Lesson #1 Technology and the Rise of Civilizations

First TWC lesson with Prof Shahi today was really insightful. We covered the topic on 'Technology and the Rise of Civilizations: Historical Timeline and Technology "Revolutions"'. Prof showed us a video, a part from Guns, Germs and Steel. The famous quote from Yali, "Why do white men like you have so much cargo, but we New Guineans have so little?" got me thinking, how unfair the world is. Afterall like what Prof said, technology started from the Middle East, not China, not India, and definitely not America. However, it is the Americans that are living the more luxurious life thanks to technology. How do we answer Yali's question? That is one global conumdrum that nobody has yet address, or if people had, the problem has yet to be solved.

Prof also showed us the picture of evolution, how an ape evolved to man, and eventually an obese guy. That topic sparked more discussion, and I like what some of my classmates mentioned, about how it is not technology that is at fault to our obesity rate or laziness meter. However, it is ultimately still on the individual's mindset and resolution to not allow technology to takeover and control us.

My greatest takeaway from today's lesson-Prof's quote at the back of the class: "TECHNOLOGY IS EASY. PEOPLE ARE HARD". I like this quote.

I am particularly interested about what Jared Diamond's book and video on Guns, Germs and Steel has in store for us. Perhaps more discussion on that would be great, and we could all find an answer to Yali's thought-provoking question together. Sad as it may be, it is true that biasness and racism still exist in this world.

I would rate today's lesson a 7/10. Perhaps because it is my first day at school, and I didn't expect the workload to be like that, I was a little overwhelmed. However, I realised that Prof is really knowledgeable, TWC has so many interesting things to read and videos to watch and my classmates introduced reasonable and intriguing ideas to the class which made lesson more fun!