework to improve their energy efficiency. Prof also mentioned the following : The days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the green revolution
Interesting observations and ideas
Today there was this presentation about using kites to generate energy. It came as a shock to me that something as simple as a kite could actually be used to generate energy! This presentation is so interesting because it introduced to us a whole new concept of generation of energy from the wind by using kites instead of the conventional wind mails or the high tech wind turbines. However one short fall of this technology is the usage of huge amounts of air space. There is a short fall to any technology and I believe that it is only through proper investment of research and development that will minimize the shortfalls. I feel that this idea has great potential and it needs to be further developed in order for us to benefit fully from it.
Key Takeaways:
Today’s take away message is very simple. We have to constantly seek new ways to ensure that our energy is renewable and that our energy remains clean. The only way for energy to be renewable is that we adopt a cyclical model of energy consumption instead of a linear one. A cyclical model is one which is self sustainable and that we will not be using up the energy source. Examples would be by tapping into natural resources like the sunlight or the wind. Keeping the energy clean entails that we leave the minimal carbon footprint on the planet. Only through a combination of these two factors will we move towards the right direction of energy consumption
Issues for further discussion
I would like prof to talk about renewable energy from the moon! Currently there are on going efforts to install solar panels on to the surface of the moon to harness on the sunlight from the sun.
Personal ratings
I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. It was really an eye opening session for me!
Today we talked about the past, the present and the future of energy. We talked about how energy transformed from fossil fuels to the green technology that we are currently using right now. Right now we are looking at a scenario where everyone is focusing on new methods and framework to improve their energy efficiency. Prof also mentioned the following : The days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the green revolution
Interesting observations and ideas
Today there was this presentation about using kites to generate energy. It came as a shock to me that something as simple as a kite could actually be used to generate energy! This presentation is so interesting because it introduced to us a whole new concept of generation of energy from the wind by using kites instead of the conventional wind mails or the high tech wind turbines. However one short fall of this technology is the usage of huge amounts of air space. There is a short fall to any technology and I believe that it is only through proper investment of research and development that will minimize the shortfalls. I feel that this idea has great potential and it needs to be further developed in order for us to benefit fully from it.
Key Takeaways:
Today’s take away message is very simple. We have to constantly seek new ways to ensure that our energy is renewable and that our energy remains clean. The only way for energy to be renewable is that we adopt a cyclical model of energy consumption instead of a linear one. A cyclical model is one which is self sustainable and that we will not be using up the energy source. Examples would be by tapping into natural resources like the sunlight or the wind. Keeping the energy clean entails that we leave the minimal carbon footprint on the planet. Only through a combination of these two factors will we move towards the right direction of energy consumption
Issues for further discussion
I would like prof to talk about renewable energy from the moon! Currently there are on going efforts to install solar panels on to the surface of the moon to harness on the sunlight from the sun.
Personal ratings
I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. It was really an eye opening session for me!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Week 7
Executive summary
Today prof started with the quote “When we are able to grow the resources which we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability” – Gurinder. This session focuses on biotech corps and its numerous benefits such as feeding ore people using less land and leaving behind lesser carbon footprint. This is in tandem with the concept of a shift away from a linear modal of food production to one that is cyclical.
Interesting observations and ideas
Never have it occurred to me that there will be such a need to ensure the security and stability of food as it is something which I use to wrongly perceive as to be inexhaustible. In fact, in this current times of environmental degradation and overpopulation, more emphasis have to be placed on ensuring that the process of creating food is sustainable enough for the environment to feed the growing demands of the population.
The current level of pervasiveness of genetically modified food particularly takes me aback. It is shown in class that GM food is everywhere. Why do I say so? Take MacDonald for example, all the food on that tray, the fries, the chili, the burger, the nuggets and even the drinks possess some degree of genetic modifications in their make up. This makes it especially difficult for those who are against eating Genetically Modified food as it is practically everywhere. The labeling of the food is not a viable solution and is also one that is not being implemented at the present. This is an example of one negative aspect of GM food which needs to be addressed before it blows out of proportion.
Key Takeaways:
Today we talked about rural overcrowding. We are becoming increasingly urbanized and the last century has seen huge amounts of people shifting to llive in urban environments. This creates more pressure on the urban environment as now there are more competition for jobs, and more competition for space. The management of rural overcrowding is especially important as it serves as a hurdle towards the MDG of alleviating poverty in developing countries.
In one of the readings: Ending World Hunger. The Promise of Biotechnology and the Threat of Antiscience Zealotry
The Authour Norman E. Borlaug who is a nobel prize laureate for peace in 1970, strong believes that the biotechnology is the only way to move towards a future of sustainability in terms of food supplies. He believes that biotechnology is currently making headways in many commercial farmers and that it will be the next driving force in the agricultural industry.
However I have some opinions about this rosy scenario. For one, making transgenic corps increase the vulnerability of the corps due to the polarity of their genetic make up. They are more susceptible to a single plague wiping out the entire batch of transgenic corps or maybe even by bio-terrorists who can make use of special bio agents to target these plants.
Secondly, he has also failed to take into considerations the ethical concerns, which might invariably lead, to a backlash or maybe to the scenario of agricultural bio terrorism. The benefits reaped form Transgenic corps tends to also skew towards those who farmers who are educated or wealthy enough to adopt such a practice in their business models. The traditional farmers who do not have the capabilities will end up in a state, which is worse of then what they are in now.
Issues for further discussion
I would like prof to talk more about the comparison of the degeree of modification which nature’s has done in the case of nature plague’s to the degree of modification of man initiated process such as genetic engineering. It would have really been interesting to hear prof break down the whole comparison, especially so when prof is someone who has extensive knowledge on medical sciences.
Personal ratings
I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. Some of the points covered in lesson were really relevant and interesting, especially the one when prof mentioned that genetic engineering is noting compared to the plagues in which nature has created as well as the farmer and the farmist!
Today prof started with the quote “When we are able to grow the resources which we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability” – Gurinder. This session focuses on biotech corps and its numerous benefits such as feeding ore people using less land and leaving behind lesser carbon footprint. This is in tandem with the concept of a shift away from a linear modal of food production to one that is cyclical.
