Reflections

It has been 13 hectic weeks and once again, the semester is coming to a close. Definitely too soon and I would miss all the learning and new insights i gain from every lesson. Although this course was pretty heavy in terms of the sheer number of assignments and thoroughly lengthy readings each week, the knowledge and new perspectives which I have gleaned through the course materials and class discussions were undoubtedly invaluable.

As the course comes to an end, I am reminded once more of Yali's question, which was put to us at the very beginning and had resounded in the back of our minds throughout the progress of the course - "Why do White men have so much cargo, while (the) black men have so little?"

Even after going through the entirety of the course materials, this remains a difficult, multi-faceted and in some ways controversial question to answer.
One could attribute it all to luck, after all the first of civilizations began in the fertile crescent and quickly spread to the Nile Valley and various parts of Afroeurasia, with the rise of farming villages and a shift in efforts towards agriculture, away from hunting-gathering. This would have freed up time and efforts of the early settlers for innovation. It was only much later that the Americas became colonized and the American/French/Industrial Revolutions followed. It seems intuitive to think that people of Africa, having been of such close proximity to the first civilisations, would have caught on the bandwagon of subsequent industrialisation and development trajectories. However, it was the Americas and Europe which led revolutionary growth and began building up their "cargo". One could say that the Americans and Europeans just "got lucky" that their countries were the first to industrialize and the colonial masters, predominantly white people, were able reap and build on these developments.

Perhaps more convincingly, one could attribute the successes of the Western countries to informed planning and change management and foresight. Just as the Video on "Who Moved My Cheese?" demonstrates, it is imperative that we be sensitive to change and prepare ourselves to be ready to receive and benefit from the change, in order to achieve progress and remain viable in today's fast-evolving world. As the video summarizes, some of the key concepts of change management are: to be constantly aware of situational developments, where one stands in relation to these developments, to actively seek out new "directions" in order to "find new cheese" and the need to be willing to let go of old, unworkable ideas in order to realize improved innovations ("old beliefs do not lead you to new cheese"). Perhaps the early colonial masters of the Americas and Europe were guided by these mindsets in pursuing development of their settlements and were thus able to attain the successes that they enjoy today.

From a hunter-gathering species, mankind has progressed to agriculture and later into an age of industrial revolution. Today, the Internet and Communications Technology and Knowledge age is upon us. In lesson 5, we discussed about the gains in productivity which we have reaped throughout the stages of our evolution - there was a gain in productivity of about 25 times when mankind shifted its efforts and focus from hunting and gathering to agriculture; there was also similarly a 25 times increase in productivity when mankind later moved into the industrial age; currently, the productivity gains that we are reaping from an ICT/knowledge revolution that is unfolding around us is only 5 times. There is great promise for more - the potential of ICT is tremendous and it is widely agreed that we are only limited insofar as the extent of our imagination in the application of this technology.

However, countries that will be able to reap the greatest benefits from these technological advancements will inevitably be those with the sufficient resources, institutions and capital outlay to fully exploit these new technology offerings. Most likely, these people would comprise the "white people" referred to by Yali. The "black people" of his hometown and in other impoverished regions of the world, however, will not have the similar resource capacities which allows them to partake in this new technology age as much as the White people are able to. Consequently, this is likely to widen the discrepancy in the amount of cargo the White people possess in comparison to that possessed by Yali's people.

Throughout the course, there was also substantial emphasis on the concept of sustainability and its implications for development. While clean and renewable technology the likes of solar power and wind power have great potential to transform our current unsustainable energy paradigm, more innovative and novel solutions are also being developed which would contribute towards greater energy-efficiency and a more sustainable way of living, going forward. The latter innovations include brilliant concepts such as underwater living and hempcrete as an alternative building material - as was covered in thorough detail by Rebekah's group in their presentation on Futuristic Buildings.

Although invariably, such a change in the way we live and conduct our daily activities is likely going to be an uncomfortable experience for many -  given its destructive nature, wherein old ideas/mindsets/attitudes/habits have to be transformed - I believe that it is a necessary process. There is no great progress without some form of "pain", this "pain" and discomfort is necessary if one were to break out of one's outdated and unworkable mould of doing things and achieve progress for the better. Hence, although there may be many discomfitting implications of rapidly moving towards sustainability, as the class has discussed - such as inconvenience in making the switch in energy generation and reliance as well as financial constraints faced by some countries in moving towards clean energy generation - this is the necessary path which we ought to pursue, in order to ensure the sustainability of this Earth for the benefit of our succeeding generations.

All in all, the course Technology and World Change has indeed broaden my perspective and exposed me to a myriad of interesting topics as well as the controversies surrounding each. I have enjoyed myself in this course, thanks in no small part to the lively class discussions and several humorous individuals in class.
I particularly enjoyed the group and individual presentations as that was when I got to learn about the application of concepts to concrete situations. The coverage by each group was also extensive and the presentations all really engaging and thought-provoking. Good job on everyone!