Week 2

Week 2 of TWC really struck me as to how much technology has really contributed to change in the world.

What is technology? Not just electronics and fancy gadgets, but ideas, methods and processes that can make a change, that can help people solve their problems, overcome challenges, and so on. 

The world is constantly changing and it’s difficult for us to predict things beyond a certain period of time due to uncertainty.

We saw a chart of the richest countries in the world at different points in time. I found it really interesting that India, China, and certain African countries, will be some of the richest countries around 2050, whereas others like the USA and various countries in Europe won’t hold such economic power anymore. 

This was also reinforced by the video by Hans Rosling, illustrating progress over the past 200 years where almost all the countries in the world have progressed from being poor and sick, to rich and healthy. I guess one of the contributing factors would be developments in technology that enabled this progression.

Technology aids human development by maximizing the potential of individuals. When this is pushed too far, I think the meaning of “human development”, in some ways, could possibly get warped. Using technology to do things like attack enemy camps, or detonate bombs is rather questionable. 

Despite all the changes that technology is bringing about, it could most definitely have negative uses in the hands of the wrong people. We may tend to lose sight of the fact that we’re dealing with other humans.

I think one of the key takeaways from this lesson, for me, is the fact that technology certainly has the ability to transform lives in all possible aspects. However, the same technology could be misused for not so “rational” or “ethical” purposes. For example: the present-day use of gun powder in weapons and explosives, after its initial use by the Chinese to simply make fireworks.

Something to think about would be, where to draw the line between ethical and unethical use of technology. Is it even possible to draw a line of separation between the two?

Should we let technology get so advanced to the point where humans are not required to do anything at all?

Overall, I’d rate our session an 8 out of 10.