Interesting observations and ideas
Never have it occurred to me that there will be such a need to ensure the security and stability of food as it is something which I use to wrongly perceive as to be inexhaustible. In fact, in this current times of environmental degradation and overpopulation, more emphasis have to be placed on ensuring that the process of creating food is sustainable enough for the environment to feed the growing demands of the population.
The current level of pervasiveness of genetically modified food particularly takes me aback. It is shown in class that GM food is everywhere. Why do I say so? Take MacDonald for example, all the food on that tray, the fries, the chili, the burger, the nuggets and even the drinks possess some degree of genetic modifications in their make up. This makes it especially difficult for those who are against eating Genetically Modified food as it is practically everywhere. The labeling of the food is not a viable solution and is also one that is not being implemented at the present. This is an example of one negative aspect of GM food which needs to be addressed before it blows out of proportion.
Key Takeaways:
Today we talked about rural overcrowding. We are becoming increasingly urbanized and the last century has seen huge amounts of people shifting to llive in urban environments. This creates more pressure on the urban environment as now there are more competition for jobs, and more competition for space. The management of rural overcrowding is especially important as it serves as a hurdle towards the MDG of alleviating poverty in developing countries.
In one of the readings: Ending World Hunger. The Promise of Biotechnology and the Threat of Antiscience Zealotry
The Authour Norman E. Borlaug who is a nobel prize laureate for peace in 1970, strong believes that the biotechnology is the only way to move towards a future of sustainability in terms of food supplies. He believes that biotechnology is currently making headways in many commercial farmers and that it will be the next driving force in the agricultural industry.
However I have some opinions about this rosy scenario. For one, making transgenic corps increase the vulnerability of the corps due to the polarity of their genetic make up. They are more susceptible to a single plague wiping out the entire batch of transgenic corps or maybe even by bio-terrorists who can make use of special bio agents to target these plants.
Secondly, he has also failed to take into considerations the ethical concerns, which might invariably lead, to a backlash or maybe to the scenario of agricultural bio terrorism. The benefits reaped form Transgenic corps tends to also skew towards those who farmers who are educated or wealthy enough to adopt such a practice in their business models. The traditional farmers who do not have the capabilities will end up in a state, which is worse of then what they are in now.
Issues for further discussion
I would like prof to talk more about the comparison of the degeree of modification which nature’s has done in the case of nature plague’s to the degree of modification of man initiated process such as genetic engineering. It would have really been interesting to hear prof break down the whole comparison, especially so when prof is someone who has extensive knowledge on medical sciences.
Personal ratings
I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. Some of the points covered in lesson were really relevant and interesting, especially the one when prof mentioned that genetic engineering is noting compared to the plagues in which nature has created as well as the farmer and the farmist!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
TWC session 6!
Executive summary
Today we talked about the revolution of Bio Business in both Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences. Basically, bio business is a commercial activity that depends on the understanding of life and life processes. Bio business currently constitutes over 25% of global GDP and employs 40% of the world’s labor force.
Interesting observations and ideas
Prior to this lesson, bio business to me refers to traditional healthcare methods that involve the using of natural plant products to synthesis medicine such as those Chinese herbs that you can obtain from any of those Chinese herbal medicine shops. In fact, bio business includes a wide range of other things such as pharmaceuticals, food biotechnology, waste management etc.
Today someone gave a presentation on the human genome project, and subsequently asked the class if the proliferation of future genome projects is beneficial to the human race. During the course of her presentation, she mentioned that it is now possible to come out with designer babies – something which was strongly opposed to last time as it strongly violates the moral standards of the highly conservative societies of the past. Nowadays, it is acceptable to do so and couples are even able to pre select the gender of their children. Very often this raises questions as to whether humans are playing god. Yet, it is so pervasive in today’s society that people in general are aligning their paradigm to see it as the norm.
Key Takeaways
I find it quite interesting when prof mentioned that Bio business constitutes over 25% of global GDP and employs some 40% of the world’s labor force. This means that 1.6% of the world’s labor force is needed to generate every 1% of global GDP that is being contributed by BioBusiness. Evidently, BioBusiness is quite labor intensive and is not very effective in generating income per human capital.
Another thing I would like to point is that by the definition of BioBusiness, it is very broad in a sense that it includes almost anything that has got to do with the understanding of human life and life processes. This seems to be over generalization to me and this might lead to the above-mentioned figures being skewed towards ones that encompass industries other than biobusiness.
In one of the readings: Bio Business in Asia, Health care , we are seeing an increase in the expenditure of health care in Asia. Spending in healthcare is now projected to exceed UDS $250 billion. This inflation of spending comes at a time when the commercial potential of healthcare provision and management is being increasingly recognized, in the face of influenza such as SARS that has affected many countries in Asia to a large extent. This calls for more proactive action in the realm of healthcare services and hence more money being pumped into research and development for the prevention of similar influenzas.
In addition to those abovementioned factors, new insights and knowledge of the previously unknow realm of genomic simply implies that the traditional pre-genoomic drug development process is being shortened. Success rates of drug development has also increased as it is now possible to accurately design drugs with increased knowledge of the human genomic.
Another interesting trend to note is that pharmaceutical and biotech players are starting to outsource their non-core aspects of their operations so that they can focus on building their core value proposition. The outsourcing market is currently being dominated by big pharma players as its biggest spenders and customers – spending some #35 billion on outsourced R&D alone in 2001.
Issues for further discussion
I would like prof to actually talk about the negative aspects of sequencing the human genome, particularly, the threat of bio terrorism. With increasingly international efforts to clamp down on the development of conventional weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear bombs, the attractiveness of unconventional weapons of mass destruction has only increased for terrorists. What was once a “poor man’s atomic bomb” is increasingly becoming more viable for terrorists to achieve their agendas on a global scale.
Personal ratings
I would rate today’s session as 7.5 out of 10. Today’s session was rather interesting and focused on bio business, and we also had more time for the presentations, which I find very interesting.
