Technology and World Change-Session 1

This week I had my first session in the course Technology and World Change. Technology has always intrigued me and amazed me. One of the many aspects of technology that interests me is its evolution. The fast pace at which technology is advancing is overwhelming. For instance there was a time when we were using floppy disks to save data, then came the CDs and today everything can be saved in small and compact thumb drives. Similarly, a phone is not a just a cell phone, it’s a SMART phone!

This week’s lecture began with introductions. Later, we looked at how technology has played a major role in development of civilisations. It was interesting to know how the difference between accessibility to new knowledge and technology helped European countries to develop more than other regions such as Guinea (West Africa). A short video made me understand how geography can determine the technology that a region has. We also learnt that in the past Middle East had advanced technology in areas such as architecture, mathematics and agriculture and how did technology transfer occur from Middle East to Europe in the past. 

I also found the ‘Timeline of Time’ very interesting as it chronologically displays the major discoveries and inventions by mankind and historical and geographical events. Furthermore, the timeline made me appreciate technology more than before. If the technology that we have today was not advanced enough, it would have been close to impossible to actually go back in time and understand our history, especially the pre-historic times. Hence, technology today is not only used to improve and change our world in present and the future but it has also allowed us to understand our past well.

Along with the timeline of past events, we also looked at Technology timeline which studies futurology. The timeline predicts various possible events/inventions in varied areas such as artificial intelligence, energy and medicine. According to the timeline regarding artificial intelligence, by 2016 electronic life form would be given basic rights and by 2020s we may have remote controlled devices in pets. Technology like these seems impossible, unbelievable and has both positive and negative consequences. I personally feel that having remote controlled devices in pets is not ethical. If it is proposed to give electronic life forms basic rights, then how can we forget the basic rights such as freedoms of animals for the sake of our convenience?

Another interesting aspect about my first session in TWC was the ‘Did you know?’ videos from YouTube. Through numbers in form of statistics, they allowed me to look at the seemingly familiar of world of social networking from a different perspective. Facts such as 1 out of 8 married couples in USA last year met online amazed me as I never realised that social networking sites can affect our lives to such large extents. Another unique observation that I feel is very relevant to students today is a fact concerning our education and technical information that is available to us. “The amount of technical information is doubling every two years. For students starting a 4 year technical degree, this means that half of what they learn in their first of year of study will be outdated by their third year of study.”  This tells us that there is strong need to stay updated with new technology and to embrace and appreciate it.

I think the first session was the apt introduction to the course technology and world change. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Though I wish everyone was more prepared and had a say in discussions. I would rate this session 9/10 J