The first lesson of the TWC course naturally covered the course requirements, objectives and other administrative issues which is prudent as it allows students to know what we are supposed to learn from the course and the mindset that we should have. Thereafter the topic 'Technology and the Rise of Civilizations: Historical Timeline and Technology “Revolutions' was covered. As the title implies, it provided us with historical facts of every major shift and developments of the human kind.
I guess the purpose of this lesson is to provide us with some foundation knowledge as a pre-requitsite for subsequent lessons. However, it was not purely taking in of information. The idea of the the evolution of mankind from ape-like ancestors to current day "macdonald's" men who are too pampered with technology created a lively discussion. The question of whether technology is to be blamed was an intriguing one.
I guess the general agreement was that men are the cause of an increasingly unhealththy society. We are in a generation where the current life expectancy is lower than before. The discussion on how to prevent such a phenomenom from continuing was also brought up. However, I felt that the question of whether we should prevent this phenomenom, should be discussed. I felt that the creation of fast food, automobile and all the other technologies that made our lives so comfortable is the very process of man's evolution. If we were to view such current day technology as a bane, what difference is it during the times where man started using simple tools, which is actually just a variation of today's technology?
My key takewaway for the whole lesson is that we are here to learn how to approach technology and how can we use it effectively in a dynamic world. This was a takeaway for me as originally I thought this course was literally to give us technical information on current day technology. Another takeaway was that as what Prof Shahi has said, 'technology is easy, people are hard'. The process of understanding the technical aspects of technology is easy, however the implementation process and how we use them is challenging.
Rating for the session would be 7/10.
I felt that material and content provided was very enriching. However, the pace during the lesson proper could have been slower and more time could be spend on it.
-Zhishu of G22
Zhi Shu, I think it's a bit of a slippery slope to say that our technology today should be seen as just a variation of our great-great-grand-ancestors' because one may see it as a bane.
ReplyDeleteIt's true that we shouldn't complain too much considering all the convenience that technology's brought us. However, I don't think the evolution of technology or the evolution of humans should necessary mean that we need to make certain sacrifices (in this case, our lives!). We can and should expect more. The fact that you suggest whether we should prevent such a phenomenon means we have a choice. So why not the better choice?