Today we talked about the revolution of Bio Business in both Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences. Basically, bio business is a commercial activity that depends on the understanding of life and life processes. Bio business currently constitutes over 25% of global GDP and employs 40% of the world’s labor force.
Interesting observations and ideas
Prior to this lesson, bio business to me refers to traditional healthcare methods that involve the using of natural plant products to synthesis medicine such as those Chinese herbs that you can obtain from any of those Chinese herbal medicine shops. In fact, bio business includes a wide range of other things such as pharmaceuticals, food biotechnology, waste management etc.
Today someone gave a presentation on the human genome project, and subsequently asked the class if the proliferation of future genome projects is beneficial to the human race. During the course of her presentation, she mentioned that it is now possible to come out with designer babies – something which was strongly opposed to last time as it strongly violates the moral standards of the highly conservative societies of the past. Nowadays, it is acceptable to do so and couples are even able to pre select the gender of their children. Very often this raises questions as to whether humans are playing god. Yet, it is so pervasive in today’s society that people in general are aligning their paradigm to see it as the norm.
Key Takeaways
I find it quite interesting when prof mentioned that Bio business constitutes over 25% of global GDP and employs some 40% of the world’s labor force. This means that 1.6% of the world’s labor force is needed to generate every 1% of global GDP that is being contributed by BioBusiness. Evidently, BioBusiness is quite labor intensive and is not very effective in generating income per human capital.
Another thing I would like to point is that by the definition of BioBusiness, it is very broad in a sense that it includes almost anything that has got to do with the understanding of human life and life processes. This seems to be over generalization to me and this might lead to the above-mentioned figures being skewed towards ones that encompass industries other than biobusiness.
In one of the readings: Bio Business in Asia, Health care , we are seeing an increase in the expenditure of health care in Asia. Spending in healthcare is now projected to exceed UDS $250 billion. This inflation of spending comes at a time when the commercial potential of healthcare provision and management is being increasingly recognized, in the face of influenza such as SARS that has affected many countries in Asia to a large extent. This calls for more proactive action in the realm of healthcare services and hence more money being pumped into research and development for the prevention of similar influenzas.
In addition to those abovementioned factors, new insights and knowledge of the previously unknow realm of genomic simply implies that the traditional pre-genoomic drug development process is being shortened. Success rates of drug development has also increased as it is now possible to accurately design drugs with increased knowledge of the human genomic.
Another interesting trend to note is that pharmaceutical and biotech players are starting to outsource their non-core aspects of their operations so that they can focus on building their core value proposition. The outsourcing market is currently being dominated by big pharma players as its biggest spenders and customers – spending some #35 billion on outsourced R&D alone in 2001.
Issues for further discussion
I would like prof to actually talk about the negative aspects of sequencing the human genome, particularly, the threat of bio terrorism. With increasingly international efforts to clamp down on the development of conventional weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear bombs, the attractiveness of unconventional weapons of mass destruction has only increased for terrorists. What was once a “poor man’s atomic bomb” is increasingly becoming more viable for terrorists to achieve their agendas on a global scale.
Personal ratings
I would rate today’s session as 7.5 out of 10. Today’s session was rather interesting and focused on bio business, and we also had more time for the presentations, which I find very interesting.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Information and communication technologies (ICT) and its implications
Today we talked about ICT and world change. ICT is the catalyst that facilitates the knowledge revolution. Because of ICT, we are in a situation now where we see ourselves very differently, The concept of self is very different also. The revoluion of how we see oursleve is a result of this knowledge revolution that has affected areas such as mass media, internet, gaming, wireless technlogies, interactive telecoms, interactive systems and knowledge management.
Today I will blog about the positive and negative impacts of ICT.
What I found interesting and most relevant about today’s lesson is ICT and knowledge management. Today we live in knowledge based society, whereby knowledge is key to survival and progress. There is simply too much knowledge out there with all the bits and bytes of data, one of the key challenge is to make sense of all that noise and when you do that, it becomes information. When you apply this information it becomes knowledge and when you contemplate it and interpret it, it gives you higher level of knowledge which is wisdom. The ability to sieve out the right information is getting increasingly important, this holds particularly true in the age of the internet, due to its open source nature. We have reached a point where by knowledge management is critical to where we want to go as a society.
In Singapore one of the factors behind our success story is strong government support for ICT. This includes the elaboration of a number of plans for developing an intelligent island, backed by concrete island The house hold internet penetration rate is also one of the highest in the world.
The contribution of ICT to the service industry is no less significant. ICT is one of the major success factor at the present time, this holds particular true in the case of the service firm, due to their fundamental characteristic of interactivity and intensity of information, which are highly compatible with this technology. The presence of ICT is correlated to higher growth in productivity and profitability experienced by firms in the service industries.
However, the contribution of ICT to the management of waste is a double edged sword. On one hand, it will improve the structure of waste management by providing intelligent systems for recycling. However on the other hand, ICT is just like any other technologies and it produces waste. ICT will significantly add on to non-recyclable waste if no measures are found to limit the growth of waste. Hence incentives should be given to manufactures of ICT to come up with ICT products that have longer life spans.
ICT has brought about a level of inequity known as the digital divide. This divide refers to the gap between people who are able to access digital and information technology and those no or limited access at all. Instead of leveling the playing field, it has tipped it in such a way that it only benefits those who have the right amount of education and the right amount of assets.
In many parts of the world, ICT has helped to alleviate poverty by creating a higher level of awareness for people living in impoverished conditions. For example, in Filiphines, over $7,000 raised for opportunity international’s micro finance programs for filipono women in poverty, plus a $10,000 pledge using social media. Elsewhere in the world, a collaborative effort by more than 100 bloggers from nine countries, resulted in the production of the book titled “The Age of Conversation” which raised nearly $15,000 for Variety, the international childern’s charity. All these charity drives did not manifest from the efforts of a single group in a single place, but rather different individuals from different parts of the world. It is only through ICT, which has given socially responsible individuals, a common platform to band together to make a difference to the world. ICT has made it easier to win hearts and minds and to save lives. As long as we are all passionate about our world in our hearts, we all have the tools to make a difference.
