Following the previous week’s discussion on future possible technologies, it was only appropriate to for this week’s topic to be on technology assessment and forecasting, developing a framework to evaluate these upcoming technologies.
As my individual presentation was during this session, I had come prepared and did some research on the topic beforehand, allowing me to follow this session more closely. In my search for an interesting article to present on, I found some interesting views relating to possible ways we can manage technology and achieve a future we would like to see. Some even included perspectives on how to achieve the ideal of world peace.
What I found most interesting and eventually chose to present on was the article on shaping the future instead of forecasting it. Many seem obsessed with forecasting the future, observing the possibilities for tomorrow and the impacts of what we do today. While that seems like an all important task, I believe that it is more important for us to take control of our future and shape it to make it the future we want for ourselves. Instead of being controlled by the technology of today, we should seize it and use it to our advantage and for achieving our respective objectives. This is more important than releasing the power of today’s technology onto the world and seeing where that takes us, and later having to deal with the effects of that technology tomorrow. I feel that this article truly embodied the essence of the past weeks of TWC lessons, the need for us to change and adapt to survive. We need to use what we have before us, which is technology, for us to achieve our goals and ensure the progress of our society. I hope that my classmates have benefited from what I shared in my presentation, just like how I have learnt much from theirs in the past few weeks.
A very meaningful quote, like the many others before, that Prof shared this week was by John Kennedy, “For time and the world do not stand still… Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” I have always looked to the past for security and stability, being sentimental and unwilling to let go of things once I had gotten used to them. I’ve always been rather resistant to change and only reluctantly allow it into my life when there are no other alternatives. After these 10 weeks however, this perspective has definitely changed. It is really through this course that I have understood the sheer importance of the fact that change is the only constant, and for that I am truly thankful. Shift has happened, and will definitely continue to.
With that, I totally embrace and appreciate the new changes coming our way. The video shown in class about the top 3 inventions for the future was really interesting. It featured the Nokia Morph, Google Earth and salt water fuel. I’m not sure how long ago this video was first posted, but it really showed that the power of imagination alone can change the world. Google Earth, from becoming a mere idea and part of someone’s imagination, is now a reality and a powerful tool for all of us. Salt water fuel may be next and allow us to be less dependent on non-renewable fuel sources. Who knows where the future could lead us next.
While we think about the possibilities of the future, it is important for us to understand and harness the power of technology in the right way for our benefit, instead of allowing it to create more problems for us in the future. I hope that we would be able to consider the long term effects of technology instead of simply focusing on its short term uses to allow us to truly benefit from it.
An 8 for this week’s session, and really looking forward to the group presentations up next.
technology and world change 