Week 2

This second week of TWC was split into 2 sections-

Technology, Society & Global Dominance

We started off by listing the various types of dominance (cultural, military, information & even disinformation) and Prof also kinda defined dominance. It's a country/ organisation who's clearly the leader in the market, setting the tone for the rest. Prof also showed us his own model for organisational behaviour for identifying innovating leaders & dominant players! T'was quite cool with the Triangle thingy that had Rising Star & Falling Star on both slopes of the triangle, and a Dominant Player being well-balanced between the two.

One point I remember from this was when Prof mentioned how you can either choose to energise people, or sap energy from people. And I guess this boils down to individual choice, on whether you would wanna influence people, or be influenced. From this model I also gathered how it's important to be open to new concepts and information from external sources, in order to prevent being isolated.

Prof wrote another quote on the board before lesson (I wonder if he's gonna come up with a new quote every week hahaha) stating that, Change is inevitable and often necessary; the transition process can often be difficult or painful (for some). This is really true, as we have previously discussed how we've moved on from hunter-gatherer times to now, that change is indeed inevitable. It's also necessary for us humans to continually be on the move to improve ourselves, so as to keep up with modernisation.

However, the time period between the start and end product of change would leave some struggling, because whenever there's change, someone else is bound to lose power and influence. And most of the time, people prefer to stay where they are. This then brings us to the question whether people are in fact contented with what they have, or are they constantly in hunger for change. One example mentioned of an organisation that has been successful with continual change is Apple who have been reinventing themselves with the recent launches of the iPad & the iPhone 4.

One key takeaway point for this segment of the class was the video Prof showed us on Globalisation, and the New Rulers of the World, which can be found here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdgMlXoQMbY. Honestly, I was quite sad after watching this as it depicted reality, about how wide the income disparity has become, and truly there is a huge income gap between the rich and the poor. In light of this, I feel it's important that society sees the need to help the less-fortunate population of the world. And I'm glad that what the UN is doing about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is working towards that, which was discussed in the second half of class.

Technology & Human Development

Development, as what I make of it, is the process of advancement. There was then some discussion in class whether change is development or vice versa, and we concluded that change is in fact, a consequence of development. We then went into the different examples of development like social, economic, cultural, human etc. But what striked me was Prof summing up sustainable development pretty well- Choosing options Today that wouldn't limit your options Tomorrow.

One highlight of this segment was the question that Prema posed to the class, and which Prof asked me to answer- How do we go about catergorizing which technology would be related to human capabilities? I went about answering the question saying that people can be categorized according to their education levels, so as to allow them to fully maximise their potential using technology, of an appropriate level, assigned to them. I had thought that since the less-developed people weren't exposed to modernisation, they'd just have no clue.

I then went on to state that people in less-developed countries were probably be unable to use an iPhone 4. Which at this point, Prof gives me a look of shock and refutes my answer, stating that developing countries can actually be adaptable to new technologies! He stated that it was ignorance and the lack of experience on my part, which I have to agree with. Haha. But for that, I'm now a little more aware on how some developing countries are in fact, adaptable to new technologies, just like how a classmate pointed out he knew of this group of young students on a mountain being able to utilise a laptop within the time period of a month! Impressive.

So, one thing that we could have discussed further would be how we, as normal people, can contribute to society in realistic yet pragmatic ways that can somehow benefit the less-developed countries? The MDGs project would indeed go a long way, but it is a little tough for everyone of us to be in that project and to contribute significantly.

I would give Week 2's lesson an 8/10 as I've come to have more interest in class due to insightful presentations by my classmates, and the discussion that followed.