Today I will blog about the positive and negative impacts of ICT.
What I found interesting and most relevant about today’s lesson is ICT and knowledge management. Today we live in knowledge based society, whereby knowledge is key to survival and progress. There is simply too much knowledge out there with all the bits and bytes of data, one of the key challenge is to make sense of all that noise and when you do that, it becomes information. When you apply this information it becomes knowledge and when you contemplate it and interpret it, it gives you higher level of knowledge which is wisdom. The ability to sieve out the right information is getting increasingly important, this holds particularly true in the age of the internet, due to its open source nature. We have reached a point where by knowledge management is critical to where we want to go as a society.
In Singapore one of the factors behind our success story is strong government support for ICT. This includes the elaboration of a number of plans for developing an intelligent island, backed by concrete island The house hold internet penetration rate is also one of the highest in the world.
The contribution of ICT to the service industry is no less significant. ICT is one of the major success factor at the present time, this holds particular true in the case of the service firm, due to their fundamental characteristic of interactivity and intensity of information, which are highly compatible with this technology. The presence of ICT is correlated to higher growth in productivity and profitability experienced by firms in the service industries.
However, the contribution of ICT to the management of waste is a double edged sword. On one hand, it will improve the structure of waste management by providing intelligent systems for recycling. However on the other hand, ICT is just like any other technologies and it produces waste. ICT will significantly add on to non-recyclable waste if no measures are found to limit the growth of waste. Hence incentives should be given to manufactures of ICT to come up with ICT products that have longer life spans.
ICT has brought about a level of inequity known as the digital divide. This divide refers to the gap between people who are able to access digital and information technology and those no or limited access at all. Instead of leveling the playing field, it has tipped it in such a way that it only benefits those who have the right amount of education and the right amount of assets.
In many parts of the world, ICT has helped to alleviate poverty by creating a higher level of awareness for people living in impoverished conditions. For example, in Filiphines, over $7,000 raised for opportunity international’s micro finance programs for filipono women in poverty, plus a $10,000 pledge using social media. Elsewhere in the world, a collaborative effort by more than 100 bloggers from nine countries, resulted in the production of the book titled “The Age of Conversation” which raised nearly $15,000 for Variety, the international childern’s charity. All these charity drives did not manifest from the efforts of a single group in a single place, but rather different individuals from different parts of the world. It is only through ICT, which has given socially responsible individuals, a common platform to band together to make a difference to the world. ICT has made it easier to win hearts and minds and to save lives. As long as we are all passionate about our world in our hearts, we all have the tools to make a difference.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
TWC session 4!!
Drivers of world change and change management and leadership
Today we talked about world change and change management and leadership. Drivers of world change included environmental factors, competition, and scientific discovery. In part 2 of the lesson we talked about change management and change leadership. During that session we explored Today we talked about world change and change management and leadership
There are three ways to cope with change: Make it happen, responds when it happens and be surprised when it happens. We all know the drill: Change is constant. To remain relevant in today’s ever changing society one has to constantly seek to adapt to the surrounding. Companies who stick to old business models remain uncompetitive and forgotten over time. Governments who remain governing their country with decade-old methods remain stagnant and excluded from the growing economy. A fine example would be china who has effectively opened up its society to cultural and economic exchange. This has allowed them to be one of the world’s biggest power house at present. Even in Singapore, who long regarded Chinese as secondary and English as the preferred one has jumped onto the bandwagon of learning Chinese so as to assimilate into China’s growing economy. As Darwin puts it, It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. In today’s context change is the only constant and it is only the ones who are the most adaptive that will remain relevant and non-obsolete.
In the article Herding Cats, I learned that Change is the only constant and that to align the trinity of people, processes and technology to strategy is the key to success But everyone also knows human behavior is complex. Organizations don’t adapt to changes; their people do. Very often, management invest resources to stream line their modus operandi or to come out with new procedures for the company. They tend to overlook the human aspects involved. And as what prof said technology is easy, people are hard, it is only through targeting the human factor that will produce effective results. Basically this article explores the ways to effectively bring about change given the vagaries of the human behavior.
What is leadership and change management? To me these are the basic ingredients for any business, organization or country to attain wealth and progress in today’s exponential times. Yet having these ingredients might not be the answer to sustainability. To me sustainable wealth and progress boils down to having effective leadership and management. However in today’s society where integration and globalization is key, the line separation these two are getting blurred. How do you differentiate a leader from a manager? I read this somewhere when I was serving the army and would like to share it with everyone. Lets say that there is a group of soldiers who got lost in the forest, the leader will be the one who climbs up the highest tree, survey the surrounding and points out the right direction to the team. A manager is someone who will be focusing on how to ration the food, the water and the duty rooster for sentries. Basically, he is the one who take charge of the day-to-day operation and figures out the most effective way to accomplish what the leader wants.
This applies for technology as well. Without effective change management and leadership, technology will be headed in the wrong direction. Effective management comes in the form of education. This will allow for more people to assimilate and contribute to our technology-based society. Knowledge however has to go hand in hand with ethics. Knowledge without ethics coupled with the destructive nature humans is a potential pitfall for societies and human kind. It is hence important for educators to inculcate the right ethical values to the next generation of technology users. Leadership to me comes in the form of efficient and sound minded governments, who are dedicated to improving technology in a constructive way. Governments possess the assets and political power to spearhead technology in the direction. It is only through effective leadership and effective management that will allow us to see technology develop into a driver of beneficial world change.
We also talked about the technology adoption lifecycle which is made up of innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. There are cracks between each phase of the cycle, representing a disassociation between any two groups. The largest crack, the ‘chasm’, is between the Early Adopters and the Early Majority I find it very useful as it is applicable to almost any new technology. For example for facebook, I would rank it at the peak as it is between the early majority Pragmatists and late majority conservatives. Facebook has definitely crossed the chasm, which in this case is global attention.
I rate today’s session as 7.5 out of 10. Topics were quite interesting, as well as the individual presentations! Im quite intrigued by the technology adoption lifecycle and Im wondering if I can change my individual tropical paper to one that is regarding it.
Today we talked about world change and change management and leadership. Drivers of world change included environmental factors, competition, and scientific discovery. In part 2 of the lesson we talked about change management and change leadership. During that session we explored Today we talked about world change and change management and leadership
There are three ways to cope with change: Make it happen, responds when it happens and be surprised when it happens. We all know the drill: Change is constant. To remain relevant in today’s ever changing society one has to constantly seek to adapt to the surrounding. Companies who stick to old business models remain uncompetitive and forgotten over time. Governments who remain governing their country with decade-old methods remain stagnant and excluded from the growing economy. A fine example would be china who has effectively opened up its society to cultural and economic exchange. This has allowed them to be one of the world’s biggest power house at present. Even in Singapore, who long regarded Chinese as secondary and English as the preferred one has jumped onto the bandwagon of learning Chinese so as to assimilate into China’s growing economy. As Darwin puts it, It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. In today’s context change is the only constant and it is only the ones who are the most adaptive that will remain relevant and non-obsolete.
In the article Herding Cats, I learned that Change is the only constant and that to align the trinity of people, processes and technology to strategy is the key to success But everyone also knows human behavior is complex. Organizations don’t adapt to changes; their people do. Very often, management invest resources to stream line their modus operandi or to come out with new procedures for the company. They tend to overlook the human aspects involved. And as what prof said technology is easy, people are hard, it is only through targeting the human factor that will produce effective results. Basically this article explores the ways to effectively bring about change given the vagaries of the human behavior.
What is leadership and change management? To me these are the basic ingredients for any business, organization or country to attain wealth and progress in today’s exponential times. Yet having these ingredients might not be the answer to sustainability. To me sustainable wealth and progress boils down to having effective leadership and management. However in today’s society where integration and globalization is key, the line separation these two are getting blurred. How do you differentiate a leader from a manager? I read this somewhere when I was serving the army and would like to share it with everyone. Lets say that there is a group of soldiers who got lost in the forest, the leader will be the one who climbs up the highest tree, survey the surrounding and points out the right direction to the team. A manager is someone who will be focusing on how to ration the food, the water and the duty rooster for sentries. Basically, he is the one who take charge of the day-to-day operation and figures out the most effective way to accomplish what the leader wants.
This applies for technology as well. Without effective change management and leadership, technology will be headed in the wrong direction. Effective management comes in the form of education. This will allow for more people to assimilate and contribute to our technology-based society. Knowledge however has to go hand in hand with ethics. Knowledge without ethics coupled with the destructive nature humans is a potential pitfall for societies and human kind. It is hence important for educators to inculcate the right ethical values to the next generation of technology users. Leadership to me comes in the form of efficient and sound minded governments, who are dedicated to improving technology in a constructive way. Governments possess the assets and political power to spearhead technology in the direction. It is only through effective leadership and effective management that will allow us to see technology develop into a driver of beneficial world change.
We also talked about the technology adoption lifecycle which is made up of innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. There are cracks between each phase of the cycle, representing a disassociation between any two groups. The largest crack, the ‘chasm’, is between the Early Adopters and the Early Majority I find it very useful as it is applicable to almost any new technology. For example for facebook, I would rank it at the peak as it is between the early majority Pragmatists and late majority conservatives. Facebook has definitely crossed the chasm, which in this case is global attention.
I rate today’s session as 7.5 out of 10. Topics were quite interesting, as well as the individual presentations! Im quite intrigued by the technology adoption lifecycle and Im wondering if I can change my individual tropical paper to one that is regarding it.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Session 3 of TWC!
Finally its week 3! Time passes so fast when you are in school. I am already having difficulty having a work life balance. My friends are complaining that I am not meeting them enough and my parents are complaining as well... I just hope that they will be a bit more understanding as this is only the start of the arduous 15 weeks !
Today we talked about technology and industrial development, with a focus on moving towards sustainability as well as the Wrong headed linear model in the approach of industrialization. Had quite a few interesting presentations about nuclear power and such. In fact there were 2 presentations on nuclear power. In part 2, we talked about Technology and innovation management, a process where an opportunity can be either a cloud, peak or valley.
Industrialization is key to the substantial wealth of many countries. I feel that industrialization is a by-product of a stable government, strategic location, heavy foreign investments and organized societies. With the right formula a very fast paced industrialization took place. For example, the Countries of the Asian Tigers moved from the manufacturing of value added goods in the 1950s and 60s into the more advanced steel, shipbuilding and automobile industry in the 1970s and 80s, focusing on the high-tech and service industry in the 1990s and 2000s. However it was only after the colonization that many countries take up industrialization. On the surface level, it may seem that these countries are on the losing end as they started out late. This is usually the case in society, for example if you start out late in a business venture the market will be too saturated, resulting in lesser opportunities and profits. This however is not the case for countries that started off late for industrialization They were able to latch on to the general model of industrialization and they do not need to invest as much in RND as their predecessors have already done so. It seems like the slower you enter the market the faster your growth cure will be. From that point onwards, there was no turning back.
The liner model was the model of business, which generated much wealth for the past centuries in countries throughout the world during the industrialization period is just like a double edge sword. It has spawned its own problems such as the widespread environmental degradation we are facing today as well as increasing the level of inequity in third world countries. Hence in today's context, we are inclined towards the cyclical model of development which will cater to not only today's needs but the future's needs as well.
Talking about sustainable technologies, Prof stated that currently there are developments, which are underway for solar panels to be situated at some of the biggest yet unused places on earth - desserts.
I have to agree to this. Desserts receive sunlight more than twice the amount received elsewhere on earth. This abundance of solar energy makes solar power plants an attractive alternative to traditional power plant. The possibilities are unlimited.
