Blog after Session 1

As I have missed the first class and don’t have time to join any discussions before I write this, I can only write some thoughts of my own after reading the required materials.


Summary

I started from the past by reviewing the history of human beings, and have seen different levels of technological, political, and economical developments among different regions. Then I tried to know what have made these disparities and found Jared Diamond’s answer in Guns, Germs and Steel. After knowing more about the past, I cannot help asking myself, “Where will technology lead us in the future?” Then I read the BT Technology Timeline. Surely, technology will bring us both positive and negative influences, but what will be the final outcome and what can we do to control the negative ones and magnify the positive ones?

Interesting Observations and Ideas

When reading the long history from the beginning of universe till present, a question came to my mind, “What is the definition of technology?” I would never ask such a question before because in my mind, I have get used to the concept that technology is something very complicated and that only people who have professional knowledge or adequate practical experience can make. However, when I saw “earliest stone and wooden tools”, “earliest clothing”, “earliest fire”, “earliest controlled use of fire”, etc, I wondered whether these could be called technology or not. These things have been so important for the life of our ancestors, and have been created or found out by cumulated observations or somewhat experiments, just as what modern technology means to modern people. But these things look so primitive to modern people like me. Then what is the definition of technology?

Key Take Away Points

According to Jared Diamond, plant and animal domestication meant more food, more population, easier transportation, more advanced technology, more political and economical developments, and more powerful military weapons.

Issues for Further Discussion

As I am now convinced by Jared Diamond that the way of food production has caused the disparity of people’s life in different regions, I look forward to seeing what he would say about the causes of the different means to acquire food. And I hope we can learn more about the cause of disparity from our later discussion, and see whether we can find some evidence to support or oppose Jared Diamond’s opinion. Because understanding about the past can give us guide on how to make the future better for us.

Personal Ratings for Session

Since English is my second language and I came to Singapore just a month ago, when I found that there are so many tasks for the course, I felt really stressful at first. Although my friend had suggested me to drop this course, I decided to continue because I believe that I can learn more from challenging courses and I am a little stimulated by the challenge.

I will rate this session 8.8 for a few reasons.

First, as the first session, I think it has brought an overview of technology and world change, which just suits the name of the course.

Second, as the first session, it has aroused my interest in some topics concerning this course. And I think arising students’ interest to find out more is very important as this internal promotion will encourage students to learn as much as possible.

I strongly believe that I can think deeper and broader if I have time to join the discussions and I will do so as soon as possible. Looking forward to the next class…