Technology, Society and Global Dominance and Human Development

Originally, I wanted to separate the two topics that were shared in class, but I changed my mind after typing the post because I find that both are very much interlinked.

First part of the lesson was about Technology, Society and Global Dominance. We learnt about the Roman Empire, its rise and its fall and also about the other powers such as China, and Islam. It was quite a history lesson. Then we talked about the different dimensions of dominance which I was quite surprise that dominance could be present is so many dimensions. Before this, I thought that dominance of a country (in particular), would be just its economic placing.

Then, professor shared with us "The Shahi Organizational Behavior Model of Identifying Innovation Leaders and Dominant Players". This was the part that captured my attention. I very much agree with his point of view, that as leaders (be it as an individual, a corporation, or a country), it is important to have an open mindset, and be willing to learn. Only then, you will continually be a rising star and a dominant player in the field.

If one has a closed perspective (like Arsenal, Haha), it would surely meet it's downfall.

This reminded me of the General Elections, that Mr Tony Tan's symbol is a spectacles, and his symbol is a pair of spectacles because"No one ever ruined his or her eyesight by taking a long term view". Very true indeed (in a way if you were to ignore the fact that people with long-sightedness needs to wear glasses also but it is a natural process that will happen).

Second part of the lesson was about Technology and Human Development.

Definition of Development - growth/advancement (positive).

Likewise, we learnt about the different dimensions of development, and that development is very much linked to World Change. After all, development IS change.

Education, Life Expectancy and Money are the key factors of the HDI, but what about the other factors that are non-measurable, or harder to measure, like the Happy Index or the political issuers that a country may have? This is a huge 'loophole' that the HDI has, but generally I feel that it has given the rough gauge.

With technology, humans have been developing. The question is, are some of us moving too fast that we leave our 'friends' behind? Like how the MDGs are not met yet when there is only 3 more years to go. Albeit being a more 'interconnected' as a world, it is very difficult for everyone to move/develop together. To put it in an ugly manner, there must be someone who is slower.

However, there are many cases now where instead of developing, some of the countries are going back downhill. Is this then fair to them? Is education and awareness the only way to make them know/learn?

Keypoint: Always keep an open-mind to whatever you do.

Rating: 8/10

Technology and History

Enough of my ramblings in the previous introductory post. Here is the serious stuff.

Topic: Historical Timeline and Technology "Revolutions"

Ratings: 7/10

People generally think of technology today as computers, laptops, smartphones, science breakthroughs, etc. I am one of them.

However, what many people, including myself, missed out, is that technology has already existed more than 100,000 years ago when man first discovered the use of fire. Then again, it may have dated even way back but as of the historical records, this is what we know of.

tech·nol·o·gy

 [tek-nol-uh-jee]

–noun

1.

the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and useof technical means and their interrelation with life, society,and the environment, drawing upon such subjects asindustrial arts, engineering, applied science, and purescience.

2.

the terminology of an art, science, etc.; technicalnomenclature.

3.

a technological process, invention, method, or the like.

Taken from www.dictionary.com

Yes, so in the first lesson, we learnt about the history of technology. Or rather, how technology and history are related and also the revolutions of technology (Do-you-know video and timelines). In addition, we were also reminded to the fact that inequality is evident in this world even though we are supposedly more interconnected through technology (Yali's Question, readings).

What struck me during the lesson, was the realization that technology is moving at an increasing speed. Like the term that is commonly used "exponentially". Looking at the timeline, new advancements in technology is occurring faster and faster. While we are in it, we do not really sense it. However, when we look at the big picture, it is quite terrifying to see that things are moving so quickly.

I'm not saying that change is not good, but are we too fast? How did it even get so fast in the first place. What everyone is saying that in a few years time, technology will be moving so quickly that the human brain cannot possibly keep up with it, and that it will reach the vertical part of the exponential curve. I do not disagree with that point of view, but I'm just thinking. Thinking if there is a possibility that after that vertical part of the exponential curve, what comes after that? Will the curve then become horizontal? Or will it be just cut of from there? I doubt it will continue vertically because we are talking about CHANGE here. Also, what if, instead of reaching the vertical part of the exponential curve, the curve actually meets terminal velocity? (Sorry for the little bit of Physics here). What will this mean to the world then?

First Disclaimer

Hello all.
First blog post and I would like to make a disclaimer.
The title of this blog "iChange" is not related to any new apple products of what-so-ever.
My initial idea of the title of the blog was just simply "Change" because this is well, about Technology and World Change. However, after typing it the word and wanted to move to the next box by clicking "tab", the cursor went to the start of the "Change" word and I typed in an "i". So I thought to myself, why not just leave it as iChange. After-all, this "i" word is the biggest CHANGE in the past few years. No?