Technology and World Change with Dr. Gurinder Shahi

SESSION 1: REVIEW


Brief Overview/ Summary


What happened in my very first TWC class?


I remember the very first thing that Prof. did as soon as class began. He wrote:

Technology is EASY, People are HARD

- Dr. Gurinder Shahi 

After that, we had quite the intellectual discussion about Prof's statement and I discovered that many people in class had quite a wide range of interpretations for something as simple as a 6 word statement. 

Then, we watched a youtube video, Shift Happens; Did You know? (the obvious inspiration for my blog url)

After that, we had another lengthy discussion on the implications of the video. Once again, I was surprised to find that there were many different viewpoints regarding the video. Following that discussion we had the privilege to watch another video.









We were then asked to discuss the thought-provoking question posed by the man named Yali in the video to
Diamond.

Yali's Question:
Why you White Men have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little?

What naturally followed was a somewhat heated analysis on whether genetics makes certain humans superior over other humans. Discussion continued until the end of class.




Interesting Observations and Ideas/Key Takeaways

• We are living in exponential times.

Prior to watching the video, I had always somewhat assumed that humanity was progressing forward, but albeit in a somewhat linear fashion. I had no idea that the rate of information generated and exchanged was increasing exponentially. The part of the video where it said that what students in a 4 year degree course learn in their first year will be outdated by their 4th year was especially interesting, as I myself am a freshman commencing my 4 year degree course. Whats the point of even learning TWC then? (Prof, if you're reading this, I'm only joking. :) )

• Are some humans genetically superior to others?

Throughout history, the White Man has always been considered superior over the other races, often imposing their superiority on the lesser developed people groups. However, are they necessarily superior? I'm reminded of the famous quote by George Orwell,

All Men are created equal, but some Men are created more equal than others.

Just why is it that the White Man is considered superior? Is it because they were the first ones to decide to expand, conquer and assert their superiority?

In a slightly different context, what about the super geniuses and world-class athletes? Obviously genetics have a major role to play in their supernormal abilities. Does this mean that the people over at MENSA and the Olympians, especially those my age that are competing in the Youth Olympic Games at the moment, are superior to the rest of us "normal" humans? I believe there is no right answer.




Personal Ratings

8/10 ( The class was thoroughly stimulating and quite interesting. I look forward to having more classes like this.)