TWC lesson 2

In our second lesson the focus of the lesson was on Technology, Society and Global Dominance, this included a brief discussion on the dimensions of global dominance , such as Social, Cultural etc...and some talk on the reading material , namely on the colonial holocaust. this indeed provided a very fresh, non- Eurocentric view of how the Europeans colonized the "savages" In the second part of the lesson the class went on to discuss about human and technology, there we discussed about what is human development and also had an interesting discussion about the rising equality of women throughout the world and the possible implications of that.

And interesting point in the lesson that took my attention was the simple model which we were introduced to by the proff. This triangle shaped model showed how both countries and even companies can become dominant leaders in their respective fields and what were the factors associated with both these " rising" and " falling" stars .which leads to the  Observation : societies and organisations at different stages of innovation leadership and tech dominance display very different behavioral truths . This also lead to an interesting debate on weather the USA was a rising or falling star. In my opinion, the USA would probably a falling star that has just started it's decent down. This has been greatly accelerated by the current economic recession which has caused the Us government to go deeper into debt, with the government spending spiraling out of control, a political system that can only agree to disagree, it seems very likely the flagship of democracy is losing steam. AS the government will eventually have to scaled down on it's spending, the mighty American military will slowly down size and eventually lose it's status as a superpower. In terms of it's economy, the deleveraging that is occurring in the system is likely to prevent any surge in economic growth as the government has little room to boost spending or support new industries, since it has already chosen to float industries which are starting to see it's sunset, namely the car industry in the USA. Unless the US can settle it's economic woes in the next few years ( ie: keep it's healthcare In check, settle it's housing market and it's national debt ) it seems very likely that people will soon start to loose confidence in the US economy and the almighty dollar. Which would probably mark the end of the era of US dominance.

Another key  takeaway would be on how technology has help women rise to power in the workplace and given them equal opportunities . It is indeed very interesting that the contraceptive pill has indeed played a part in helping  women enter the workforce. This was a very basic fact that I have always overlooked.  Also with the advent of more machines to aid in household chores, such as the dishwasher, and even the automated vacuum clean . It has allowed women to be freed of their overly stereotyped role of having to stay at home and to the house hold chores. What was most interesting about this topic however was the question of what we MEN should be doing ? I would probably have to say that we guys would probably have to start taking up a bigger role in the house in light of all the calls for equality and women's rights these day. (which totally sucks)

One of the key issue I wish could have been be discussed in further detail would be how would the transition of China  taking over the US as the dominant global player could possibly play out and what are the implications that the rest of the world would face when that happens. Also, would it be possible for the  US to climb back up to become a dominant global power once it has lost it's status? 

Lastly, My personal rating for this session would be 8/10 

TWC lesson 1

        In our first TWC lesson the main topic covered in our lesson was on Yali's Question ( from Gun's Germs and steel ) .The Class also ventured into a short debate on the status of the future direction of mankind's Evolution, or  "Devolution " as I would like to call it.
Yalis questions ( on why white man had so much "Cargo" )as brought up in Guns Germs and Steel is a on  the surface Something that sounds so simple, but yet this simple query has often been taken for-granted by many ( including  me) . Perhaps it because we are so used to using western technology in our everyday life and the effects of globalization make as feel like this same technology is available to all through out the world, that we forget that most of the the technological progress in the the past 500 years has more or less come to past due to the European Civilation. The question on How and why the Europeans had such a superior technology compared with other civilization ( which they then conquered ) Was Something that really bugged me throughout the week !
         I was So troubled by the question that i decided to watch all 18 episodes of Guns Germs and steel on YouTube. I must say I find it really amazing on how one civilization could be have developed Guns, Steel Weapons , Domesticated animals for battle while the others were still using Primitive technology namely the (Inca's and the natives in New Guinea ) However I did find that the argument in Gun Germs and Steel is too one sided, attributing all of the Europeans Technological advantage to their geographical locations. While It may be true that geography did play a part, I believe there is other factors that did contribute to their society rising up to develop technology light years ahead of others.
Factors which Jared Diamond did not include in his argument included the Political Systems which evolved in europe allowed them to be able orgainse themself into relative well run countries which could engaged in exploration and trading with other parts of the world. This for example helped open the europeans civilisation to new ideas and technology from other parts of the world ( such as gunpowder form china ).
Another factor was the presence of many different countries / factions in Europe and their Continues conflicts between each other and external civilizations This gave rise to major Conflicts and Arms race in europe which is a catalyst for how military technology in the Europe as a whole developed at such a fast pace. Tough Jared Diamond inisit that the natives in New Guinea  have been having conflicts , these are mainly tribe or clan conflicts. The Europeans Have been fighting large scale battles right from the time of the Graeco- Persian wars to the Romans battles with the Persians and later the vikings and medieval warfare. Their constant engagement in such conflict could also be cited as a possible explanation for their rise in technological level as they came into contact with various ideas from different civilisation on the battlefield.
          Lastly our debate on the future of mankind evolution was relatively interesting, however, Ihave to disagree with the concept of mankind evolving to become weaker physically for one simple reason. It is far too early ( less the 50 years!! ) s which obesity has been on the rise. furthermore , becoming Fat is mainly a matter of choice, the likeliness of our genes permanently changing to adapt to our new easy life style is too unrealistic.As evolution would take thousands of years for even a small change in out appearance to become permanent.Perhaps what could be considered is how we would use technology to alter and shape our evolution . I believe it is far more likely that we will be able to tweak our genes and correct or even improve our physical abilities before our bodies can even naturally evolve to a state of permanent obesity.
  
    It was a pitty that we were unable to go into a broader discussion on Yali's question as I believe that there would be even more views on this topic. But however ,the lesson was still very engaging and thought provoking.rating :7/10