In the same way, Shimizu, a construction company from Japan is currently planning to build a strip of solar cell on the surface of the moon. The strip of solar cell measuring up to 11,000-kilometer, will cover the entire equator of the moon. As ambitious and far-fetched as it seems, the plans are currently on the drawing board. The cost to undertake such a gargantuan project may prove to be daunting to some but the benefits that can be reaped out of the project is too tempting to be resisted. To name a few, there is no atmosphere on the Moon and hence there will be no bad weather or clouds to obscure the sunlight. As such, the solar panels will be able to provide the earth with 24/7 of continuous clean energy. This will potentially end our reliance on non-renewable resources.
Should the development of controversial energy sources such as nuclear power be allowed? To be very objective, nuclear power is definitely a fresh young can do face of the future due to its numerous benefits. The only reason why society at large is referring to it as a tired old ticking time bomb of the past is because of the insecurities they have about people abusing nuclear power as well as its inherent hazards. So if society is able to look beyond the negative experiences of the past and embrace the benefits and efficiency of nuclear power, human race might just be looking at the answer to earth’s depleting resources. Indeed technology is easy while people are hard.
All in all i rate today's session as 8/10 as we had a lot of discussions which were very up to date and relevant to today's society
Finally its week 3! Time passes so fast when you are in school. I am already having difficulty having a work life balance. My friends are complaining that I am not meeting them enough and my parents are complaining as well... I just hope that they will be a bit more understanding as this is only the start of the arduous 15 weeks !
Today we talked about technology and industrial development, with a focus on moving towards sustainability as well as the Wrong headed linear model in the approach of industrialization. Had quite a few interesting presentations about nuclear power and such. In fact there were 2 presentations on nuclear power. In part 2, we talked about Technology and innovation management, a process where an opportunity can be either a cloud, peak or valley.
Industrialization is key to the substantial wealth of many countries. I feel that industrialization is a by-product of a stable government, strategic location, heavy foreign investments and organized societies. With the right formula a very fast paced industrialization took place. For example, the Countries of the Asian Tigers moved from the manufacturing of value added goods in the 1950s and 60s into the more advanced steel, shipbuilding and automobile industry in the 1970s and 80s, focusing on the high-tech and service industry in the 1990s and 2000s. However it was only after the colonization that many countries take up industrialization. On the surface level, it may seem that these countries are on the losing end as they started out late. This is usually the case in society, for example if you start out late in a business venture the market will be too saturated, resulting in lesser opportunities and profits. This however is not the case for countries that started off late for industrialization They were able to latch on to the general model of industrialization and they do not need to invest as much in RND as their predecessors have already done so. It seems like the slower you enter the market the faster your growth cure will be. From that point onwards, there was no turning back.
The liner model was the model of business, which generated much wealth for the past centuries in countries throughout the world during the industrialization period is just like a double edge sword. It has spawned its own problems such as the widespread environmental degradation we are facing today as well as increasing the level of inequity in third world countries. Hence in today's context, we are inclined towards the cyclical model of development which will cater to not only today's needs but the future's needs as well.
Talking about sustainable technologies, Prof stated that currently there are developments, which are underway for solar panels to be situated at some of the biggest yet unused places on earth - desserts.
I have to agree to this. Desserts receive sunlight more than twice the amount received elsewhere on earth. This abundance of solar energy makes solar power plants an attractive alternative to traditional power plant. The possibilities are unlimited.
In the same way, Shimizu, a construction company from Japan is currently planning to build a strip of solar cell on the surface of the moon. The strip of solar cell measuring up to 11,000-kilometer, will cover the entire equator of the moon. As ambitious and far-fetched as it seems, the plans are currently on the drawing board. The cost to undertake such a gargantuan project may prove to be daunting to some but the benefits that can be reaped out of the project is too tempting to be resisted. To name a few, there is no atmosphere on the Moon and hence there will be no bad weather or clouds to obscure the sunlight. As such, the solar panels will be able to provide the earth with 24/7 of continuous clean energy. This will potentially end our reliance on non-renewable resources.
Should the development of controversial energy sources such as nuclear power be allowed? To be very objective, nuclear power is definitely a fresh young can do face of the future due to its numerous benefits. The only reason why society at large is referring to it as a tired old ticking time bomb of the past is because of the insecurities they have about people abusing nuclear power as well as its inherent hazards. So if society is able to look beyond the negative experiences of the past and embrace the benefits and efficiency of nuclear power, human race might just be looking at the answer to earth’s depleting resources. Indeed technology is easy while people are hard.
All in all i rate today's session as 8/10 as we had a lot of discussions which were very up to date and relevant to today's society
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
TWC session 2!
Today marks the start of the second week of school for me. It wasn’t as bad as what I expected it to be because currently the workload is still quite manageable for me. But like what prof said, a country shouldn’t rest on his or her laurels and be complacent if not she will just go down on a decline from there. I think this applies to each and everyone of us students too. Today prof addressed two main issues, first Technology, Society and Global Dominance and secondly Technology and Human development. Technology society and global dominance looked at how countries gain and lose dominance while Human development examined how technology affected the development of the human race. We also had a few of our fellow classmates presenting. This was quite refreshing and I really admire their confidence and composure! Hope im able to be like them when its my turn.
Now for the key take away messages from this session.
Has technology increased the inequity in Singapore.
During a discussion on Technology and Human development, Prof stated that the inequity now in Singapore is greater than as compared to the 60s and 70s. Yes it is true that the spoils and benefits brought about by technology is not evenly distributed to the rich and poor hence resulting in the rise of inequity to a certain extent in Singapore over the past few years. However I would like to disagree with this point as I feel that the playing field in Singapore has gradually leveled over the past few years. Why do I say so. Firstly our nanny state has implemented Compulsory Education in 2003, making it compulsory for any kid who is above the age of 6 years and who has not yet attained the age of 15 years to attend school. Compulsory education ensures that kids study up to Primary 6 as this is considered the minimum period of education for all Singapore children. This results in a common level of education and knowledge amongst the younger generation and hence allowing them to start off on the same level of competency. Hence in the long run, these kids who benefited from the CE program will be able to ride on the long-term benefits of technology. For those that were not able to benefit from the Compulsory Education, the government launched an experimental workfare program that gave low-wage earners bonus pay of up to $780. They are also considering making this a permanent program. This will thin the ranks of the working poor, tilt the balance in favor of the poor and ultimately reduce the inequity in Singapore.
How do we build societies companies that are dominant leaders in their respective arenas? I am very intrigued by this question posed by Prof. What I feel about this is that in order for a society to be dominant in their respective arena, it has to be the forerunner and keeper of new technologies. For example, east European countries withheld their technology by containing the manufacturing sector to their own countries while the only task given to other countries were the supplying of raw materials and agricultural commodities. Examples of such technologies were steel steam turbines, boilers and pharmaceuticals. The ability and know hows were not passed to other countries hence enabling them to retain their dominance. For any society to remain dominant, it has to have a open perspective and a constant hunger to learn from others. It cannot rest on its laurels because if it do so, it will become secular. It has to be keen to invest in new ideas as well.
Change is inevitable and often necessary the transition process can often be difficult or painful. Some push for change while others are resistance to change. When there is change there will be a transitional period and this transitional period will certainly affect someone in one way or the other. For example the advent of technology brought about huge changes and during the transitional period, effects such as environmental degradation and technological disasters have contributed to social imbalance. The environment is suffering from pollution and non-consequential uses of its natural resources. The rate at which technology is trampling on mother earths is much higher than the natural rate which earth can repair itself. Also, Technology has made it possible to create biological and nuclear weapons, both of which possess the ability to tip the balance of humanity in a matter of seconds. The world is currently facing a threat like never before. These are painful changes to those that are at the receiving end but for the wielders of today’s most advance technologies, these are merely changes for the betterment of their profit driven organizations.
It would be nice if Prof dedicated more time to part 2 of the lesson, technology and human development. I believe that it was due to the presentations that resulted in the lack of time for the second half of the class and hence the lack of coverage. To be specific, the topic which I want to talk about would be technology and woman's development. It was quite intriguing when prof said that when you give education a man you teach one person, however when you give education to a woman you teach the whole family. This sparked my curiosity in how technology has has liberated or emancipated woman as this is not a very commonly discussed topic.
Overall, i would rate this session 8 out of 10 as it was refreshing to see some of our "guest speakers" present infront. At first when prof said that we will be having "guest speaker" i thought he was referring to real full time speakers who are professionals in that field of study. but i guess its a pleasant surprise after all.
Now for the key take away messages from this session.
Has technology increased the inequity in Singapore.
During a discussion on Technology and Human development, Prof stated that the inequity now in Singapore is greater than as compared to the 60s and 70s. Yes it is true that the spoils and benefits brought about by technology is not evenly distributed to the rich and poor hence resulting in the rise of inequity to a certain extent in Singapore over the past few years. However I would like to disagree with this point as I feel that the playing field in Singapore has gradually leveled over the past few years. Why do I say so. Firstly our nanny state has implemented Compulsory Education in 2003, making it compulsory for any kid who is above the age of 6 years and who has not yet attained the age of 15 years to attend school. Compulsory education ensures that kids study up to Primary 6 as this is considered the minimum period of education for all Singapore children. This results in a common level of education and knowledge amongst the younger generation and hence allowing them to start off on the same level of competency. Hence in the long run, these kids who benefited from the CE program will be able to ride on the long-term benefits of technology. For those that were not able to benefit from the Compulsory Education, the government launched an experimental workfare program that gave low-wage earners bonus pay of up to $780. They are also considering making this a permanent program. This will thin the ranks of the working poor, tilt the balance in favor of the poor and ultimately reduce the inequity in Singapore.
How do we build societies companies that are dominant leaders in their respective arenas? I am very intrigued by this question posed by Prof. What I feel about this is that in order for a society to be dominant in their respective arena, it has to be the forerunner and keeper of new technologies. For example, east European countries withheld their technology by containing the manufacturing sector to their own countries while the only task given to other countries were the supplying of raw materials and agricultural commodities. Examples of such technologies were steel steam turbines, boilers and pharmaceuticals. The ability and know hows were not passed to other countries hence enabling them to retain their dominance. For any society to remain dominant, it has to have a open perspective and a constant hunger to learn from others. It cannot rest on its laurels because if it do so, it will become secular. It has to be keen to invest in new ideas as well.
Change is inevitable and often necessary the transition process can often be difficult or painful. Some push for change while others are resistance to change. When there is change there will be a transitional period and this transitional period will certainly affect someone in one way or the other. For example the advent of technology brought about huge changes and during the transitional period, effects such as environmental degradation and technological disasters have contributed to social imbalance. The environment is suffering from pollution and non-consequential uses of its natural resources. The rate at which technology is trampling on mother earths is much higher than the natural rate which earth can repair itself. Also, Technology has made it possible to create biological and nuclear weapons, both of which possess the ability to tip the balance of humanity in a matter of seconds. The world is currently facing a threat like never before. These are painful changes to those that are at the receiving end but for the wielders of today’s most advance technologies, these are merely changes for the betterment of their profit driven organizations.
It would be nice if Prof dedicated more time to part 2 of the lesson, technology and human development. I believe that it was due to the presentations that resulted in the lack of time for the second half of the class and hence the lack of coverage. To be specific, the topic which I want to talk about would be technology and woman's development. It was quite intriguing when prof said that when you give education a man you teach one person, however when you give education to a woman you teach the whole family. This sparked my curiosity in how technology has has liberated or emancipated woman as this is not a very commonly discussed topic.
Overall, i would rate this session 8 out of 10 as it was refreshing to see some of our "guest speakers" present infront. At first when prof said that we will be having "guest speaker" i thought he was referring to real full time speakers who are professionals in that field of study. but i guess its a pleasant surprise after all.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
TWC session 1
The class started off with each of us doing a short introduction of ourselves followed by a short video showing some staggering facts and figures pertaining to the future state of today's world which was then briefly followed up by a discussion of whether technology
Interesting Observations and Ideas (ideas and concepts that captured your attention) -
To me war has always been something which i associate with adversity, people suffering, people dying, poverty, national service and basically nothing good. Hence it came to me as a surprising revelation when it was mentioned in class that war is a driver of technology.
