TWC Session 1 (Week 1)

Brief Overview/Summary

Second and last lesson for the day, I am still excited with what is ahead, no doubt I am expecting an interesting and engaging session in this course, and true enough the topics covered in this session and in the future interest me greatly.

First part of the day, Prof. got us started with self-introduction and introduced us on the course and its objectives and expectations

Second part of the day, Prof. started the lesson proper discussing on Technology and the Rise of the Civilizations: Historical Timeline and Technology "Revolutions".

Interesting Observations and Ideas

- Prof. showed us a video from 2006 called Shift Happens which looks into globalization that was researched by Karl Fisch, I was quite amazed on how the world is changing so rapidly that England was the most powerful country in 1900 but now taken over by USA, while India and China are also catching up fast.

- The prediction that in 2023, a $1000 computer will exceed the capabilities of the human brain, personally I believe information technology has move ahead 10 years faster comparing to the the prediction, because in the present year, 2013, there are computers that cost $1000 or even less which also exceeds the certain capabilities of the human. 

- The BT interactive website on potential technologies had caught my attention on how the researchers predict and determine what will happen in the future and what did they based on to proof their predictions?

- From the short part of the video, Guns, Germs and Steel, that is showed in class, Europeans' secret to success were due to guns, germs and steel. Following that we discussed on why Europeans and why these three components, it is because China who was then the richest country in the world closed their doors to people as they think there is nothing more to learn, while Europeans used the gunpowder and created guns which started many revolutions and wars, germs were also used in warfare and germs were brought to the places that the Europeans travelled and conquered which also leads to medical technology advances and the Europeans were the ones started mining and therefore metal was used to build infrastructures.

Key Take Away Points

- That different technology areas are changing the socio and economic situation of the world rapidly.

- Technology revolves around everyone and it is the way forward.

- What will happen if one day technology fails us?

Issues for Further Discussion

- Personally, I would like to have more discussion on how and why some civilizations prosper and how does one different areas of technology relate to each other which brings about the rise of these civilizations.

Personal Ratings for Session

- I rate this session 8/10 because I feel that we should have more discussion on the above mentioned. 

See you next week! (: