Technology is changing the world

It is my first class at TWC and also my first class for this year. So I am quite nervous and excited at the same time. And the first session really makes a good impression on me because I know I will learn much in this TWC course.

The first session is a brief introduction to technology and its impacts on modern civilization. In the first part of the lecture, Prof shows us a video called “Shift happens”. It tells us about society at different countries around the world and how techonology changes people’s lives. The second part of the lecture is about modern civilization. Prof shows “A timeline of time” which records details on human development from the past till the present and after that, he focuses on the question “Why you white men have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little?” which is raised from the video “Guns, Germs and Steel.”

1. Technology is developing fast and affecting society

The video “Shift happens” includes many facts about the society and technology. These facts at first seem trivial but together, they tell a story about human lives in the age of technology.

“Over 106 millions registered users of MySpace (Sep 2006)”

“If MySpace was a country, it would be 11^th largest”

“2.7 billion searches performed on Google each month”

“The number of texts & messages sent & received everyday exceeds the population of the planet”

All these facts show one thing, technology is developing faster than ever. In the past, we had to rely on traditionally delivered paper mail to get in touch with friends, on books to get information. But technology is here for reasons. Now we can share picture, update news from others or access to information and find solution for questions easily. We are truly living in an exponential time, and the essential task is to use the advantages technology brings about to make our lives better.

2. Impacts of geographical differences

“Why you white men have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little?”

It seems so obvious that the white men are more prosperous than New Guineans. There are many reasons that explain the situation but the essential reason is geographical features. On one hand, New Guineans live in forests; Hunting and gathering are main ways for New Guineans to have food. However, hunting and gathering is not efficent and therefore, they only have food to support small population. On the other hand, in the Middle East, weather enables farmers to grow crops which is much more productive and food is also more nutrious. They have enough food to serve large population and therefore, the society has opportunities to develop. Even geographical differences are not the only reason but it really impacts development and modern civilization.

After the first session, I have two issues for further discussion:

• Is there any limit to technology development?
• Can technology help to solve the disparity among different parts of the world?

All things considered, I will rate the first session 8/10. I feel engaged and also learn many new ideas and interesting observations.