Some personal thoughts about the key points which i find useful :
1.Is technology a means to an end.
A picture was shown to us of a man's evolution from an ape to who we are now and then to a fatty. The message to us was that technology is a means to an end of human kind. I beg to differ as technology has been and always will be a tool for the evolution of man kind. Around ten million years ago, man has made use of stone to come out with tools to aid them in their daily activities such as hunting for wildlife, or simply just coming out with weapons. These tools were cutting-edge technology at that time and these technology soon allowed them to discover fire ( around 1-2 million years ago ) and subsequently the wheel at around 3500BCE. The advent of these technologies allowed mankind to develop and evolve to what it is today. Till today Technology is still pushing mankind to their fullest potential. Case in point, the timing for 100m sprinting has been going down steadily over the past few years with the emergence of atheletes like usain bolt, who is no doubt a benefactor of today's technology. Hence I believe that technology is no means to an end.
2.Technology is easy people are hard.
Humans and technology alike are both constantly evolving and both are highly sophisticated but what makes people hard when compared to technology? I believe that it is the ideology, mindset and intelligence of human beings which makes them "harder" than technology. Those attributes and features are precisely the reason why humans come out with technology instead of technology coming out with humans. That being said, although humans are the drivers of technology they are also the ones limiting the growth of technology at the same time. Case in point, nuclear power is one of the most abundant and infinite source of energy but why is it not being fully utilized even in the face of depleting natural oil resources. It boils down to the destructive nature of humans, and hence making it necessary for the UN to curb the development of nuclear energies lest countries develop nuclear armaments out of it. The technology is there for people but people are the limiting reagent to the growth of technology.
2.Why white men have so much cargo?
This question left most of us dumbfounded as most of the answers to this questions were thoroughly disputed by the prof. Examples are, class : due to them not having war. prof disputed : they had countless internal wars. Another answer : they were not receptive enough to the technology introduced to them . Prof disputed that : they were very receptive to the technology example of it can be seen from their spears and such.
It was actually because of the fact that they were not situated along any major trade routes. It suddenly dawned upon me that trade routes were integral to the development of any country and a perfect example would be Singapore. Our country started out as a fishing village and later transformed itself,due to her strategic location, to become a trading port along one of the busiest trading route in the 1900s. Evidently, a trading route does not solely bring about monetary benefits but also, the non-monetary yet priceless exchange of information, culture and most importantly technology. Not being along a trading route is definitely a disadvantage to any country as can be seen from the case of "why white men have more cargo". It is also disadvantageous if a country chooses to shut itself out of the world as can be seen from the case of China. However they have sensed the importance and benefits of being interconnected with the rest of the world and only time will tell if they indeed become the largest speaking english nation as predicted by the video : shift happens.
I feel that this session was quite an informative one as we were given the freedom to air out our thoughts. 7/10
Interesting Observations and Ideas (ideas and concepts that captured your attention) -
To me war has always been something which i associate with adversity, people suffering, people dying, poverty, national service and basically nothing good. Hence it came to me as a surprising revelation when it was mentioned in class that war is a driver of technology.
Some personal thoughts about the key points which i find useful :
1.Is technology a means to an end.
A picture was shown to us of a man's evolution from an ape to who we are now and then to a fatty. The message to us was that technology is a means to an end of human kind. I beg to differ as technology has been and always will be a tool for the evolution of man kind. Around ten million years ago, man has made use of stone to come out with tools to aid them in their daily activities such as hunting for wildlife, or simply just coming out with weapons. These tools were cutting-edge technology at that time and these technology soon allowed them to discover fire ( around 1-2 million years ago ) and subsequently the wheel at around 3500BCE. The advent of these technologies allowed mankind to develop and evolve to what it is today. Till today Technology is still pushing mankind to their fullest potential. Case in point, the timing for 100m sprinting has been going down steadily over the past few years with the emergence of atheletes like usain bolt, who is no doubt a benefactor of today's technology. Hence I believe that technology is no means to an end.
2.Technology is easy people are hard.
Humans and technology alike are both constantly evolving and both are highly sophisticated but what makes people hard when compared to technology? I believe that it is the ideology, mindset and intelligence of human beings which makes them "harder" than technology. Those attributes and features are precisely the reason why humans come out with technology instead of technology coming out with humans. That being said, although humans are the drivers of technology they are also the ones limiting the growth of technology at the same time. Case in point, nuclear power is one of the most abundant and infinite source of energy but why is it not being fully utilized even in the face of depleting natural oil resources. It boils down to the destructive nature of humans, and hence making it necessary for the UN to curb the development of nuclear energies lest countries develop nuclear armaments out of it. The technology is there for people but people are the limiting reagent to the growth of technology.
2.Why white men have so much cargo?
This question left most of us dumbfounded as most of the answers to this questions were thoroughly disputed by the prof. Examples are, class : due to them not having war. prof disputed : they had countless internal wars. Another answer : they were not receptive enough to the technology introduced to them . Prof disputed that : they were very receptive to the technology example of it can be seen from their spears and such.
It was actually because of the fact that they were not situated along any major trade routes. It suddenly dawned upon me that trade routes were integral to the development of any country and a perfect example would be Singapore. Our country started out as a fishing village and later transformed itself,due to her strategic location, to become a trading port along one of the busiest trading route in the 1900s. Evidently, a trading route does not solely bring about monetary benefits but also, the non-monetary yet priceless exchange of information, culture and most importantly technology. Not being along a trading route is definitely a disadvantage to any country as can be seen from the case of "why white men have more cargo". It is also disadvantageous if a country chooses to shut itself out of the world as can be seen from the case of China. However they have sensed the importance and benefits of being interconnected with the rest of the world and only time will tell if they indeed become the largest speaking english nation as predicted by the video : shift happens.
I feel that this session was quite an informative one as we were given the freedom to air out our thoughts. 7/10
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