Human Development & Global Dominance

Brief overview/Summary:

Topics of this week’s lesson are global dominance and human development. Dominance means some companies or countries have power over others at one or some fields. There are many dimensions of global dominance; Different companies or countries are dominant in different dimensions. But the most remarkable thing that Prof shows me in this topic is the “Organizational behavior model for identifying innovation leaders and dominant players”, which tells me that all people have opportunities to be better and dominant. The second topic for class is Technology and Human Development.  In my perspective, technology and human development are mutually affected. On one hand, technological innovations can lead to global development (E.g.: world wide web…) On the other hand, world developments motivate people to invent new technology (The change in how people use internet leads to the boom of Yahoo, Google, YouTube, Facebook…).

In this week’s lesson, the first three students had their presentation. They talk about Google; Technology & singularity, transhumanism & immortality; Technology and Genetic Engineering. They are all well prepared and bring new interesting information to me.

Key takeaways:

• It is a changing world

Plough deep while sluggards sleep – Benjamin Franklin

“Organizational behavior model for identifying innovation leaders and dominant players” of Prof really catches my attention. Dominant players are placed at the top of a triangle, showing that they are better and have power over others at one or more fields. However, that fact only shows one part of the story. There are also rising and falling stars indicated in the graph. Rising and falling stars are distinguished by many features, which can show their potential developments. Dominant players, although have more advantages than others, can be a falling star and lose their dominance in the future. History has proven this point by many examples. In conclusion, the most important factor is not whether you are dominant but is the attitude of always changing and refreshing yourself.

• People must overcome adversity to develop

The greater difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests – Epicurus

In the lesson, Prof shows a video called “History of the world in 7 minutes.” The video focuses on human development from 15,000 years ago to present. I was really impressed by the development of ancient people since despite the fact they have limited tools, knowledge and were strongly affected by many diseases, they still survived and became more and more prosperous. The video really shows human’s strong nature, people can never be impeded by severe conditions but always try to discover and invent new things and overcome difficulties. That explains the fascinating human development with many innovations, technology to make the world a better place for humankind.

• No one should get left behind

When discussing human development in class, Prof shows the video “The Millennium Development Goals.” It is such a thoughtful video because even when technology is at an advanced level, when many people and countries are so prosperous, there are still many problems existing. Although food is thrown away every day, many people all over the world are living in poverty and hunger, can not access to basic health care and utilities. Many children still do not have opportunities to go to school and women in many places are discriminated. Despite all the magical developments, advanced technology over the world, there are people left behind. Is that what human is aiming for? Are we trying to improve living standards for some and ignore other people being left behind? The answer is no. We are aiming for a world where everyone is equal and has same opportunities to access to basic necessities. That is the reason we have The Millennium Development Goals to make sure that the world is changing for the better for everybody.

Issues for further discussion

• How technology and world change can help to eliminate poverty in all societies?

Personal rating

The lesson brightens me in many aspects. I have learned about interesting concepts about dominances and human developments. Therefore, I rated the lesson 8.5/10